Building and destroying students’ ‘academic identities’: the power of discourse in a two‐way immersion classroom

Program design and two-way immersion programs

“…This accommodation may inadvertently prevent access to more advanced or complex Spanish for the native Spanish speakers (de Jong & Howard, 2009). Palmer (2008) adds that mediating class differences can be challenging for teachers, particularly when programs enroll students with disparate SES backgrounds (see also Palmer, Ballinger, & Peter, this issue). Despite growing diversity in TWI enrollment, minority students are still more likely to come from lower SES backgrounds.…”

“…Oftentimes, these students come to school speaking non-standard varieties of English and their cultural experiences and socialization in a more racialized sociopolitical context often differ from those of immigrant Latino or Anglo students (e.g., Abbate-Vaughn, 2004). In particular, the role of African American students' home language patterns in TWI (how are they validated and related to standard English) and how their identities and experiences are given space in the curriculum (Anberg-Espinoza, 2008;Boone, 2008;Parchia, 2000) are two major areas in need of better understanding.…”

Fostering intercultural understanding through secondary school experiences of cultural immersion

“…The majority of research on immersion education has focused on language immersion such as foreign language learning and bilingual schools or two-way immersion programmes (Bearse & de Jong, 2008;Palmer, 2008;Tedick, Christian, & Williams, 2011). Other studies have considered other immersion approaches such as short-term place-based programmes in inner-city, rural and/or indigenous communities or education settings (e.g.…”

Bilingual education in the United States: an historical overview and examination of two-way immersion

“…In the United States, the two languages most often involved in TWI programs are English and Spanish (Howard and Sugarman 2001). This program is designed to help language-minority students achieve additive bilingualism, as well as to help native English-speaking students acquire second language skills in a natural way (Palmer 2008). TWI programs in the United States were modeled somewhat off the Canadian French immersion program for native English-speaking students, which started in 1965 (Genesee 2004).…”