15. Emerging Research and Practices in Immersion Teacher Education

Abstract

Due to their unique place and function in society as well as their position on the educational ladder, universities have had a rather belated encounter with immersion education. In fact, it was not until the late 1970s (Day & Shapson, 1993) that universities in Canada were obliged to address a range of pedagogical issues as a direct result of the growth of immersion education in schools, the increasing number of immersion graduates from schools, and the overall educational success of immersion programs. Naturally, these issues are contextually framed and dependent on the historical development of immersion in each country where immersion education occurs. In countries with larger and longer immersion education traditions, the influence on universities has been greater. Three issues are of particular importance here: (1) the linguistic needs of immersion school graduates at university, (2) principles of immersion pedagogy use at the university level, and (3) immersion teacher education. The latter issue is especially pertinent to broader questions of the preparation of second language teachers and will be addressed here.For studies exploring the nature and levels of language maintenance of immersion graduates after secondary schooling, see Harley (1994), Hart, Lapkin, Swain and Howard (1991), Wesche (1985, 1993), Wesche, Morrison, Ready, and Pawley (1990) for a comprehensive review.

Chinese Immersion Teachers in the U.S: Perceptions and Needs on Their Teacher Preparation Programs

“…Walker and Tedick (2000) previously stated that immersion teachers required the same level of fundamental preparation elements in the teacher preparation programs as the monolingual teachers. Educational philosophy and psychology were listed as two of the foundation studies within teacher preparation programs (Erben, 2004). Thus, the first contributing aspects included educational philosophy and psychology theories and practices, which helped Chinese immersion teachers understand the education system in the U.S.…”

The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2022 Official Conference Proceedings

“…After exploring immersion teachers' characteristics and challenges, researchers further revealed the preparation and professional development needs of immersion teachers; these were expected to be addressed in the current immersion teacher preparation and training programs. Erben (2004) claimed that immersion teacher education should consist of (1) the initial preparation programs that provide pre-service teachers professional education, and (2) the professional development programs where in-service teachers can gain competencies in additional areas. Thus, based on the results, it is proposed that the above-mentioned challenges could be addressed from two perspectives, which are teacher preparation and inservice teacher training and professional development targeted specifically to immersion language education.…”

“…Immersion teacher education programs should provide coherent and distinct instructions to prepare immersion teachers and should not be identified as the extension of foreign language/general teacher education programs (e.g., adding some isolated and mandatory courses) (Day & Shapson, 1993, 1996aErben, 2004). For instance, the pre-service immersion teacher training could offer (1) the background and history knowledge of immersion schools, (2) the philosophy and concept of immersion teaching, and (3) the pedagogy and techniques of teaching immersion classes (Collinson, 1989;Erben, 2004;Koshiyama, 1995).…”

“…Immersion teacher education programs should provide coherent and distinct instructions to prepare immersion teachers and should not be identified as the extension of foreign language/general teacher education programs (e.g., adding some isolated and mandatory courses) (Day & Shapson, 1993, 1996aErben, 2004). For instance, the pre-service immersion teacher training could offer (1) the background and history knowledge of immersion schools, (2) the philosophy and concept of immersion teaching, and (3) the pedagogy and techniques of teaching immersion classes (Collinson, 1989;Erben, 2004;Koshiyama, 1995). Beyond the basic knowledge about immersion education, researchers proposed several key components for the immersion teacher education based on the established immersion education programs in Canada and the prototype immersion teacher training models in the U.S. (Bernhardt & Schrier, 1992;Day & Shapson, 1996b;Erben, 2001;Erben, 2004;Koshiyama, 1995;Lapkin et al, 1990;Majhanovich & Fish, 1988).…”

“…For instance, the pre-service immersion teacher training could offer (1) the background and history knowledge of immersion schools, (2) the philosophy and concept of immersion teaching, and (3) the pedagogy and techniques of teaching immersion classes (Collinson, 1989;Erben, 2004;Koshiyama, 1995). Beyond the basic knowledge about immersion education, researchers proposed several key components for the immersion teacher education based on the established immersion education programs in Canada and the prototype immersion teacher training models in the U.S. (Bernhardt & Schrier, 1992;Day & Shapson, 1996b;Erben, 2001;Erben, 2004;Koshiyama, 1995;Lapkin et al, 1990;Majhanovich & Fish, 1988). To summarize, university-level immersion teacher preparation programs could help immersion teachers develop their knowledge in the following three dimensions, 1) Design curriculums to help teacher candidates understand the curriculum and instruction in the immersion setting, 2) Help teacher candidates understand and accommodate the immersion school environments, 3) Offering teacher candidates more field practicum experience in the language immersion settings.…”