English Immersion Research Articles

New York City English and second generation Chinese Americans

Although Chinese Americans set up Chinese heritage language schools as early as 1848 to preserve the heritage language and to promote a sense of ethnic identity among their American-born children (Chao, 1997), there is strong evidence that language shift to English is taking place rather rapidly within the Chinese communities across the U.S. Data from the 2006 ACS show that while only 34.1 percent of first generation (i.e. foreign-born) Chinese Americans reported speaking ‘English very well’, the percentages rise dramatically for those who are American-born (i.e. second generation and beyond) or born overseas but arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16 (i.e. the 1.5 generation). 70.4 percent of the 1.5 generation and 93.8 percent of the American-born Chinese Americans reported speaking ‘English very well’. Additionally, only about 27.6 percent of the ABCs were estimated to speak their heritage language at home. Taken together, these estimates suggest that the rate of shift from Chinese to English is accelerating. Jia (2008) finds that even for first generation Chinese Americans, their Chinese language skills continue to decline with increasing English immersion. Rapid language shift to English means that many ABCs speak English as one of their native languages, if not the only one. This raises interesting sociolinguistic questions concerning the characteristics of the English spoken by ABCs and how ABCs utilize varieties of English to construct and negotiate differences with respect to each other and vis-à-vis the larger social structure.

Identity and Motivation Among Hispanic ELLs

This study examined the degree to which student-level variables that have been established in the relevant literature as predicting academic achievement (perception of scholastic competence, perceptions of educational opportunities, motivation, and acculturative stress) accurately predicted student group membership in two districts with disparate language acquisition methods (Structured English Immersion and bilingual education) . The samples included Hispanic English Language Learners (ELLs) in middle elementary school, ages 9-11 (N= 295). Students' perceptions of scholastic competence, perceptions of educational opportunities, motivation, and acculturative stress contributed to the accurate prediction of 73.3% of the participants' group membership. Post-hoc analyses of group differences resulted in moderately higher scholastic competence and perceived educational opportunities for ELLs in the Texas district, whereas acculturative stress, perceived discrimination, and maladaptive motivation scores were moderately higher for ELLs in the Arizona district. ELLs in the SEI group, however, also had slightly higher scores on adaptive motivation. Competing hypotheses and policy implications are discussed in the context of prior research.

Writing in Late Immersion Biology and History Classes in Hong Kong

Previous research has shown that late immersion education in Hong Kong is not achieving the dual curriculum goals of content and second language learning which a late immersion curriculum can expect. This article presents a case study of writing in four late English immersion classes in Hong Kong, two in Biology and two in History, examining whether and how some of the teaching and learning processes with respect to writing support content and language learning. The study analyzed 285 samples of student writing using a writing analysis framework that reflects features of both content and language learning. The writing analysis, along with contextual data from teacher and student interviews and a teacher questionnaire, indicate that students demonstrate little content and language learning in their writing. The data suggest that the writing pedagogy adopted may partly explain the unsatisfactory learning outcomes. A major reason for adoption of the pedagogy seems to lie in the teachers’ and students’ views of the role of copying and memorization in writing and in learning, views which are characteristic of the Chinese educational context. Implications for writing teacher education within an immersion curriculum where the immersion language is from a different educational culture are discussed.

Globalization and Korean History Education in English in Korea

This paper focuses on the intimate relationship between increased English immersion education in Korean universities and the Korean government’s globalization policy. University rankings led to an increase in the number of the foreign professors and foreign students. Korean history departments are no exceptions, and being able to lecture in English is often an important requirement for new hires and foreign professors is teaching in Korean history. We need to find various ways to ensure that there are enough Korean historians educated in Korea who are competent to teach in English. It seems to be essential to nurture scholars who are knowledgeable about both Korean and Western versions of Korean history and who are able to teach Korean history in English from these two perspectives. Additionally, it is important to increase the number of Korean history textbooks which Korean academics write and translate. Such textbooks convey Korean scholars’ perspectives on Korean history. It is not only Korean students, but also foreign students who study abroad, who are able to learn the Korean version of Korean history by using textbooks produced by Korean academics.

Contextual effects of bilingual programs on beginning reading.

