How well do dual-immersion programs serve English learners? (2024)
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
A first-grade boy points out letters of the Korean alphabet in a dual-language immersion classroom.
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
A first-grade boy points out letters of the Korean alphabet in a dual-language immersion classroom.
Zaidee Stavely
June 12, 2023
3 Comments
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If you look at English learners’ third-grade reading scores in English at Dolores Huerta International Academy, a dual-language immersion school in Fontana Unified, you might not be too impressed.
But if you look at how students who began school as English learners do over several years, you see huge growth.
Just 12.5% of English learners in third grade at the school were reading and writing at grade level in 2022, according to their scores on Smarter Balanced, the state’s standardized test. That’s lower than the statewide rate of 16.8%.
But the number of students who were once English learners reading and writing at grade level increases in each grade at the school, surpassing the statewide numbers in fourth grade. In sixth grade, 42.85% of students who were once English learners met or exceeded standards in English language arts, higher than the statewide rate of 34.66%.
These aren’t the same students — that is hard to measure this year because most students didn’t take standardized tests during 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Still, it shows a pattern.
It’s actually a common pattern for dual-language immersion programs. These programs sometimes take longer to get students to proficiency in English, but several studies show that by the end of elementary school, they have at least the same number of students proficient in English as programs that teach students only in English. Longer-term bilingual programs that continue into middle or high school often have better achievement.
In addition, students in dual-immersion programs tend to have better reading and writing skills in their home languages than those who have been taught only in English.
“The problem is using the third grade test scores, when they haven’t been instructed much in English yet,” said Laurie Olsen, a researcher and leading advocate for English learners. “What we know over and over again from research is that by fifth or sixth grade, they’ve both caught up or surpassed in English reading the kids that have been in English-only instruction, and they have literacy in a second language.”
In California, 747 schools had dual-language immersion programs in 2019, according to the California Department of Education. Languages taught include Spanish, Arabic, Hmong, Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese and many others.
Dual-language immersion programs are designed to teach both students who are fluent in English and students who are fluent in another language so that both groups of students retain their home language and learn a second language. Some programs teach students half the day in English and half in the other language starting in kindergarten. Other programs teach students mostly in the language other than English in kindergarten and gradually add more English each year.
It’s hard to track exactly how English learners do over time because the English learner population is constantly changing. As children become fluent in English, they are reclassified as “fluent and proficient in English” and are no longer counted in the English learner group. As new children immigrate and enroll, they are added to the English learner group.
At the same time, the group of students who have been reclassified as fluent in English by definition does well, since proficiency is a requirement to be reclassified.
A more accurate way to track achievement over time is to look at “ever English learners,” a group that includes both students learning English and those who were once classified as English learners but are now classified as fluent in English.
Many school districts point to their dual-language programs as helping English learners do better in school.
Still, dual-language immersion programs vary in achievement and still have room to improve, some researchers point out.
In a recent paper, Claude Goldenberg, professor emeritus at Stanford University, and Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, bilingual speech-language pathologist, wrote that bilingual education can help students “become bilingual and biliterate” and “attain modestly higher levels of English proficiency, including English literacy skills.” Still, they wrote, many students do not attain fluency within six years, becoming long-term English learners, even in bilingual programs, including dual-immersion programs.
“By itself bilingual education will not lead to educational equity for English learners. If it is to succeed in doing so, it must incorporate findings from other streams of research — and work toward findings yet to come,” they wrote.
Martha Dueñas, director of multilingual programs and services at Fontana Unified, said that in dual-language programs like Dolores Huerta International Academy, teachers must focus both on language development in Spanish and English and reading and writing in both languages. The academy follows a 90/10 model, meaning that they teach 90% in Spanish in kindergarten and gradually add more English until they are teaching 50% in English and 50% in Spanish.
“For instance, in the early grades, in the 90/10 model, we only have 10% in English. You have to make the best use of that time,” said Dueñas.
