Native Language Immersion.

Abstract

Immersion teaching methods have shown a marked improvement over earlier language teaching approaches, such as the grammar translation audiolingual methods of the 1960s. The central characteristic of immersion is the teaching of language, content, and culture in combination without the use of the child’s first language. Students are taught a second language they initially don’t understand through the use of a variety of context clues provided by the teacher. Since immersion methods were first used in the 1960s to teach French to English speaking students in Quebec, they have become increasingly popular. Test scores show that immersion students can learn the same academic content as students in English-Only classrooms along with a second language without losing fluency in English (de Courcy, 2002; Johnson & Swain, 1997; Genesee et al., 1985; Genesee, 1987). Immersion students as they proceed together through the grades also develop a strong sense of camaraderie and often form a “values community ” that reflects the positive aspects of the language and culture that they are learning. Immersion language teachers provide ideally at least half-day (partial) immersion for students in the language they are targeted to learn and often students receive full-day (total) immersion. The less students are likely to be exposed to a new language they are learning outside of school, the more they need to experience it in school. Children will learn to speak a high prestige language that is omnipresent in their community and the media, such as English, even if it receives no support in the school, however they will need instruction to use it for academic tasks.

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