The Planting of Seeds: Preparing a Community for Two-Way Immersion

Abstract

The examination of TWI programs is a burgeoning field and there is minimal work that specifically focuses on the foundational processes that contribute to implementation of TWI programs in a given school. This case study presented here centers on the agency of a group, the Los Niños Bilingual Coalition, whose expressed purpose was to establish a dual language program in a rural university town. Specifically, the questions guiding this study are: (a) What endeavors (individual and group) serve to lay the foundation for the implementation of a dual language/TWI program? (b) What challenges do groups encounter in their endeavors prior to the implementation of a dual language/TWI program? (c) How do groups respond to challenges faced during the pre-implementation process? These questions were not easily answered and the discussion provided herein provides but a glimpse into all the efforts undertaken to implement a TWI program. In searching for answers to these questions, we hope to provide assistance to others who are interested in implementing a TWI program.