Seventh International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education

Strand V: Teachers, Administrators, Preparation and Professional Learning

Mandarin

A research review reveals that language learners in immersion classrooms prefer to use English (Tedick & Wesley, 2015).  In this collaborative inquiry, five Mandarin teachers, a Teacher on Special Assignment, and a university professor document language use in a one-way 50-50 Mandarin immersion program in a diverse high poverty elementary school.  As collaboration is critical to successful professional development (Cammarata & Haley, 2017; Hood, 2009), each Mandarin teacher paired with a coach to record classroom observations of their colleagues focused on language use.  Research questions for this ethnographic study are:  How do Mandarin immersion teachers view L1 and L2 use?  What pedagogy is used to promote L2 use?  What did Mandarin teachers learn by participating in peer-coaching?  Data collection includes transcripts from teachers’ observations, reflective discussions during which teachers shared observations, and focus group interviews.  Data are analyzed through socio-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1987), with a specific focus on Swain’s output hypothesis (1985).  Presenters engage audience in what they learned through discussion of rich vignettes.

Cammarata, L. & Haley, C. (2018) Integrated content, language, and literacy instruction in a Canadian French immersion context: A professional development journey.  International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(3), 332-348, DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1386617

Hood, S., Navarro, A., & Reynolds, D. (2010, November). Collaboration is key: Evaluation of a dual language immersion (DLI) program in rural Oregon. The ACIE Newsletter, 14(1), 1-14.

Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond:  Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue.  In J. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 97–114). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tedick, D.J., & Wesely, P.M. (2015) A review of research on content-based foreign/second language education in US K-12 contexts. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(1), 25-40, DOI: 10.1080/07908318.2014.1000923

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press.