Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts

Discussion Session (1 hour)

Not language specific though original research was conducted in Spanish

One-Way Second/Foreign Language Immersion

Elementary (K-5)

What role should students' first language play in the immersion classroom? Is there a way to support immersion students as emerging bilinguals while getting them to use the target language more? A collaborative discussion based on original research on students’ motivation and ability to use the target language. 

This discussion session explores a controversial topic in immersion education – that of students’ first language (L1) use during the target language (TL) portion of the school day. Proponents of using the L1 in immersion classrooms claim that the L1 is an important cognitive tool that should be allowed. Many teachers  resist the idea of condoning L1 use in the classroom for fears that the L1 will become predominate.  Unfortunately, teacher opinions are not always seen as the most important voice in the debate.  The ideas that are held in common by all sides is that more research is needed and maximizing TL use is important. How do we go about this as teachers?

Based on the treatment sessions that I conducted with students in my research, we will collaboratively investigate the issue of L1 use in immersion and brainstorm strategies and scaffolds that we think would be useful to increase students’ ability to work through the TL.  Then I will outline the results that I obtained from classroom observation data and interviews.

Guiding questions will include: what value does students’ L1 have in your classroom? What strategies or methods have you found useful for promoting TL use in your classroom? What effect does L1 use and TL use have on students’ learning of the content and of the language?