The Effectiveness of the Two Way Immersion Programs - Essay Example

Challenges and Issues Regarding the Effectiveness of the Two Way Immersion Programs School Challenges and Issues Regarding the Effectiveness of the Two Way Immersion Programs Key words: two way immersion program, bilingual and heritage. Many parents seek the best language program that enhances their children’s tendency to learn and master a second language. However, the field of language education comprises a variety of methods that promote the children’s capability to acquire second or third language. My research paper will highlight one of the common styles of acquiring a second language, which is ‘two way immersion education’ or ‘dual language education’. Basically, both of these terminologies stand for the same method which is teaching the same group of students a particular content; math, history or science by using two different languages. The two way immersion teachers integrate the majority and minority languages at the same school and deliver the content by equally using two different languages. The main goal of dual language education is to improve students’ bilingual skills, academic learning, and tendency to learn different cultural aspects from each other (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). In my research, I will discuss the challenges and issues that may negatively impact the outcomes of language learning in two way immersion and bilingual programs. These challenges may need to be considered in order to encourage parents to enroll their children in such programs. The first challenge is the perception that increased exposure to English develops higher level of proficiency in the children (Genesee and Lindholm-Leary, 2008). The study demonstrated that there is no correlation between the amount of time spent by English language learners in English language instructions, and higher level of proficiency. One study drew comparison between English language learners getting little English instructions in schools and students enrolled in a dual language program that learn the contents by equally using English language and their native language. The study showed that students who received little English have similar or more advanced proficiency compared to the proficiency of students that studied in dual language program (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). However, I think many other components such as untrained teachers and poor curriculum may influence the effectiveness of dual language programs. In my own experience of acquiring English language, I have observed that the Saudi schools do not mandate the teachers to use English language to teach English subjects, even though English subjects need to be taught in English. However, as a former Saudi student willing to learn English language, I tried to create my own English language environment; my TV channels were in English and I used internet and social networking in order to make friends with people whose mother tongue was English. I spent whole days inside my own English environment which helped me improve my English proficiency over the time. This implies that in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the two way program, we also need to analyze the related factors such as curriculum, teachers, administrators, and program. On the other hand, there is one issue regarding the two way immersion program; in some settings, the program administration provides teachers who are bilingual e.g. they speak Spanish as native language and English as a second language. A teacher whose first language is English uses only English in the classroom without code switching to Spanish. However, the native Spanish language teacher constantly switches to English whereas he/she is supposed to speak in only Spanish (Van, 2011). It is obvious that there is parity in dealing with the two languages; the students may feel that the minority language is not as important as English language. This may generate a negative impression about the minority language and its effectiveness in the classroom. Thus teachers who are supposed to deliver the content in the same language whether English or Spanish still feel that English language is more required in the classroom than Spanish language. This works against the purpose of two way immersion programs that all languages used in the schools need to be considered equally important by the teachers and administration. Since one of the goals of two way immersion programs is to enhance the students’ cross-cultural competence, it may reinforce the students’ desire to learn the minority cultural background. When the students feel that there is imbalance between the two different languages, the majority learns the dominant language and does not feel encouraged to learn the minority culture. Some two way immersion programs waive Spanish language courses for students who have failed in Spanish, but English language is still mandatory for students and everybody needs to pass the English course. In addition, when native English speakers reach any level of proficiency in Spanish, they are greatly admired and valued. In contrast, when the English language learners fail, they are required to improve themselves (Christian, Howard, and Loeb, 2000). The third challenge of two way immersion programs is lack of programs directed at teaching minority languages other than Spanish such as Chinese, Korean and Navajo. In the United States, there are more than 250 two way immersion programs that offer Spanish as a minority language, but there are only 4 immersion programs that provide Korean language. Thus, in order to benefit from the diversity of different languages and cultural backgrounds, two way immersion administrators need to consider other minority groups as well. It is obvious that in demographic sectors, native Spanish speakers are one of the largest minority in the United States. However, the two way immersion program administrators also need to consider other native speakers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Thus, in order to apply languages other than Spanish, parents and community members have to create a plan about the percentage of students that are ready to enroll in two way immersion programs that match their native languages and cultures. The fourth challenge regarding the parents of children who have enrolled in immersion schools is that many parents are worried that they cannot help their children in developing language skills because they do not speak the target language. Some parents are willing to use the target language at home in order to foster their children’s ability to acquire the target language. Thus parents feel that they are not confident enough to communicate with their children by using the target language (Kavanagh and Hickey, 2013). In addition, some parents have appropriate knowledge of the target language and they try to use it at home. Unfortunately, sometimes parents face resistance from their children as