Dual language programs as a strand within a secondary school: dilemmas of school organization and the TWI mission

Abstract

Dual language (DL) programs aim to create additive bilingual learning environments where the dominant language and the minority language are given equal status at the program, curricular, and instructional level. While several studies have documented the effectiveness of DL programs and classroom-based practices, few have considered how the organizational context affects the implementation of effective DL practices when the program is only a strand within the school. The purpose of this study was to consider this question in the context of a middle school two-way immersion (TWI) program through the analysis of teacher interviews, triangulated with student survey and focus group data. Our analysis suggests a basic conflict between effective TWI practices and the middle school structure. We conclude that integrated, interdisciplinary approaches that are systemically supported within the school are necessary to support TWI goals and pluralist discourses.

A first-year middle school science teacher's experiences navigating science content in a Dual Language Immersion Program

“…Erik's primary struggle as a first-year DLI teacher was balancing the teaching and learning of content and language. This mirrors the primary issue facing all DLI teachers (deJong and Bearse, 2012). The middle school DLIP was new, so Erik did not have any guidance in terms of what science content should be less stressed or could be omitted to make room for direct language instruction.…”

“…This study serves to contribute to two important gaps in the research on DLIPs. First, there is a scarcity of research on secondary DLIPs (deJong and Bearse, 2012), especially in the context of science; and, second, a focus on a beginning DLI teacher without DLI training may highlight specific areas in need of attention in preservice teacher preparation programs.…”

“…Program quality must be upheld, balancing content and language instruction is very tricky, allotting the appropriate amount of time to spend in the primary (L1) versus the secondary (L2) language needs to be managed, and finding resources can be time consuming and at times practically impossible, depending on the language (Cammarata and Tedick, 2012; deJong and Bearse, 2012; Howard et al., 2007; Potowski, 2004; Tedick et al., 2014). Another pressing concern is the lack of DLIPs at the secondary level and a corresponding dearth of research on them to inform instructional and program quality (deJong and Bearse, 2012). Additionally, the United States does not have national DLI teacher preparation standards, even though there is a consensus in the field that effective DL teaching demands a very specialized pedagogy (Lachance, 2017).…”

Program design and two-way immersion programs

“…In their study of a TWI strand in a traditionally organized middle school, de Jong and Bearse (2014) illustrate the challenge of maintaining key principles of TWI. In this case, the importance of establishing integrated (TWI and non-TWI) academic 'core' teams and scheduling unintentionally contributed to the marginalization of the Spanish component of the program, thus undermining the equal-status principle of TWI.…”

A Case Study of Dual Language Teaching in Science Class: Implications for Middle Level Teachers

“…Despite the benefits of dual language education for young adolescents and the importance of high quality middle level education for language learning (Gottlieb & Ernst-Slavit, 2014), the majority of the dual language programs in the United States are at the elementary level (Center for Applied Linguistics [CAL], 2012;de Jong & Bearse, 2014;Migration Policy Institute, 2015). One potential reason for the decline in dual language programs beyond elementary school is the national shortage of dual language teachers, especially at the middle and secondary school levels, making it very difficult for states to expand or even sustain dual language programs (Thomas & Collier, 2014).…”