This study of 1,338 Spanish-speaking 1st graders examined contextual effects of bilingual programs on reading comprehension and the effect of language of instruction within these contexts. The study included 128 classrooms in 32 schools located in border Texas and in urban Texas and California. These classrooms used either English immersion or Spanish maintenance bilingual programs. Detailed observations of teachers' instructional language were made, sampled within the year. The analyses allowed classroom-level differences to be separated from student-level differences, and for Spanish and English passage comprehension to be considered simultaneously. While mean differences between programs were reduced for English passage comprehension, maintenance programs still outperformed immersion programs in Spanish. Results also indicated large program and locale covariance differences at the classroom level, implying important differences in how these programs operate in these locales.

Vocabulary knowledge and growth in immersion and regular language-learning programmes in Hong Kong

The aim of this study was to investigate vocabulary knowledge and growth across two different language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. The two programmes compared were English immersion programmes (IM) and regular English second-language programmes (RL2). While previous research has identified an overall advantage to IM with respect to language development, comparatively little research on vocabulary development in IM has examined the potential interaction between different types of words (in terms of frequency levels) and different types of vocabulary (passive versus active). Furthermore, very little work has compared these two specific educational contexts in Hong Kong with respect to vocabulary growth. Therefore, three different aspects of vocabulary were measured: passive, controlled active and free active word knowledge at different word-frequency levels in grade 7 and grade 9 students in both IM and RL2. The Vocabulary Levels Tests measured students' knowledge of passive and controlled active vocabulary, whereas students' writing was analysed with the Lexical Frequency Profiles to estimate their free active vocabulary knowledge. Overall, IM students outperform their counterparts in RL2 concerning their knowledge of different types of vocabulary at various frequency levels. IM students also experience a more rapid growth in their vocabulary knowledge, especially for the most frequent 2000 words and academic vocabulary. Such findings support the claim that IM can provide a more favourable context for L2 vocabulary learning than regular L2. The results of the present study are discussed in terms of wider implications for vocabulary learning and the effectiveness of the IM programmes implemented in Hong Kong.

Causal Model Study on the Antecedent Variables of Commercial High School Student's Intention to Adopt English Immersion Program

Causal Model Study on the Antecedent Variables of Commercial High School Student's Intention to Adopt English Immersion Program

Challenges for Latino Educators Crossing Symbolic, Cultural, and Linguistic Boundaries: Coming to Voice in Teacher Preparation with Competing Voices

This article reports on a teacher education program's preparation of bilingual paraeducators during a period of conflicting educational reform of structured English immersion in Massachusetts. Drawing on nexus analysis of discourses (R. Scollon & S. W. Scollon, 2004), we discuss factors faced by Latino educators. These include competing discourses, historical institutional inequities, and boundaries circumscribing the interactions between university and communities. Through the use of a participant's text as a re-semiotized means of representing the new potentials that bilingual paraeducators bring to the field of teacher education, “cultural bumps” emerge and directions for teacher education are presented.

Evaluation of a support intervention for senior secondary school English immersion

This paper reports on part of an evaluation of a 2-year program providing preparatory support for 430 Cantonese Chinese-native-speaking students switching from Chinese to English-medium instruction late in their secondary schooling, mainly because of aspiration to English-medium tertiary study. Focusing quantitatively and qualitatively on scientific English achievement, the paper addresses the content or cognitive–academic dimension, so far as underrepresented in English-as-foreign-language research, as is senior secondary school immersion itself. While no direct cause-effect relationship between the program and achievement levels was to be claimed, the observed differences between program participants and non-participants were ultimately minimal. Reasons proposed for the intervention’s outcome seemed mainly related to key stakeholders’ apparent limited awareness of cognitive–academic language and its development. The discussion identifies factors arguably crucial for support programs for senior secondary school academic study through English-as-foreign-language.

A study of English immersion classes in elementary schools through reflective teaching journals

This paper investigates English immersion classes in elementary schools through reflective teaching journals Two male and three female immersion teachers from Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do participated in the study A total of 80 teaching journals were collected from the immersion teachers and analyzed under the 6 categories of the main issues from English immersion classes The categories include the preparation for immersion classes, the development of immersion materials, language choice patterns, subject content learning, and evaluation of the immersion classes The analysis of the teaching journals showed that there were various crucial aspects in the immersion classes in terms of immersion teachers' motivation and attitudes, class preparation and management, and roles of teachers and students Based on the results of the study some suggestions are made for developing and maintaining English immersion programs in elementary schools in the future