The principal of Dolores Huerta International Academy, Sandra Loudermilk, said the school has made a conscious effort to help students achieve fluency in English by the time they graduate.
“Our program is still really young, but we’re really focusing on making sure that our students reclassify before they leave us,” said Loudermilk. “We really want to make sure that by the time they leave us, they are speaking, reading, writing in both languages.”
Loudermilk said that means focusing on reading and writing skills and speaking, using academic language in both languages. She said, teachers give students a lot of time to do group work where they discuss their work.
“That’s where it’s really important that we have the [native] English and the [native] Spanish speakers,” Loudermilk said. “That’s where they’re able to clarify for each other; they teach each other; they work well together, and that’s where they’re developing oral skills.”
She described visiting a fourth grade classroom where students had to create an instrument out of recycled materials and then present in front of the class about how they made it.
Loudermilk said she makes sure that teachers have a list of their English learners at the beginning of the school year, and their latest scores on the English Language Proficiency Assessment of California, the state’s standardized test of English proficiency for students who do not speak English at home.
Teachers also look at students’ data from the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress test, which is given to students in the district every year from kindergarten to 10th grade and measures student achievement based on common core standards both in English Language Arts and Spanish Language Arts. The school also uses Istation to test students’ reading skills in Spanish. If a student is doing better in Spanish, then teachers can see whether those skills might be transferable to English or not, Loudermilk said.
Loudermilk said it’s important for teachers to be able to see their students’ strengths and weaknesses so they can target those skills.
“As a classroom teacher, you’re so overwhelmed with everything that you need to be given that time to really look at where the kids are at, really digging deep into where their weaknesses are so we can be targeting it,” Loudermilk said.
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Dr. BillConrad3 weeks ago3 weeks ago
It is good to see data visualizations in this fine article. However, charts representing ELA proficiency need to include the full range from 0 to 100 on the y-axis so as not to exaggerate small differences in performance using a truncated range on the y-axis.
In order to accurately track how well students do in dual immersion programs, researchers and educators need to track all the students who started in the dual enrollment program because many unsuccessful students drop out as well as students who are experiencing housing insecurity and poverty (which research has shown those students often struggle). So if you look at the 6th grade class at the school highlighted -Dolores Huerta in Fontana there are currently 80 … Read More
In order to accurately track how well students do in dual immersion programs, researchers and educators need to track all the students who started in the dual enrollment program because many unsuccessful students drop out as well as students who are experiencing housing insecurity and poverty (which research has shown those students often struggle).
So if you look at the 6th grade class at the school highlighted -Dolores Huerta in Fontana there are currently 80 6th graders; however back in 2016-2017 when that cohort was in kindergarten, there were 112 students. What happened to the 32 students who dropped out from the program? On their website they say the are not accepting any applications but if you are coming from another dual enrollment school, you can call the office. I really hope they are not screening students at a public school.
The school I am at is the closest school to a dual enrollment school in another district and the students that are struggling are encouraged to enroll in our school into an English-only program. So the dual enrollment school is only keeping the successful students while students who are so incredibly behind in oral English as well as reading and writing in English (because they are being taught how to first write and read in Spanish) are enrolling in our school. So by 6th grade the dual enrollment school looks like it is doing a fantastic job but in reality they just push out many of the lowest students.
Dr. Bill Conrad3 weeks ago3 weeks ago
Our English Learners deserve way better than to wait 6 years to acquire English and get reclassified. And fewer than 1/2 of the EL children are proficient in English by sixth grade!You can bet that if white children had to learn a new language in order to achieve academic success, there would be much more urgency placed on acquiring proficiency in that language! They certainly would not be intermingled with Brown native speakers and … Read More
Our English Learners deserve way better than to wait 6 years to acquire English and get reclassified. And fewer than 1/2 of the EL children are proficient in English by sixth grade!
