As interest in Dual Language Immersion programs continues to grow in North Carolina, the hiring of international teachers has increased tremendously. These international teachers often have not had the experience or training to address the needs of the students they are serving. In addition, pedagogical challenges such as working with diverse…

The purpose of this study was to examine the career trajectories of two teachers in the United States and their decision to leave teaching Spanish. Data for the study emerged from the teachers' narratives about their school-based experiences and the consequences of those experiences on their decisions to reorient their work in the educational…

Background: Over 15% of kindergarten and first grade students in U.S. public schools are English learners (ELs) (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2021). Many classroom teachers, however, have not had specialized training in providing instruction for ELs. The BELLA (Bridging English Language Learning and Academics) professional…

In support of growing numbers of dual language programs nation-wide, dual language school administrators seek to find teachers who are specifically prepared to work with dual language learners for additive biliteracy. For this research the author utilized a case study design to explore practicing dual language administrators' perspectives…

This qualitative study investigated the language ideologies and instructional practices of an entire Spanish language faculty at a high school in a new gateway state for immigration. The study examined additive and subtractive practices of teachers as they strived to teach Spanish to heritage language learners (HLLs) enrolled in mixed…

The author begins this article with an anecdote describing the behavior of a few members of her ESL class, and their behavior during the morning "Pledge of Allegiance." Not only did these students not stand, they displayed a dramatic performance of "remaining seated." The narrative that follows is an attempt by the the author…

Total enrollments (undergraduate and graduate) in languages other than English dropped by 9.2% between fall 2013 and fall 2016, as reported in the Modern Language Association's twenty-fifth language enrollment census. Despite the overall drop, there were gains in nearly half of all language programs (45.5%) that mitigate somewhat the downward…

We examined the progress of kindergarteners who entered the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in 2008-09 and in 2010-11 who were identified as limited in English proficiency (LEP). For the 2008-09 cohort, English proficiency increased steadily over time. Few were able to exit LEP status in their first three years in WCPSS (10.5%); this…

Schools in America, especially in communities far from urban centers, are working harder to find highly qualified and culturally proficient staff to prepare students successfully for an increasingly interconnected world. Apart from offering teachers more professional development and hiring educators with international travel experience, public…

This article reports the results of 2 studies conducted over a 10-year period that researched student attitudes toward early foreign language learning. These studies are unique because of the long time frame in which the students were followed, and the large data sets collected at the elementary school level. Surveys of students in the Foreign…