Page 66 - EdViewptsSpring2019-web

Her kindergarten students can skip compiled by the American Academy Enhanced Cognitive Skills
count by two, collect data about the of Arts and Sciences Commission on
weather, and compare and contrast Language Learning, despite half of Immersion students, due to the
different two and three-dimensional their instruction being delivered in a demands both conscious and uncon-
shapes regardless of orientation. different language, immersion students scious of processing two languages,
are typically 7 months ahead in Eng- typically develop greater cognitive
Dual Language Immersion lish Language Arts by Grade 5 and flexibility and demonstrate increased
attention control, better memory, and
In West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional almost a full academic year ahead by superior problem solving skills while,
Schools, parents of kindergarten Grade 9. at the same time, experiencing en-
students may register their children Additional Benefits of the hanced understanding of their primary
in a Dual Language Immersion (DLI) language. (Bamford and Mizokawa,
program that integrates academic DLI Model 1991; Maillat and Serra, 2009)
content and language acquisition. In The long-term benefits to students
the kindergarten program, students at- of participating in a dual language Minimizing of the
tend specials (i.e. physical education, immersion program are extensive and Achievement Gap
library, etc.) that are taught in English, varied. Young children especially thrive
but the remainder of the day is spent in this type of instructional environment. Partially as a result of the cognitive de-
in classrooms that are taught exclu- Some of the benefits include: mands placed on students who learn
sively in Spanish or Mandarin. After content in two different languages, no
kindergarten, elementary students in Higher Second Language other intervention model holds greater
the DLI program will spend 50% of Proficiency promise to minimize the achievement
their day learning academic content gap more effectively between high and
in the target language and 50% of the More than 40 years of research low performing populations than dual
day in classes conducted in English. consistently documents the power of language immersion. (Thomas and
language immersion programs to help Collier, 2003; Haj-Broussard, 2003)
Won’t Learning Content in students attain high levels of second
Another Language Impact language proficiency. No other type of Considering Establishing a
Student Performance? instruction, short of living in a second DLI Program?
language environment, is as success-
Research has shown that the DLI ful. By the end of their K-12 program, A successful program requires support
model enables students to gain grade students possess bilingualism and bil- from the Board of Education, building
level content knowledge and skills iteracy. (Padilla, Fan, Xu, Silva, 2013) principals, teachers’ association, and
articulated by state standards, while the community. Building that consen-
simultaneously developing language Enhanced Global Citizenship sus takes time, but without it you won’t
proficiency. Research has demonstrat- Immersion students are better have the support you will need to cre-
ed that immersion students perform as prepared to collaborate and commu- ate a successful program. Information-
well as or better than non-immersion nicate across linguistic and political al programs and workshops for each
students on standardized tests of boundaries to solve problems as a group will help ease concerns about a
English and mathematics, even when result of the demands of their learn- new program and develop excitement
these tests are administered in Eng- ing environments, and they evidence and commitment.
lish. (Swain and Lapkin, 1982) more positive attitudes toward other Things to Consider:
In fact, according to The State of Lan- peoples and other cultures. (Howard
guages in the U.S.; A Statistical Report and Sugarman, 2007) • Increase the capacity of your
administrative team: Before
implementing our DLI program,
a core group of district adminis-
trators spent a year and a half
conducting site visits, attending
national conferences and outside
training, and reading professional
literature. While it is not neces-
sary for all administrators to be
or to become specialists in world
language instruction, building
principals, content supervisors,
and central office administration
should develop a clear under-
standing of dual language immer-
sion. As your core administrative
team grows their understanding

Educational Viewpoints -64- Spring 2019