You can bet that if white children had to learn a new language in order to achieve academic success, there would be much more urgency placed on acquiring proficiency in that language! They certainly would not be intermingled with Brown native speakers and slowed down to learning the new language at a 10% clip!
We can do better!
Let’s make the teaching of English the number one priority for our English learners using the science of how children learn English. Let’s add a little urgency to the effort.
The ability of our English Learners to acquire English should not be impeded by white parents hoping their children can pick up a little Spanish or Chinese.
First language and cultural enhancement is important too and can be worked on in after school and summer school programs. Not at the expense of second language acquisition though.
Dare I suggest that governance and administration might want to slow ELs down in order to continue the flow of EL dollars into the system? I witnessed such chicanery within the Santa Clara Unified School District. The state slapped the District on the wrist for not distributing EL funds to schools as required by state and federal laws.
Longer-term bilingual programs that continue into middle or high school often have better achievement. In addition, students in dual-immersion programs tend to have better reading and writing skills in their home languages than those who have been taught only in English.
Dual-language immersion programs help English learners develop their skills in their native language while also learning English more quickly than students in English-only programs.
* Promotes maintenance of both languages and both minorities. ELLs and English proficient students. Both Groups learn from each other. View students as gifted and its a type of inclusion of language.
Students learn languages more easily at an early age. Immersing and instructing students in a second language provides an effective vehicle for students to learn to speak, read and write fluently in both languages by fifth grade. Students develop cultural literacy as well as enhanced cognitive skills.
Some experienced teachers always say that bilingual education is the best option when compared to English immersion. Others, on the other hand, say English immersion is better because the student will have a better experience with the language and its culture.
Increased ability to solve problems, think creatively and recognize patterns. Improved academic performance. Enhanced linguistic awareness and understanding of an individual's native language. Increased ability to apply concepts to novel situations.
There are tangible benefits to being bilingual—it can improve your brain and memory functions, boost your creativity and self-esteem, help in your career opportunities, as well as increase your understanding of the language you already speak.
By enrolling in a language immersion program, students will benefit from greater attention to detail. In addition to improved attention to detail, children will see improvements in their learning. Those who pursue a second language may process information much more efficiently.
Research has concluded that students who use immersion practices in their learning not only become more proficient more quickly, but also tend to demonstrate greater confidence when using the new language.
Language immersion programs introduce a new language along with the cultural background the language is associated with. These programs are an excellent way for students to learn another language and become bilingual.
The results show that while students in English immersion programs perform better in the short term, over the long term students in classrooms taught in two languages not only catch up to their English immersion counterparts, they eventually surpass them both academically and linguistically.
Immersion-based learning means learning a language in the most natural and authentic way possible. Immersion is a fantastic way to learn a language, because it allows you to truly experience almost all aspects of life in the language you're learning.
Pros. Bilingual education may help limited English proficient students keep up in other subjects while they learn English. Bilingual education helps limited English proficient students develop language skills in their native (non-English) language.
Bilingual education can often be the most effective when children are beginning preschool or elementary school. If children grow up speaking Spanish as their primary language, it can be difficult for them to be placed in English-speaking elementary schools and be expected to understand their teachers and classmates.
Bilingual method means using one language (mother tongue) which the students have mastered in learning English. The mother tongue is learnt by the child in real life situations and thus has various ideas and concepts in his mind because of the direct experience.
There are tangible benefits to being bilingual: It can help you in your career;It can improve your memory and brain functions;It can help increase your understanding of the languages you already speak.
This research concludes that ESL and ELL programs are effective when it comes to non-native English speakers achieving academic success in their education because of the incorporation of other material, such as language arts, rather than focusing solely on language acquisition, and that the inclusion of another ...
Expand academic vocabulary. Develop confidence in speaking/listening and reading/writing, including formal and informal registers. Learn to monitor and self-correct their linguistic output. Develop fluency in the use of higher-level grammatical structures.
