Chapter 12 BLOG

The dual language immersion, or two-way immersion program, is becoming more popular in California. There are two of these classes in my district. The purpose of the program is to place an equal number of English and non-native speakers into one classroom. Instruction is provided in both languages throughout the day. Students will be learning curriculum and language skills in both languages. After reading previous texts about language of the majority being a feature of power, I can see how this program would promote equality and acceptance among the students. While there are many people who support the program, and I think it is necessary for English speakers to learn Spanish, it has critics that present valid points. “Experts concede that the greatest challenge in two0way bilingual programs if to ‘reduce the gap’ between the language abilities of the two groups. This gap appears as content classes in English are modified for English learners to ‘catch up,’ or as content delivery in the primary language is slowed for Spanish-as-a-second-language students” (Diaz-Rico, p. 322). Is learning the language more important than content? It seems that these programs are placing a greater value on language acquisition than the rate and quality of content instruction. “In current research (Thomas & Collier, 1995), when examining interactions among student background variables and instructional treatments and their influence on student outcomes, we have found that two-way bilingual education at the elementary school level is the most promising program model for the long-term academic success of language minority students” (Collier, 1995).
This article can be found at: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/100.

Response to Peers:
While reading Michelle Greco’s BLOG on this chapter I was interested in the student she described. She says, “We had a student enroll in the school after being in the US for 3 weeks. He had no L2 whatsoever. He was placed in an English only classroom, and there were no supports on campus to help with his language transition and acquisition. Because he did not understand the language, he started to act out. He became a major behavior on the campus.” She goes on to say that she put herself in his place. I know that I would be incredibly bored and feel insignificant in an environment where I didn’t understand what was being said, and where no one came to help me. I would fail! Alternatively, Amanda Wright talks about the benefits of the dual language immersion program. She says, “Being equipped with more than one language under your belt is becoming more and more common among teachers since our classes are always changing with new ethnicities in the classroom.” While this is true, what can be said for the students’ progress in content areas? Many times the pace must be slowed to address the language needs of both groups. Amanda also talks about “Language Time” in her class. She says she allows the students to ask her questions in their native language and she responds in the same language. I think this is awesome!