This article explores the possibilities of a linguistically expansive orientation to two-way immersion (TWI), a bilingual model that has traditionally adopted a "double monolingual" approach to bilingual learning/ers. To illustrate an expansive perspective, we present two case studies undertaken at the same bilingual school that explored…

Immersion students' language abilities are generally characterized by strong receptive skills (listening, reading) and less developed productive skills (speaking, writing) when compared with L1 speakers of the immersion language (e.g., Allen et al. 1990; Cummins 1998; Harley 1992). In this paper we report results from a six-month mixed-methods…

During a classroom-based study, eight- to ten-year-old students had multiple opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding about semiotic resources for meaning-making in picturebooks and graphic novels. Instruction during the study included a variety of activities that focussed on a selection of elements of visual art and design, and…

In this article, we analyze the plurilingualism of instructors and their students in a program taught through the medium of French at a multilingual, Anglophone university in Western Canada. We employ the lenses of plurilingualism and plurilingual competence in the analysis of data from a one-year qualitative study of plurilingualism across the…

This article examines translanguaging that occurs in and as a community. Expanding the notion of translanguaging, we conceptualize "community translanguaging" as collaborative meaning-making among children, their family and community members, and their collective semiotic resources. Using a family literacy project as the research site,…

This qualitative study examines students' perceptions of their bilingualism in a school that is attempting to disrupt inequalities through the promotion of social justice through bilingual/bicultural education. In order to understand students' perspectives of their bilingualism in Arizona's restrictive policy context, the researchers apply…

This study investigated a new writing task that utilizes drawing to elicit students' language and original thinking. Two forms of pictures were designed and administered to 118 children. One form was conventional and consisted of completed pictures, requiring students to simply describe the pictures in writing. The other form, which was new,…

The critical importance of second language (L2) input, output, and interaction in TESOL notwithstanding, the decision between immersive (L2-English only) versus nonimmersive approaches is considered "the most fundamental question facing second language acquisition (SLA) researchers, language teachers, and policymakers" (Macaro, 2014, p.…

This paper reports a qualitative case study of a collaborative project between an ESL researcher and a history teacher teaching in a late immersion school in Hong Kong. The project aims to help a Grade 9 class to write history essays on their own instead of copying from the textbook, which is a common phenomenon in Hong Kong schools. The…

This paper investigates the development of academic language proficiency through immersion in middle school programmes in Hong Kong and Xi'an. The study reveals that in both contexts students have exposure to complex academic language through teacher talk and textbooks; however, there is not sufficient support for students' academic language use…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the ways in which young transfronterizo students who live between the two worlds of El Paso (USA) and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) bring their literacy practices and content to the classroom. Drawing on the data gathered during a 3-year ethnographic study, we illustrate how transfronterizo texts and content are…

The aim of this study was to investigate vocabulary knowledge and growth across two different language-learning programmes in Hong Kong. The two programmes compared were English immersion programmes (IM) and regular English second-language programmes (RL2). While previous research has identified an overall advantage to IM with respect to language…

Presents a quasi-experimental study conducted among younger immersion students that focused on determining whether an area of French vocabulary identified as problematic for these students can be successfully learned via increased exposure to such vocabulary in interesting reading material supplemented with associated analytic language activities.…

This teacher's guide, intended for the instruction of both French as a first language and French as a second language in an immersion setting, provides a host of strategies for teaching writing skills in the classroom (Grades 6 through 12). Section 1 is designed to bring the teacher's awareness to the training procedure, discussing the motivation…

Although drama has been used successfully in English as a second language and has been shown to have positive effects on achievement and on self-confidence and motivation in various studies, it has received little attention in French immersion context where subjects are taught in French, the second language of students. The objective of this study…