Immersion in Finland in the 1990s: A state of development and expansion

Cognitive Advantage in Children Enrolled in a Second-Language Immersion Elementary School Program for One Year

“…Moreover, L2 English classes are taught either by L2 native-like teachers or by individuals with equivalent native-like L2 mastery (Comblain & Rondal, 2001). Since its development in the beginning of 1960s in Canada, the number of schools (in different countries around the world) implementing a CLIL program has increased dramatically (Bjorklund, 1997; O Duibhir, 2009). The CLIL method is of particular interest in bilingual research because it offers the opportunity to assess cognitive L2 effects under particularly homogenous learning conditions.…”

An International Comparison of Socially Constructed Language Learning Motivation and Beliefs

“…A final line of research has reflected the assumption that the success of language learners depends on possibilities for involvement in a variety of foreign language ''communities of practice'' (Peirce, 1995;Toohey & Day, 1999). Yet many European and Asian countries have successfully produced learners with the functional ability in foreign languages to carry on a conversation or to read and write high school-level texts, even with little or no possibility for the learners to have such involvement (Bjö rklund, 1997;Duff, 1997;Eng, Gan, & Sharpe, 1997;Johnson, 1997). Given that researchers hold these widely divergent views on the need for involvement in communities of practice, we suggest that motivation, beliefs, and attitudes that govern the success or failure of foreign language acquisition depend on contextual factors (Kouritzin, 2004), such as a nation's sociocultural contexts (Nieto, 1999;Pennycook, 1994) and its historical legacy (Canagarajah, 1999;Phillipson, 1992).…”

Teacher education and professional development for immersion and content-based instruction

“…Finnish immersion research initially also had a product-oriented emphasis for the same reasons as in Canada, that is, to reassure educators, parents and administrators that immersion is able to keep up with the expected language and content objectives ). It soon became obvious that the results in Swedish immersion in Finland were in tune with the Canadian results with an overall conclusion that the programme is successful (Björklund 1997). The strong interest in language teaching pedagogy at the University of Vaasa, the immersion contacts established to Catalonia, and the changing emphasis of the Canadian immersion research directed in a natural way the interest in Finnish immersion research to classroom processes and immersion pedagogy ).…”