Classrooms the world over are full of people who, for different reasons, are learning additional languages and/or are studying through languages that are not their first. Gaining insight into such contexts is complicated for researchers and practitioners alike by the myriad of contextual variables that come with different implementations and make…

From the point of view of AILA's research network "CLIL and Immersion Education: Applied Linguistic Perspectives" this volume finally does justice to a strand of interest that has been part of the network from its inception. As the editors rightly point out in the introduction, ReN events and publications during the network's first…

This special issue devoted to Catalonia--one of the most successful and longstanding language movements in Europe--gives a unique opportunity to understand some of the complex social dynamics engendered as language revival unfolds and to appreciate the value of in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and ethnographic work in making sometimes subtle…

This paper focusses on the teaching of non-linguistic subject matters in a second or third language through bilingual education. We investigate how this specific educational framework influences the development of linguistic competence as well as disciplinary knowledge. Based on a large-scale corpus of classroom interactions collected in bilingual…

Teachers in traditional bilingual settings confront strict program requirements under the guise of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), excessive assessment demands (state, district and program assessments in both English and Spanish), and negative attitudes about bilingual education from many in the political and public spheres. Since 1998, the passage…

Lack of knowledge of learning psychology is the underlying reason for failure in second language learning. The highest cognitive step is not given the required attention. The unanswered question is whether an institutional setting allows for this, or whether an immersion program should be a mandatory complement to any program. (MSE)

Discusses a learning module on Acadian history used in a French immersion setting that focuses on a theatrical arts approach. (Author/VWL)

Provides a dialogue that is a series of semi-structured interviews with a language educator who taught French for 4 years before becoming a full-time mother. After 9 years, she became involved in teaching in a French immersion program in Canada. The interviewer is a senior lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia. (Author/VWL)

Discusses two questions: (1) What has the recent research conducted in French immersion programs in Canada contributed to understanding of second language acquisition?; and (2) What has it contributed to the broader field of applied linguistics? Considers research in the coming decade, and discusses obstacles that may be faced in Canada in…

Educators and policy makers in many countries have been expressing concern about how to improve students' achievement in reading and math. This article explores and proposes a solution: introduce or increase foreign language study in the elementary schools. Research has shown that foreign language study in the early elementary years improves…

Presents a theory that all developing and developed bilinguals have a preferred and a second language (L2) and that the bilingual increases L2 competence through fluctuating activity between bilingual preferred L2 medium-oriented communication and monolingual L2 message-oriented communication. Discusses implications of the theory for language…

Illustrates the pedagogical potential of advertising messages in the French immersion classroom. Students learn to develop a critical analysis of the advertising messages they see and hear. (Author/VWL)

Describes the successful organization of 2 foreign language days for middle school students and provides a synopsis of why an immersion day is an important activity and what steps a teacher might take in order to attempt such an endeavor. Guidelines for planning an immersion day are included. (Author/VWL)

This paper explores the role of negotiation in teacher-student interaction and argues that the negotiation of meaning, defined as a set of conversational moves which work toward mutual comprehension, is too narrow a construct to fulfil its pedagogical potential in teacher-student interaction in communicative and content-based second language (L2)…

Some views on and implications of "the output hypothesis," which proposes that the process of producing written or spoken language results in language acquisition/learning, for immersion pedagogy and second-language learning are discussed. The role of collaborative learning is considered. (Contains 14 references.) (LB)