Investigating Mediations in Student Activities in an English Immersion Context in Mainland China

This study aims to investigate the role of mediation in the learning process from a sociocultural perspective, activity theory in particular. This study was carried out in a primary English immersion school within the CCUEI Programs in Mainland China. Data were collected mainly through observations and interviews, which were then supplemented by field notes. Techniques of discourse analysis were used to analyze the data. The recorded peer talk presents an emic picture of what occurred during children’s interactions. Research findings show that mediation includes task, teacher talk, peer talk, subject content, semiotic artifacts and other semiotic tools. Peer talk as well as linguistic resources constitutes an important resource aside from teacher talk, where the subject content serves as an important mediational tool in the activity and the content-based immersion programs, while offering students opportunities of using the language in meaningful interactions. The results offer insights to both students and teachers about language learning and about pedagogy and professional education respectively.

Pictures and words: Spanish and English vocabulary in classrooms.

The current study evaluated the relation between Spanish and English vocabulary. Whereas previously reported correlations have revealed strong differences among types of vocabulary measures used and the ages of the students tested, no prior study had used a multilevel model to control for classroom-level differences, The current study used multiple measures of vocabulary-picture vocabulary and narrative production tasks-in multilevel models of 1,300 Spanish-speaking students in 247 kindergarten and 1st-grade classrooms in English immersion and bilingual transitional programs. The current results highlight the need to separate classroom effects from student effects, since for vocabulary measures, student-level correlations were strongly biased toward zero when classroom-level correlations were opposite in direction from student-level correlations. Most important, the current results support a strong distinction between types of vocabulary measure (e.g., picture vs. narrative) and suggest sizable influence of instruction for questions of bilingual performance.

Immersion and CLIL in English: more differences than similarities

In ELT literature, the reader often finds the terms Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and immersion used interchangeably, even though there are important differences between them. These two labels usually appear as generic terms covering any kind of teaching in which an L2 is used to teach content. In this article, we attempt to unravel this ambiguity from the Spanish context, describing from a psycholinguistic and methodological point of view the aspects they share and, above all, their main differences. Although CLIL can be implemented in different foreign languages, the fact is that English is the language overwhelmingly used as a means of instruction in most European countries (Eurydice. 2006. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) at School in Europe. Brussels: European Commission).

A study of basic vocabulary for integrated English education: Building ECI learners’ dictionary

English and Content Learning (ECI) has long been the study of elementary English education. It has recently emerged due to the introduction of English immersion. In the past ECI learning experiences, teachers in practice demanded for the provision of an ECI dictionary to support ECI teaching and learning in elementary school settings. This study is an important step towards responding to the need for developing a supporting dictionary for ECI classes. The ECI dictionary development was based on elementary school textbooks with focuses on social studies, math and science. The total number of 1,719 cognitive academic word entries was selected based on a frequency list and expert knowledge. The micro-structure of these entries was piloted and revised reflecting feedback received from teachers with two different approaches to teaching vocabulary. Final structure of cognitive academic entries includes form, structure, content and learning box. The outcome was an extracted list of head words and the dictionary information according to the micro-structure of form, structure, content and learning box. The ECI dictionary will provide teachers who are using any form of ECI with a referential support for target word information, usage and use, learning materials.

The Development of English Immersion Education in Korea

Ever since immersion was first introduced to ELT in Korea, a variety of English immersion programs have been developed and implemented. They include ‘English camp’ or ‘English village’, ‘Teaching English in English (TEE)’, 'Content-based English instruction (CBEI),' and a total immersion school. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of these English immersion programs in terms of their current state, the characteristic features, and the major issues and challenges. It was suggested for a successful implementation of English immersion education in Korean ELT context that a general consensus should be made on the goal of teaching English in general and immersion education in particular. Developing additive, balanced bilingualism was suggested as a more desirable goal than focusing on L2 acquisition only. Proper teacher education focusing on teacher collaboration was also emphasized.