children are not willing to use the target language at home. They just want to limit the use of target language at school (Kavanagh and Hickey, 2013). Parents may need to learn more techniques and strategies to build up their children’s competence in second language by motivating them to use the target language at home. In addition, parents may need to enroll in special programs that teach target language in order to support and encourage their children at home and create an environment that effectively engages children in communicating with their parents in target language at home. On the other hand, parents need to be patient with their children as they are in the process of acquiring the target language. Some parents push their children to be competitive with other peers in language skills which may affect the children negatively (Soderman, 2010). Developing second language skills is a long process which needs time and support from parents in order to prevent the development of any anxiety in the children. Thus, parents need to avoid putting any extra load by tutoring their children second language at home because such practices increase the burden on the children and their willingness to continue learning the target language may be compromised. Many parents are concerned about the effectiveness of two way immersion programs with respect to the heritage and identity of their children. Some parents have preconceptions and prejudice about the bilingual programs. They have maintained such thoughts because they themselves have never been exposed to bilingual programs. According to the interview by (Farruggio, 2010), many Latino parents are concerned about losing Spanish heritage when their children enroll in bilingual programs. In contrast, some Latino parents who have prior experience with bilingual programs are keen to enroll their children in bilingual programs because of their awareness of the bilingual programs’ support for cross-culture exchange. One of the two way immersion program’s goals is to maintain the culture and heritage of students from different backgrounds and provide them with an opportunity to share their diverse cultural experiences in the same classroom. Thus, when the parents are aware of the goals of two way immersion programs, their misunderstandings are reduced. However, a study showed that Spanish speakers’ students gradually show more social value to English rather than Spanish (Gerena, 2010). It could be so because of the dominance of English language in the United States and the consequent reduced value of the Spanish language. In addition, some students realize that English language proficiency gives them the privilege to work and complete their higher education in the United States. There are several challenges that immersion programs’ teachers face in the classroom. Many of these challenges are caused by the students themselves. There are many causal factors for the behavioral challenge. For instance, some children in the classroom show lack of communication with their peers and the teacher which results in their inability to communicate in the second language. On the other hand, many teachers experience that some children keep silent during the class session or ignore the instruction, which might be an indication of lack of comprehension of the language in the children. The teachers in such programs need to communicate with the parents and try to discuss that problem. In learning a second language, it is crucial that parents help their children by using the second language at home in order to reduce the possibility of the children to experience any negative effects in the classroom like social exclusion. In addition, since some parents do not master the second language, they need to provide their children with alternative sources at home such as English movies, TV shows or short stories. Also, they can join their children in outdoor activities to help them make native English speaker friends. This would significantly improve the children’s second language communication skills. The outcome of the two way immersion programs is undeniable. There are hundreds of schools in the United States that offer such programs. In addition, many countries around the world borrow the two way immersion programs. However, it is a great opportunity to search about the reasons and causes that may influence the effectiveness of the two way immersion programs or dual language education with a view to finding appropriate solutions to make such programs successful. According to most of the research studies I reviewed, I found that there are many issues and challenges regarding the teaching style, children’s behavior, and parents’ concerns that play a part in the effectiveness of two way immersion programs. Each of these factors may prevent the learners to benefit from the two way immersion programs. Regarding the teaching style, teachers may need to consider the amount of time that learners need in order to master the second language. Moreover, the administrators of two way immersion programs have to open channels of communication with learners’ parents in order to discuss any concerns related to the learners’ performance. On the other hand, the behavior of the child who is enrolled in the two way immersion program must be considered by the teachers, administrators and parents. Any strange behavior can be caused by a range of internal and external factors. Thus, teachers need to observe their learners and discuss the observed problems with the parents in order to optimize the tendency of the children to become proficient in the use of second language. References Christian, D., Howard, E., and Loeb, M. (2000). Bilingualism for All: Two-Way Immersion Education in the United States. Theory Into Practice. 39, 258-266. Farruggio, P. (2010). Latino Immigrant Parents Views of Bilingual Education as a Vehicle for Heritage Preservation. Journal Of Latinos & Education. 9(1), 3-21. Genesee, F., and Lindholm-Leary, K. (2008). Dual Language Education in Canada and the USA. In Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp. 1696-1706). Springer US. Gerena, L. L. (2010). Student Attitudes Toward Biliteracy in a Dual Immersion Program. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal. 10(1), 55-78. Kavanagh, L. L., and Hickey, T. M. (2013). You’re looking at this different language and it freezes you out straight away: identifying challenges to parental involvement among immersion parents. Language & Education: An International Journal. 27(5), 432-450. Lindholm-Leary, K. K. (2012). Success And Challenges In Dual Language Education. Theory Into Practice. 51(4), 256-262. Nemeth, K., and Brillante, P. (2011). Dual Language Learners with Challenging Behaviors. Young Children. 66(4), 12-17. Soderman, A. K. (2010). Language Immersion Programs for Young Children? Yes … But Proceed with Caution. The Phi Delta Kappan. 91(8), 54-61. Van, B., C. D. (2011). A Case for Adult Two-Way Bilingual Immersion. CATESOL Journal. 23(1), 1-27. Read More