Student outcomes in one-way, two-way, and indigenous language immersion education

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Lindholm-Leary ◽  
Fred Genesee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Student Background ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Language Immersion Education ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines international research on student outcomes in one-way, two-way, and indigenous language immersion education. We review research on first and second language competence and academic achievement in content areas (e.g., math) among both majority and minority language students. We also discuss the relationship between bilingualism and student outcomes and whether more exposure to the first or second language is associated with better outcomes. In addition, we highlight student background, methodological, and assessment issues and concerns, and suggest additional avenues of research on student outcomes

Cognitive advantage in children enrolled in a second-language immersion elementary school program for three years

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE-CATHERINE NICOLAY ◽  
MARTINE PONCELET
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Auditory Selective Attention ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Executive Skills ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Language Immersion Education

Early bilingualism acquired from home or community is generally considered to positively influence cognitive development. The purpose of the present study was to determine to what extent bilingualism acquired through a second-language immersion education has a similar effect. Participants included a total of 106 French-speaking eight-year-old children drawn from two language groups: 53 children enrolled in English immersion classes since the age of five years (the immersion group) and 53 children enrolled in monolingual French-speaking classes (the monolingual group). The two groups were matched for verbal and nonverbal intelligence and socioeconomic status (SES). They were administered a battery of tasks assessing attentional and executive skills. The immersion group's reaction times were significantly faster than those of the monolingual group on tasks assessing alerting, auditory selective attention, divided attention and mental flexibility, but not interference inhibition. These results show that, after only three years, a second-language immersion school experience also produces some of the cognitive benefits associated with early bilingualism.

scholarly journals Brain white matter structure and COMT gene are linked to second-language learning in adults

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (26) ◽  
pp. 7249-7254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping C. Mamiya ◽  
Todd L. Richards ◽  
Bradley P. Coe ◽  
Evan E. Eichler ◽  
Patricia K. Kuhl
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Fractional Anisotropy ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Radial Diffusivity ◽  
Immersion Program ◽  
Brain White Matter ◽  
The Relationship

Adult human brains retain the capacity to undergo tissue reorganization during second-language learning. Brain-imaging studies show a relationship between neuroanatomical properties and learning for adults exposed to a second language. However, the role of genetic factors in this relationship has not been investigated. The goal of the current study was twofold: (i) to characterize the relationship between brain white matter fiber-tract properties and second-language immersion using diffusion tensor imaging, and (ii) to determine whether polymorphisms in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene affect the relationship. We recruited incoming Chinese students enrolled in the University of Washington and scanned their brains one time. We measured the diffusion properties of the white matter fiber tracts and correlated them with the number of days each student had been in the immersion program at the time of the brain scan. We found that higher numbers of days in the English immersion program correlated with higher fractional anisotropy and lower radial diffusivity in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus. We show that fractional anisotropy declined once the subjects finished the immersion program. The relationship between brain white matter fiber-tract properties and immersion varied in subjects with different COMT genotypes. Subjects with the Methionine (Met)/Valine (Val) and Val/Val genotypes showed higher fractional anisotropy and lower radial diffusivity during immersion, which reversed immediately after immersion ended, whereas those with the Met/Met genotype did not show these relationships. Statistical modeling revealed that subjects’ grades in the language immersion program were best predicted by fractional anisotropy and COMT genotype.

Revitalizing indigenous languages through indigenous immersion education

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Hermes ◽  
Keiki Kawai'ae'a
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Indigenous Language ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Language Identity ◽  
Immersion Education

This article provides a context for understanding indigenous immersion education and the issues surrounding the model as a critical strategy for revitalization of indigenous languages. Through articulating narratives and drawing on literatures internationally, an image of indigenous language education models emerges. Inspired by strong heritage language learner identities, program models are shaped around building family and community relationships, revitalizing cultural traditions and practices, and re-establishing indigenous language identity in its homeland. Indigenous language immersion models vary as they are developed in vastly different contexts. Three distinct contexts — Ojibwe, Māori, and Hawaiian — are described to illustrate the diversity and range of models. The article closes with some reflections from practice that will provide a context for building a research agenda to advance the revitalization of indigenous languages through immersion.

scholarly journals Second Language Acquisition and Form-Focused Instruction in Immersion: Teaching for Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 388
Author(s):  
PhD T. J. Ó Ceallaigh
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Sustained Development ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Language Immersion Education

While research on language immersion education has highlighted a multitude of benefits such as<br />cognitive skills, academic achievement and language and literacy development, some studies have also<br />identified challenges to its effective implementation, particularly as they relate to language acquisition.<br />It has been suggested that the less than optimal levels of students’ immersion language “persist in part<br />because immersion teachers lack systematic approaches for integrating language into their content<br />instruction” (Tedick, Christian, &amp; Fortune, 2011, p. 7). Students’ interlanguage has aspects that are<br />borrowed, transferred and generalised from the mother tongue and differs from both the immersion<br />language and the mother tongue. After a period of sustained development, interlanguage appears to<br />stabilise and certain non-target like features tend to fossilise. Research has long suggested that<br />effective immersion pedagogy needs to counterbalance both form-oriented and meaning-oriented<br />approaches. This paper reviews the literature in relation to the linguistic deficiencies in immersion<br />students’ L2 proficiency and form-focused instruction is examined as a viable solution to this<br />pedagogic puzzle. Key instructional elements of form-focused instruction are unpacked and some<br />pedagogical possibilities are considered in an attempt to identify and discuss strategies that will enable<br />immersion learners to refine their grammatical and lexical systems as they proceed.

scholarly journals Principals’ attitudes towards the suitability of Irish language immersion education for children with dyslexia

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Patton ◽  
Elizabeth Mathews
Keyword(s):  
Language Immersion ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Irish Language ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Primary School Principals ◽  
Language Immersion Education ◽  
And Training

This study explores principals’ attitudes towards the suitability of language immersion education (LIE) enrolment for children with dyslexia in Ireland. It also aims to examine the challenges faced by those in LIE settings working to include children with special educational needs (SEN), specifically dyslexia, in their schools. Participants include primary school principals working in Irish LIE settings across Ireland. The study follows a mixed methods approach including a focus group interview and a self-completion online questionnaire. Results indicate that principals believe that LIE enrolment is suitable for children with dyslexia and that these children can benefit from being placed in such a learning environment. However, the Irish immersion system faces considerable challenges in its aims to support children with dyslexia, namely the lack of an appropriate assessment system, the lack of sufficient research and training and negative attitudes held towards the Irish language.

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