Q& A
Getting the Most Out of Language Immersion
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Elena Izquierdo is chairman of the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Texas at El Paso and an associate professor in bilingual/ESL education. She serves as vice president of the National Association for Bilingual Education and was principal of Oyster Bilingual School in the District. Here is part of a discussion she had with reporter Valerie Strauss.
Is one immersion program better than another?
When people say "immersion," I need to ask them, "What kind of immersion?" There is full, partial, two-way. It is hard to say which is better, because it depends on the program goals.
Why have immersion programs? Are they better than traditional language classes?
It is a better way to learn, certainly, if you want to have oral language proficiency. Look at most of your [Advanced Placement] programs in Spanish in high school. That never guarantees anybody is proficient but only that they know grammar. . . . Immersion programs mean getting away from your typical magical phrases that are never really used to more useful content-based literacy language that students can use in life.
Is there a minimum number of years for an immersion program to be successful?
When you plan an immersion program, you plan it for at least five years, to see that it works. . . . The research solidly shows that in order to achieve proficiency in a second language, where you can actually compete with native speakers of that language, it is anywhere from four to seven years. You can't judge it on one year or two years or even three years. It has to be very well aligned, and there has to be a plan for it throughout the levels.
If you are choosing to teach in a foreign language as part of an immersion program, do some subjects make more sense than others?
The reason some programs use science and math is because they are very hands-on, and that motivates the kids to learn the language through the content, whereas if you go with language arts, then you are going to focus on language. Some people think it is a lot easier for kids to get into another language that way. It is easier, but then again, it all depends on the goal. Somebody has to be teaching the reading and the writing in the foreign language, too.
