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

Paper/Best Practice Session (1 hour)

English, Spanish

Two-Way Bilingual Immersion

Elementary (K-5)

This research contributes to a growing body of literature on the impact of language policies and the affective experiences of recent immigrants attending dual language immersion classes in the USA. This study reveals recent immigrants' "testimonios" when attending these classes where the rigid or flexible separation of language took place.   

In this investigation, a critical ethnography in elementary education is presented with the findings obtained from the exploration of the schooling experiences of recent immigrants in the USA when placed in dual language immersion classes where separation of languages is a policy (Lee et al, 2008, Collier & Thomas, 2004; Cummins, 2005; Adelman Reyes, 2007). Under this program, language is used as a resource to motivate learning among students working in cooperative groups (Ruiz, 1984; Gomez, Freeman & Freeman, 2005; Kagan, 1995). However, this study revealed how language can be used also as a tool for oppressing people (Bakhtin, 1981; Giltrow, 2003; Heller, 1995). This research reveals recent immigrant students’ voices about their new schooling experiences when language is used as a resource, or as an oppressive tool among these students who were linguistically bullied (linguistic bullying in education) by students who were more proficient in the second language, English. These harassing incidences against recent immigrants took place when the teacher was not able to monitor cooperative work. Recent immigrants uncovered their feelings through their testimonios as used by LatCrit (Ladson-Billings and Tate, 2006) by sharing their counter-narrative stories (Matsuda, 1987; Delgado 1989). This investigation also reveals that recent immigrants encountered a more welcoming learning environment when attending classes where the teacher practiced a flexible approach of separation of languages and was able to monitor group work.