A Practical Study on the Immersive Teaching Model of College‑Oriented English Guided by Core Competencies

Abstract

The core competencies for College English consist of four dimensions: language competence, cultural awareness, thinking quality and learning ability, which constitute the primary developmental goals for English instruction in higher education in the new era. Conventional College‑English teaching follows rigid models dominated by knowledge‑oriented lectures, leaving students with few real‑world scenarios for language practice and hindering their holistic competency development. Immersive pedagogy emphasizes constructing holistic language environments where learners engage in language input and output within authentic contexts, which aligns well with the philosophy of core‑competency‑driven education. Based on the requirements for fostering core competencies, this paper identifies prevailing drawbacks in traditional College‑English teaching, illustrates the practical merits of immersive instruction, explores its implementation pathways adapted to university learners’ realities, and puts forward corresponding optimization and guarantee strategies. It offers practical references for classroom teaching reform and competency‑oriented College‑English education. As foreign‑language education reform advances in higher education, College‑English instruction is shifting from exam‑driven teaching toward nurturing students’ comprehensive core competencies. Conventional classroom practice focuses heavily on vocabulary‑grammar explanation and drill‑based exercises, decoupling language learning from real‑life application and giving rise to the well‑documented phenomenon of students “achieving high test scores yet lacking practical communicative competence”. Supported by holistic linguistic settings and diversified interactive activities, immersive teaching strengthens learners’ language perception and application. Guided by core‑competency objectives, exploring practical approaches to immersive College‑English teaching can restructure classroom systems, break down barriers between language acquisition and competency building, and comprehensively enhance university students’ overall English literacy and communicative performance.