Children in early language immersion situations learn a second language in much the same manner as they have learned their native tongue. (MM)

Effects of Spanish immersion on fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children's native English vocabulary were studied. Findings support the idea that Spanish immersion has English-language benefits and that positive transfer occurs from Spanish as a foreign language to native English receptive vocabulary. (Author/MKA)

After 18 months of research and many practice sessions, Sponge opened in the fall of 2005. This year, Sponge will provide language classes for over 350 children from newborn to seven years in the Seattle area. This language program offers Spanish, Mandarin, French and Japanese--all taught by native speakers. While the staff sets out to create a…

This article presents first and second grade children's talk about issues of language diversity and culture. Children focus on the issue of oppression and initially examine oppressors in their talk within literature circles across a year in a Sheltered English Immersion classroom. Drawing on a critical literacy framework and anti-bias perspective,…

The attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers have an important impact on minority languages, and it has been claimed that the long-term success of minority language initiatives may only be achievable if some degree of favourable opinion, or "tolerability", of these initiatives is secured among majority language speakers.…

Established in 1983 by a group of parents and teachers, the 'Aha Punana Leo ('APL) was formed. A grassroots organization, 'APL was established to respond to the dismal plight of the Hawaiian language. Just a mere 25 years ago, the Hawaiian language was on the verge of being lost forever. Through the dedicated efforts of a small group of friends…

In this testimony, Patricia Whitefoot talks on behalf of the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) with regard to President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget request. She describes how Native education still faces enormous challenges, including severe underfunding. Far too many students and schools continue to experience abject failure. NIEA…

Informed by research studies that demonstrate a positive relationship between parent engagement and student academic attainment, state and national parent outreach initiatives have aimed to bridge the gap between Latina/o parents and schools. Such was the case with the Latina/o Family, School and Community "Avanzando" Project, which…

Variation in verbal morphology is a phenomenon which has been the object of linguistic research for a long time. Two competing sets of predictions have been put forth to account for the distribution of verbal inflections in learner language: The Aspect Hypothesis posits that learners predominantly use inflections to indicate categories of lexical…

The question of access to French-immersion programs has become a timely subject in Canada as a result of shifting political priorities, cutbacks, and growing concern around finding the most efficient way to teach French as a second language (FSL). While drawing on social selection and identity perspectives on school choice, this article presents…

This volume builds on Fortune and Tedick's 2008 Pathways to Multilingualism: Evolving Perspectives on Immersion Education and showcases the practice and promise of immersion education through in-depth investigations of program design, implementation practices, and policies in one-way, two-way and indigenous programs. Contributors present new…

Asian American Education--Asian American Identities, Racial Issues, and Languages presents groundbreaking research that critically challenges the invisibility, stereotyping, and common misunderstandings of Asian Americans by disrupting "customary" discourse and disputing "familiar" knowledge. The chapters in this anthology…

Two-way immersion (TWI) programs teach English Learners (ELs) and native English speakers in the same classroom using both languages in an immersion approach. Studies suggest that TWI programs result in greater student integration, thus providing a promising alternative for Spanish speaking ELs, who are frequently concentrated in high poverty,…

Three hundred sixty-six parents of children enrolled in a school-wide English-Spanish two-way bilingual program participated in this study. They were asked to answer a survey that attempted to elicit information about their degree of satisfaction with the program, as well as the reasons that led them to select it, and their perception of and…

This qualitative study inquired into secondary students' perceptions of their participation in a secondary Spanish-English two-way immersion (TWI) program, triangulating data from 166 surveys and 24 focus interviews across grades 6-12. After reviewing current research on secondary two-way immersion programs, the article describes the study and its…