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Background
The first modern language immersion programs appeared inCanadain
the 1960s. Middle-income
Anglophone (English-speaking) parents there convinced educators
to establish an experimentalFrench
immersionprogram enabling their children 'to appreciate the
traditions and culture of French-speaking
Canadians as well as English-speaking Canadians'.[1]
[edit]Formats
[edit]Age
Early immersion: Students begin the second language from age 5
or 6.
Middle immersion: Students begin the second language from age 9
or 10.
Late immersion: Students begin the second language between ages
11 and 14.
Adult immersion: Students 17 or older.
[edit]Class time
In complete immersion, almost 100% of class time is spent in the
foreign language. Subject matter
taught in foreign language and language learning per se is
incorporated as necessary throughout the
curriculum. The goals are to become functionallyproficientin the
foreign language, to master subject
content taught in the foreign languages, and to acquire an
understanding of and appreciation for
other cultures. This type of program is usually sequential,
cumulative, continuous, proficiency-
oriented, and part of an integrated grade school sequence. Even
after this type of program, the
language of the curriculum may revert to the first language of
the learners after several years.
Inpartial immersion, about half of the class time is spent
learning subject matter in the foreign
language. The goals are to become functionally proficient in the
second language, to master subject
content taught in the foreign languages, and to acquire an
understanding of and appreciation for
other cultures, but to a lesser extent than complete
immersion.
In content-based foreign languages in elementary schools (FLES),
about 1550% of class time is
spent in the foreign language and time is spent learning it as
well as learning subject matter in the
foreign language. The goals of the program are to acquire
proficiency in listening, speaking, reading,
and writing the foreign language, to use subject content as a
vehicle for acquiring foreign language
skills, and to acquire an understanding of and appreciation for
other cultures.
In FLES programs, 515% of class time is spent in the foreign
language and time is spent learning
language itself. It takes a minimum of 75 minutes per week, at
least every other day. The goals of the
program are to acquire proficiency in listening and speaking
(degree of proficiency varies with the
program), to acquire an understanding of and appreciation for
other cultures, and to acquire some
proficiency in reading and writing (emphasis varies with the
program). In FLEX(Foreign Language Experience) programs, frequent
and regular sessions over a short period
or short and/or infrequent sessions over an extended period are
provided in the second language.
Class is almost always in the first language. Only one to five
percent of class time is spent sampling
each of one or more languages and/or learning about language.
The goals of the program are to
develop an interest in foreign languages for future language
study, to learn basic words and phrases
in one or more foreign languages, to develop careful listening
skills, to develop cultural awareness,
and to develop linguistic awareness. This type of program is
usually noncontinuous.
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[edit]L1 students
In submersion one or two students are learning the L2, which is
the L1 for the rest of the class. By
analogy, the former are "thrown into the ocean to learn how to
swim".
In two-way immersion, also called "dual-" or "bilingual
immersion", the student population consists of
speakers of two or more languages. Ideally speaking, half of the
class is made up of native speakers
of the major language in the area (e.g., English in the U.S.)
and the other half is of the target
language (e.g., Spanish). Class time is split in half and taught
in the major and target languages. This
way students encourage and teach each other, and eventually all
become bilingual. The goals are
similar to those of partial immersion. Different ratios of the
target language to the native language
may occur.
[edit]Location
Inlanguage travel, a person temporarily relocates to a place
where the target language is the
predominant language. For example, Canadian anglophones go to
Quebec (seeExplore,
andKatimavik) while Irish anglophones go to theGaeltacht. Often
this involves ahomestaywith a
family who speak only the target language.
There are also intensive immersion programs for new immigrants,
such theulpanin Israel.
[edit]Outcomes
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Relevant
discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove
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"Improvement in linguistic and meta linguistic abilities"[2]
An increase of cognitive ability "such as divergent thinking,
concept formation, verbal abilities,"
listening skills "and general reasoning"[2]
Improves one's "understanding of his/her native
language."[3]
"Opens the door to other cultures and helps a child understand
and appreciate people from othercountries."
[3]
"Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing
another language is a real asset."[3]
Superior SAT scores and standardized testing[4]
Enhances memory[4]
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Learning a foreign language has its assets, and studies suggest
that immersion is an effective way to
learn foreign languages.[5]
Many immersion programs start in the elementary schools, with
classroom time
being dedicated to the foreign language anywhere between 50% and
90% of the day .[6]
Learning a
second or third language not only helps an individual's personal
mental skills, but also aids their future job
skills.[citation needed]
Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist, had a theory that
stated that when a child
faces an idea that does not fit their understanding, it "becomes
a catalyst for new thinking". As a newlanguage is completely
foreign to a child at first, it fits perfectly as this "catalyst
for new thinking".
Baker[1]
found that more than 1,000 studies have been completed on
immersion programs and immersion
language learners in Canada. These studies have given us a
wealth of information. Across these studies,
a number of important observations can be made.
Early immersion students "lag behind" their monolingual peers in
literacy (reading, spelling, and
punctuation) "for the first few years only". However, after the
first few years, the immersion students
catch up with their peers.
Immersion programs have no negative effects on spoken skills in
the first language.
Early immersion students acquire almost-native-like proficiency
in passive skill (listening and reading)comprehension of the second
language by the age of 11, but they don't reach the same level
in
reading and writing because they have enough level to
communicate with their teachers. Also, if they
communicate only with their teachers, they don't learn the
skills to hold day-to-day
conversations.[1]:275,309
Early immersion students are more successful in listening and
reading proficiency than partial and
late immersion students.
Immersion programs have no negative effects on the cognitive
development of the students.
Monolingual peers perform better in sciences and math at an
early age, however immersion students
eventually catch up with, and in some cases, outperform their
monolingual peers.
Studies have also shown that students in dual programs have
"more positive attitudes towardsbilingualism and
multiculturalism".
[6]
[edit]Cases by country
In the United States, and since the 1980s, dual immersion
programs have grown for a number of reasons:
competition in a global economy, a growing population of second
language learners, and the successes
of previous programs.[6]
Language immersion classes can now be found throughout the US,
in urban and
suburban areas, in dual-immersion and single language immersion,
and in an array of languages. As of
May 2005, there were 317 dual immersion programs in US
elementary schools, providing instruction in 10
languages, and 96% of programs were in Spanish.[
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