This paper considers how children learning a second language were supported as active participants during storytelling sessions in an Irish-language immersion preschool in Dublin. Audio-recordings and observations were made of the story sessions once a fortnight over a period of six months. The resulting transcripts were analysed from an…

Fort Belknap College President Carole Falcon-Chandler does not fluently speak the "A'ani" (White Clay) language, but her granddaughter does. The girl, one of the 12 students in the White Clay Language Immersion School located on the college campus in Harlem, Montana, is part of the next generation of fluent A'ani speakers. The language…

This article contributes to our knowledge of endangered language revitalization by offering a case study of a Cherokee Nation (CN) preschool immersion program named Tsalagi Ageyui, "Our Beloved Cherokee." A naturalistic inquiry into the micro- and macrosociocultural dimensions of reversing Cherokee language shift reveals that, of all CN language…

This study explores a child's emergent second language (L2) interactional competence during her first year in a Swedish immersion classroom. Within the theoretical framework of situated learning, it focuses on how she acquires expertise in a specific classroom practice: multiparty classroom talk. The data cover three periods (the early, middle,…

A central tenet of two-way immersion has been that the minority language children benefit from mother-tongue support in addition to instruction and interaction in the majority language (usually English) with their peers in high prestige programmes, while the English speakers gain valuable opportunities for peer interaction in their L2 with native…

This brief presents two articles. The first discusses ways that schools are working to strengthen language learning for English language learners (ELLs), noting that as the population of ELLs is growing, school districts are scrambling for resources and trying to find the best ways to place and educate such students. Despite limited resources,…

In this paper, I first review previous research on the topic of safetalk. I then apply some of the insights derived from this discussion to a case study of the Luxembourgish primary school system. The study uses both ethnographic and discourse analysis, and focuses in particular on the role of French language varieties in a system that forces…

This article focuses on the influence that Arizona's mandated Structured English Immersion endorsement policy has on preservice teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward English language learners. By utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry, our preliminary analysis showed "the campfire effect," which is to say that…

Learning a foreign language in an immersion setting is possible at all levels in programs designed to provide immersion experiences lasting a few days or even a few hours. The planning and administration of a brief immersion program require leadership and attention to the formulation of a written plan. The program must be carefully scheduled, with…

Presents an overview of 14 immersion education programs in the United States. Discusses (1) program origin, (2) program format, (3) program articulation, (4) student background, (5) program funding, (6) factors contributing to program focus, and (7) research results. (EKN)

To help students compete in a global economy, American teachers must begin teaching children a second language at an early age. Describes the advantages of learning a second language at the elementary school level, highlighting three currently-used language programs (immersion, Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools, and Foreign Language…

Explores factors involved in development of French immersion English-speaking children's ability to spell plurals in English and French. Concludes that phonological factors affect the spelling of morphemes and that skills in phonological awareness are uniquely associated with the development of the spelling of plural morphemes. (RS)

Attempts to stimulate research and discussion of the social and affective variables that may impact language development in the adult second language immersion experience, because they may be noticeably different from the social factors at play in primary and secondary school-age learners' experiences. (Author/VWL)

In recent years, there has been a considerable development of administrative skills in study-abroad management, but much less in the educational dimension of this endeavour. The field is burdened by myths and conceptions that exist unchallenged in the uncontested climate of study abroad. An exploration of three of these prevailing myths…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been promoted by the European Union as a means to achieve multilingualism. While in Germany and other European countries the trend to use the L2 as a medium of instruction is increasing, in Hong Kong, however, we see a converse development. Many schools switched from English as a medium of…