Educating Instructors for Bilingual Programs

Lyris WiedemannStanford University

lyriswie@stanford.edu

Educating Administrators/ Teachers for Bilingual

Programs: LSP?

•Increased interest for foreign language ìn schools K-12 and at college level

•Increased number of dual-immersion programs in the U.S.

•Very specific needs: issues not faced by every language instructor

Increased Interest in Foreign Languages in the U.S.

• 31% of elementary & 86% of secondary schools currently offer foreign/second language instruction (ERIC)

• Substantial increase in enrollments at college level (MLA)

• Globalization: world is an increasingly smaller place

Dual-Immersion Programs

• Also known as “two-way immersion” (TWI)

• Programs that integrate native English speakers and language-minority students for academic instruction

• Goals: bilingual proficiency, high academic achievement, and cross-cultural awareness

TWI Programs in the U.S.

• 30 (1987) => 225 (1998) => 301 (2004)• Where: cities/states with sizeable immigrant

populations (CA, AZ. TX, ) or university cities• Most typical combination: English/Spanish (also

E/French, E/Chinese, E/Korean, /E/Navajo)• Mostly elementary school; middle/high school

programs on the rise• Models: minority language dominant /balanced/

mid and high

Some Advantages for

TWI Over Traditional BE • Minority population

» Also serves as model speakers» Is integrated with the dominant majority» Has its language validated

• Dominant majority» Alternates being “the expert” with minority» Learns a more “real” variety of L2, along with

“school” L2

Some Advantages for TWI Over Traditional Bilingual Education

(Cont.)

• Benefits both majority and minority involved

• Obtains more resources and investment

• It is “cohesive” rather than “divisive”

What Kind of Instructors Do TWI Programs Need?

• Credentialed elementary school teachers who can teach content matter in both languages

• Ideal sources: members of bilingual community with balanced bilingualism, Peace Corps alumni, graduates from education-abroad programs

• Middle/high school teachers of foreign languages whose competence is at Level 3 or beyond

Some Findings

• Most teachers have taught in TWI classes for less than 5 years, which is different from the general population (Henke, 1997)

• Most teachers belong to bilingual minorities

• Most teachers have advanced degrees and bilingual credentials

Some Answers from Administrators/Instructors in TWI Programs in California

N=25

Interviews by telephone

What Kind of Training Do Teachers of TWI Programs Need?

• Linguistic training to enable them to perform at advanced /superior levels

• Strong knowledge of inter and intra-cultural issues

• Strong classroom management techniques

• Abilities to create and design materials

Challenges (Teachers)

• Teaching content information in L2

• Making it easier for students from lower grades and parents to understand that acquiring a language takes time

• Facilitating use of L2 by all students

• Being responsible for creating most of the materials

Challenges (Administrators)

•Tensions between regular and TWI programs within the same school

•Opposition to program by members of faculty of the district

• Finding and training appropriate faculty

•Dealing with parents’ concerns, specially in the first grades

Some Advantages of Bilingualism

• “Mental plasticity” or agility: bilinguals know that there is more than one way to solve problems (Dartmouth study)

• Superior cognitive performance in several dimensions (Reynolds)

• “One can have more friends” (a first grader in a TWI program -- CLAS)

Some Advantages of Dual-Immersion Programs (Cont.)

• Students outperform monolingual children on standardized tests• Students in dual-language schools did better than those educated in traditional bilingual education programs•Students in dual-language schools did better than those educated only in English

(CAL-14-year study, George Mason University)

More information?

•Resource Guide Online: Two-Way (Dual) Immersion - Center for Applied Linguistics http://www.cal.org/resources/faqs/rgo

• ERIC’s search engine http://www.eric.ed.gov/searchdb