If you want to travel and explore different cultures, you need to be able to speak English. In many cases, it is the only common language that people from different countries will understand. ESL courses can help improve your communication and pronunciation skills, so you can travel the world with ease.
The process of becoming bilingual through dual language education empowers students. As they strengthen their voice and identity in their first language, they also develop their voice in the second language.
Yes, it certainly can. Research consistently finds that children in language immersion programmes both develop sophisticated second language skills and score as well as their non-immersion peers in reading (in English) and math. And they sometimes perform better than their non-immersion peers.
Con: Your child may resist their new language While your child will learn a lot and learn it quickly, it can take many years to achieve advanced fluency in a new language (especially Chinese). It will become frustrating at some point and your child may appear to hate everything about their new language.
What Is Immersion? One way of looking at immersion is that it's a way of joining the culture of the language that you're learning. In the case of English, you could use immersion by watching English-language movies, reading English-language books and even eating food from English-speaking countries.
Enhanced cognitive skills: immersion students typically develop greater cognitive flexibility, demonstrating increased attention control, better memory, and superior problem solving skills as well as an enhanced understanding of their primary language.
However, if you take an English immersion course with 5 hours or lessons a day plus 2 more hours of studying and practice, it would take just 102 days for you to learn English. Assuming you don't have classes on weekends, that's about 6 months.
A good rule of thumb is that you can expect to be conversational in a language within 6-12 months of dedicated study and practice. This means that you'll be able to hold basic conversations and understand most of what is being said. To reach fluency, you'll likely need to dedicate at least 2-3 years to the language.
True language fluency requires consistent effort and time, and while 500 – 1,000 hours may seem like a lot, a typical person could probably invest that level of time over 12 – 18 months, with the right study schedule.
Anything short of that may help you learn a few words and phrases, but you won't get close to fluency. But immersion isn't as crucial to language learning as people may think. The truth is that immersion isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
The most recent major study on language learning and age was conducted by researchers at Harvard and MIT. It concluded that starting to learn a new language before age 10 will give a learner the best chance of achieving proficiency similar to that of a native speaker. Why before 10 years old?
Yet all research points to the exact opposite–not only that, but bilingual students pick up certain pre-reading skills faster than their monolingual classmates. In fact, bilingualism is associated with many other cognitive benefits like stronger multitasking skills, creativity, and working memory.
The objective is to help students who do not identify English as their primary language learn English. These programs are extremely important, as the teacher strives to help students acquire English proficiency in order to succeed academically in English-based curriculum schools.
Students gain a sense of understanding of different cultures and learn the basics of multiple languages. It enhances students' levels of metalinguistic awareness, which is important in reading instruction. Dual language instruction can also open the door to additional employment opportunities after school.
Dual language learning in preschool is tremendously beneficial to children because it helps build executive function, empathy, cognitive flexibility, cultural connections, and fluency. That's why our Early Childhood Center offers a dual language track for your child to actively learn in both English and Hebrew.
The goal of an ESL program is to improve the students' level of English. ESL classes teach different language skills, depending on students' English abilities, interests, and needs. All programs teach the following: conversational English, grammar, reading, listening comprehension, writing, and vocabulary.
ESL programs are classes or coursework that are designed to help students who will learn English as a language which is not their primary language. While ESL stands for English as a second Language, some students are actually learning it as their third, fourth or even fifth language.
The goals of dual language education are to help students: Become bilingual and biliterate with high levels of proficiency in both languages. Perform at or above grade level in academic areas in both languages. Develop positive cross-cultural attitudes and global understanding.
The goals of dual language are for students to develop high levels of language proficiency and literacy in both program languages, to demonstrate high levels of academic achievement, and to develop an appreciation for and an understanding of diverse cultures.
Longer-term bilingual programs that continue into middle or high school often have better achievement. In addition, students in dual-immersion programs tend to have better reading and writing skills in their home languages than those who have been taught only in English.
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Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
