Partner language development in a two-way immersion program: exploring teachers’ beliefs and practices

Two-way immersion (TWI) programs are an increasingly popular educational model designed to foster academic achievement and develop high levels of bilingualism, biliteracy, and sociocultural competence (Howard et al., 2018). TWI has been shown to be highly effective at promoting English-language development and academic content learning, as well as high levels of partner language (PL) fluency (Lindholm-Leary, 2001, 2018). Nonetheless, a number of concerns have been raised about the ability of these programs to fully meet students’ needs. In particular, recent work has questioned how equitable these programs truly are and whether they promote or disrupt deficit-based thinking about bilingual speakers (Cervantes-Soon, 2014; Flores, 2016). From a linguistic perspective, research has focused much more heavily on English outcomes than partner language outcomes. However, the somewhat limited research on partner language outcomes that exists suggests that these may also be lagging, particularly in terms of morphological accuracy (Montrul & Potowski, 2007; Potowski, 2007). Research on immersion education has called for a counterbalanced approach that integrates language and content (Lyster, 2007). However, few studies have sought to describe how teachers view and approach this process in the TWI context, which is a unique environment because it includes both heritage language and second language (L2) learners (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012; Fortune et al., 2008). There is also only limited information on how professional development (PD) may guide this process (Lyster, 2018; Tedick & Zilmer, 2018). The current project seeks to fill these gaps by using a qualitative case study of three TWI teachers’ beliefs and practices and of two of these teachers’ responses to PD and instructional coaching targeting the integration of language and content objectives. While the study is limited by the small number of participants and their particular teaching contexts, the results confirm a number of findings from prior research (Cammarata & Tedick, 2012; Fortune et al., 2008; Walker & Tedick, 2000). In addition, the study provides novel insight into the particular ways that TWI teachers view and attend to PL development in both L2 and heritage language learners. In general, the teachers in the study proved to be highly dedicated and resourceful professionals who incorporated a diverse array of activities in their classes that were likely to foster students’ PL development. They indicated a strong need for guidance and resources for balancing language and content instruction, and they were enthusiastic about receiving training. The beliefs they held at times showed evidence of misconceptions and deficit-thinking, and the PD and IC sessions highlighted the difficulties that TWI teachers face in equitably serving HSs in a mixed educational setting. Furthermore, the teachers’ own linguistic backgrounds and education were highly influential in their beliefs and practices. Nonetheless, the study shows promise for training and coaching on integrating language and content in the TWI context. The results of this study have implications for teacher training, as well as for the design of frameworks and educational models designed for use in TWI classrooms (Collins et al., 2019; Guerrero & Lachance, 2018; Tedick & Lyster, 2020).

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Spanish

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Navejas, Dawn R

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bowles, Melissa
• Jegerski, Jill
• Montrul, Silvina
• Nuñez Cortez, Idalia

• Dual language
• two-way immersion
• teachers' beliefs and practices
• applied linguistics
• heritage language instruction

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Dawn Navejas

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116174

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116174