Seventh International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education

Strand I: Pedagogy & Assessment

Not Language Specific

For students to develop as full bilinguals requires practitioners to understand the process by which students learn language and the instructional implications that arise when the demands of curricula content rises to the level of abstractness and concept development.  The learning challenge confronting middle and high school dual language students is cognitively demanding, in both content and language complexity.  As practitioners develop cognitive language with students (bilingually), the understanding that one version of any assessment strategy cannot accurately reflect the learning by students with varying levels of language proficiency, is central to documenting growth overtime. Text complexity, with ineffective scaffolding and assessments with limited-scope, presents huge consequences for students developing bilingual competence and negotiating cognitively demanding content.  The challenge for practitioners is having a clear sense of how to scaffold instruction and use formative assessments effectively to support students and ensure all students are positioned to access the learning.