The Effect of Maternal Language on Bilingual Children's Vocabulary and Emergent Literacy Development During Head Start and Kindergarten

This investigation examined the impact of maternal language and children's gender on bilingual children's vocabulary and emergent literacy development during 2 years in Head Start and kindergarten. Seventy-two mothers and their children who attended English immersion programs participated. Questionnaires administered annually over a 3-year period revealed that mothers increased their usage of English to their children. In addition, more mothers of sons reported using “More or All English” with their children than mothers of daughters. Growth curve modeling indicated that increased usage of English did not impact children's English vocabulary or emergent literacy development. However, increased usage of English slowed the growth of children's Spanish vocabulary. Despite differences in mother-to-child language usage, gender did not impact growth in either language. These findings provide evidence that maternal usage of Spanish does not negatively affect children's developing English vocabulary or emergent literacy abilities. Maternal usage of Spanish appears necessary to maximize children's developing Spanish vocabulary.

A longitudinal study of English and Japanese vowel production by Japanese adults and children in an English immersion setting.

The effect of age of acquisition on first‐ and second‐language vowel production was investigated. Eight English vowels were produced three times in two different words each by 16 native Japanese (NJ) adults and children as well as 16 age‐matched native English (NE) speaking adults. Productions were recorded shortly after the NJ participants’ arrival in the United States and then 1 year later. In agreement with previous investigations [Aoyama et al., J. Phonetics 32, 233–250 (2004)], children were able to learn faster, leading to higher accuracy than adults in a year’s time. Based on acoustic measurements, NJ adults had more accurate production at Time 1 but made no changes across time. The NJ children, on the other hand, showed significant differences from NE children’s productions for /ɪ/, /ε/, /ɑ/, /ʌ/, and /U/ at Time 1, but produced all eight vowels in a native‐like manner at Time 2. A follow up examination of NJ children’s productions of Japanese /i/, /a/, /u/ revealed significant changes for Japanese /i/ and /a/ related to L2 learning. The results suggest that L2 vowel production is heavily affected by age of acquisition and that there is a dynamic interaction between first‐ and second‐language vowels. [Work supported by NIH.]

Assessing the long-term effects of an experimental bilingual–multicultural programme: implications for drop-out prevention, multicultural development and immigration policy

The principal objective of this study was to investigate the long-term (35–36 years) effects of a K-3 bilingual–multicultural programme by studying the former Mexican–American participants and controls as adults in their 30s and 40s. The controls were enrolled in an English immersion programme and were matched to the experimental programme participants in terms of ethnicity, generation level and SES; attendance at the same school; and residence in the same community. The two groups were compared on WRAT-3 achievement scores, high school graduation rates, fluency in English and Spanish, cultural values and on reported multicultural participation. A small sample of participants from each of the groups also participated in intensive interviews to assess their opinions about Proposition 227, bilingualism and recent immigrants from Mexico. Our data supported the findings of previous long-term bilingual programme effectiveness studies that showed that two-way/maintenance programmes are related to long-term academic achievement, increased high school graduation rates and do not delay Americanisation or interfere with academic performance in English. All participants, regardless of group, opposed Proposition 227 and viewed new immigrants as positively impacting their communities. They also perceived bilingualism as an asset contributing to their quality of life.

“Um, They Weren't Thinking About Their Thinking”: Children's Talk About Issues of Oppression

This article presents first and second grade children's talk about issues of language diversity and culture. Children focus on the issue of oppression and initially examine oppressors in their talk within literature circles across a year in a Sheltered English Immersion classroom. Drawing on a critical literacy framework and anti-bias perspective, the article offers an examination into how young bilingual children grapple with critical issues connected to multicultural children's literature in the classroom. The article ends with some consideration regarding assisting young children to become advocates for issues of social justice.

An Evaluation of the English Immersion Approach in the Teaching of Finance in China

The English immersion teaching approach adopted by SEIB of GDUFS in China was developed on the basis of the immersion theory which was originally developed in North America. Its purpose is to create a learning environment in which the students acquire knowledge in business with English as the main carrier. The adoption of this approach aims to cultivate students with qualifications in both English language proficiency and business knowledge and skills. EDIF is one of the departments within SEIB that has implemented this approach since its establishment in 2001. The paper analyzes the implementation of English immersion teaching approach in the teaching of finance in EDIF from the perspectives of curriculum design, teacher training and recruitment, textbook selection and compilation and classroom teaching. Finally by comparing the results of language proficiency tests of EDIF students and those of the English majors of other colleges in China and by analyzing the employment situation of EDIF graduates, this paper concludes that students of EDIF outperform the other college students in both English language proficiency and employment competitive advantage. This indicates that English immersion teaching approach adopted by EDIF is effective and successful in the cultivation of students in both English proficiency and business knowledge.