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

This symposium brings together notable immersion researchers from the U.S. and Canada to examine the topic of biliteracy development from a variety of perspectives and contexts, including cross-linguistic associations, predictors of risk for L2 reading difficulty, and program model differences in bilingual writing development.

Symposium (2 hours + 15 minutes)

One-Way Second/Foreign Language Immersion
Co-Official/Regional Language Immersion
Two-Way Bilingual Immersion
One-Way Developmental Bilingual Education
Indigenous Language Immersion

multiple

Pre-K
Elementary (K-5)
Middle School/Junior High
High School
Post-Secondary

Biliteracy Development in Immersion Education: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Intersections

Symposium organized by 

Meleidis Gort, University of Colorado - Boulder

Biliteracy, or the development of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking competencies in more than one language, is the outcome of a multifaceted and dynamic process, and a greater and more complex form of literacy than monoliteracy. It is made that much more complex because language acquisition takes place in a wide range of social contexts in which variation is the norm, and languages and literacies are in a state of constant evolution. Degrees of fluency and expertise vary across contexts, domains, and languages and are expressed along a range of continua (Grosjean, 2008; Hornberger, 1989). While international attention to biliteracy is growing, most of what we know about the development of biliteracy in immersion programs comes from U.S.-based studies dedicated to measuring how well emerging bilingual learners acquire English and English language literacy, particularly in the domain of reading (Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005; Slavin & Cheung, 2005) and Canadian-based studies looking at English-speaking students’ bilingual and biliteracy outcomes in French immersion programs. This symposium brings together notable immersion researchers from the U.S. and Canada to examine the topic of biliteracy development from a variety of perspectives and contexts, including cross-linguistic associations among early elementary emerging bilinguals in Spanish/English parochial immersion programs, predictors of risk for L2 reading difficulty in early total French immersion programs, and program model differences in upper elementary immersion students’ English and Spanish writing development. Collectively, these studies identify and further clarify a range of trajectories to biliteracy in relation to existing theoretical orientations, thereby extending and deepening our understanding of biliterate development across immersion education contexts. The symposium will culminate with a critical discussion of pedagogical and policy implications of the research, as well as future directions for biliteracy research in immersion education programs.

Cross-linguistic Relations among Bilingual and Biliterate Learners: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Convergences

C. Patrick Proctor, Qianqian Zhang and Cristina Hunter, Boston College

In this presentation, the authors have three broad aims. The first aim is to provide an overview of the major theoretical orientations relevant to cross-linguistic associations among bilingual learners. The second aim is to review the extant empirical literature to explore cross-linguistic findings in relation to existing theoretical orientations. The final aim is to provide a set of exploratory longitudinal empirical analyses grounded in findings from Aims 1 and 2. Data are taken from the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) Network for Catholic Schools, and focus specifically on Spanish and English language and literacy development among dual language learners in the early elementary grades (K–2).

Predicting Risk for Second Language Reading Difficulty in Early Immersion Students

Fred Genesee, McGill University

Research on immersion programs, in Canada, the U.S., and Europe has shown that they are generally effective in promoting high levels of functional proficiency in a second language (L2) without jeopardizing students’ first language (L1) or academic development. In order for all students to benefit from bilingualism, it is essential that we have a better scientific understanding of individual differences in student achievement in immersion-type programs and, of particular importance, that we can identify at-risk L2 readers early. This presentation will summarize the results of a longitudinal study (K-3) that sought to identify correlates of individual differences in the L2 reading achievement that can be used to predict risk for later L2 reading impairment. The study was carried out with English-speaking students in an early total French immersion program. Results will be discussed in terms of theoretical models of L2 reading development, early diagnosis of difficulty in L2 reading in immersion programs, and the possibility of early intervention.

Program Model Differences in the Spanish and English Writing Development of Two-way Immersion Students

Elizabeth Howard, University of Connecticut

Drawing on two longitudinal studies of TWI students in the upper elementary grades, this paper contributes to the research base on program model differences by investigating potential differences in English and Spanish writing development. In English, findings from Study 1 confirm earlier findings of an initial advantage for 50/50 students that disappears by 5th grade; however, findings from Study 2 show persistent significant differences favoring 50/50 students through 5th grade. In Spanish, findings from Study 1 likewise replicate earlier studies by showing a consistent, significant difference favoring 90/10 students all grade levels; in contrast, while findings from Study 2 likewise demonstrate a significant difference favoring 90/10 students at all grade levels, there is evidence that the gap is closing over time. During the presentation, these findings will be described in greater detail, and potential reasons for these differences will be explored.