While educational language policies have been shown to have a stronger influence on school-aged children's multilingual outcomes than Family Language Policy, California provides an example of how parental motivation and activism can also have a profound impact on educational language policies. This paper has two goals: first, it provides an…

In this dissertation, the effects of bilingual immersion curriculum versus monolingual curriculum on achievement of students in a select elementary school were examined. The researcher explored mathematical and reading achievement as measured by formative kindergarten through third grade assessments in a southeastern elementary school. Hypotheses…

This paper presents Irish-medium immersion (IMI) teachers' perceptions of their development of content knowledge of language (CK-L) and pedagogical content knowledge of language (PCK-L) as a result of engaging in form-focused professional development (PD) which combined both content knowledge and pedagogical learning outcomes. An intervention,…

While traditional English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms often lack context and authenticity, immersive virtual reality (iVR) provides a valuable alternative opportunity to practice and acquire the target language in a replica of the real world. The present study used iVR ("Immerse") for communicative tasks and investigated how…

Chinese immersion programs have been increasingly popular in US schools. However, we have insufficient data on young English-speaking children's acquisition of Chinese as a second language in these programs, and specifically on social contextual variables systematically promoting or hindering Chinese language use. Taking a variationist…

Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP), also called Kula Kaiapuni on Maui is unique in that all schools are situated on public school campuses of the Hawai?i Department of Education (HiDOE). Seven schools span the island from the rural town of Hana, through Hamakuapoko, or Upcountry community, and then to Lahaina, the…

Across the United States, Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs have risen in popularity in recent years with the promise of producing biliterate and bicultural students. Many families of both the dominant and minority culture have gravitated towards these choice programs to enrich the school experience for their children. With the success of DLI…

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs were developed in the U.S. with the expressed goal of supporting intercultural connections, bilingualism, biliteracy, and respect for diversity. However, these programs are still influenced by broader social ideas and power dynamics. From this perspective, this year-long ethnographic case study uses a…

Although there has been much research on second language learning, minimal literature reports how language learners learn multiple foreign languages through immersion. Further, a majority of these previous studies have been conducted using exclusively quantitative methods. In response to these empirical and methodological gaps, the current study…

This article details findings from an exploratory case study that examined the efficacy of a phonological awareness and vocabulary programme with children educated in a bilingual immersion context of English and te reo Maori (Maori language) in Aotearoa New Zealand. The current paper discusses changes in the development of early literacy skills in…

This article explores the possibilities of a linguistically expansive orientation to two-way immersion (TWI), a bilingual model that has traditionally adopted a "double monolingual" approach to bilingual learning/ers. To illustrate an expansive perspective, we present two case studies undertaken at the same bilingual school that explored…

The growth of Utah's dual language immersion (DLI) program has led to situations where student and mentor teachers teach in settings far different from their home countries' schools, while supervisors observe lessons in unfamiliar languages. This study examined critical incidents in a cross-cultural student teaching experience consisting of a…

This critical assessment examines the tension that has recently evolved between translanguaging advocates and advocates of two-way immersion programs. Translanguaging advocates have called for a reframing of language allocation practices and the incorporation of translanguaging pedagogy into these programs. At issue is that two-way immersion…

In the face of colonial efforts to extinguish Indigenous language and culture, Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk people) have been working to revitalize Kanien'keha (the Mohawk language) since the 1970s. However, Kanien'keha continues to experience greater speaker loss than gain. Through a comprehensive vitality assessment, this dissertation examines the…

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…