This exploratory study evaluated the impact of a Spanish second language (L2) domestic immersion (DI) program that was developed expediently at a large university in the United States in response to widespread study abroad (SA) program closures due to COVID-19. Spanish language learners (n = 14) participated in an intensive, six-week summer…

Despite the growing societal demand for multilingual graduates prepared to engage in local and global contexts, programs to meet these demands are scarce, especially in K-8 contexts. When schools do seek to implement programs, stakeholders struggle to choose from the established models because research documenting desired outcomes is lacking.…

Canadian students enrolled in either French-immersion or English-instruction programs were followed from Grades 2 to 3 (M[subscript age] = 7.8 years to 8.9 years; N = 244; 55% girls). In each grade, students completed two mathematical tasks that required oral language processing (i.e., word-problem solving and number transcoding from dictation)…

The last two decades have seen huge changes in the focus of English language education in non-Anglophone countries and jurisdictions around the world. English as a medium of instruction (EMI), as opposed to English as the object of instruction has been burgeoning in many Asian societies. While there is fruitful research on English language…

Generating accurate word-level transcripts of recorded speech for language documentation is difficult and time-consuming, even for skilled speakers of the target language. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) has the potential to streamline transcription efforts for endangered language documentation, but the practical utility of ASR for this purpose…

To what extent can the transformative power and language learning affordances provided by the study abroad experience be virtualized? The large-scale shift away from on-site study abroad to online learning in 2020-2021, caused by the COVID pandemic, has made it possible to compare data for in-person immersion learning versus digitally mediated…

This critical classroom study of language oppression draws from the notion of existing inequalities based on power relations in education research, as addressed in a critical ethnography. This critical classroom study explores the cases of two recent immigrant students, "Manuel" and "Malena," on the -U.S.-Mexican border near El…

With biliteracy as the goal, dual-language immersion programs offer the potential to increase literacy skills across multiple learner demographic characteristics.

The present study seeks to explore the long-term impact of an overseas immersion programme on pre-service teachers' professional learning in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews with 11 pre-service teachers about their immersion experiences and post-immersion learning revealed their professional gains and challenges brought by their exposure to…

Bilingual education has been an educational option in many countries for over 50 years but it remains controversial, especially in terms of its appropriateness for all children. The present review examines research evaluating the outcomes of bilingual education for language and literacy levels, academic achievement, and suitability for children…

The U.S. job market increasingly seeks culturally responsive, multilingual employees a goal poorly aligned with U.S. higher education policies. This paper reviews recent K-16 enrollment in foreign language courses, with a focus on higher education. The individual and societal case for foreign language immersion throughout the educational pipeline…

The 2024 Central States Conference was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 14-16. This year's theme, Reclaim Your Joy!, reflects the choice we make every day as educators to bring the joy of acquiring a language to our students. Even though the last several years have been fraught with challenges, we are finding ways to bring back the joy into…

Reading comprehension performance is predicted by decoding skill and linguistic comprehension (e.g., Hoover & Gough, 1990; Joshi & Aaron, 2012; Scarborough, 2001). However, the type of strategies that readers recruit to build a discourse should also contribute to success in first and second language reading comprehension. Sixty-six French…

The current study analyzes the relationship between elementary school reading achievement and participation in the following language acquisition programs--transitional bilingual, developmental, two-way bilingual immersion, and English immersion. With a focus on the achievement of Spanish-dominant English learners, the study uses multilevel models…

The 2023 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages was held in Columbus, Ohio on March 9-11. This year's theme, Empathy, Equity, and Empowerment is reflective of the vital work educators do in classrooms every day across the country. The Wikipedia definition of empathy is "the capacity to understand or feel what another…