Good Teaching: Meeting The Challenges Of Immersion Education

Myriam Metmyriammet@gmail.com

IMMERSIONWhat The Data Show

Cognitive benefits• Executive control

functions• Metalinguistic awareness• Divergent thinking• Symbolic thinking and

flexibility

What The Data Show

Academic Benefits•Reading/language

arts•Content area

performance

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SCHOOLING

STUDENTS IN A NEW LANGUAGE?

SCHOOLING IN A NEW LANGUAGE WORKS!

Chinese Dual Immersion Students 1st Grade

Math Language Arts

Chinese Dual Immersion (4)

90% 88%

Monolingual (4) 83% 75%

2 Schools, 8 Classes, 221 Students

UTAH MATH SCORES 2010-2011

• 8 DISTRICTS, 1st and 2nd Grades PARTICIPATED• CHINESE IMMERSION STUDENTS STATEWIDE AVERAGED 10% HIGHER

THAN NON-IMMERSION PEERS

Academic

FOCUS ON OUTCOMES

FOCUS ON OUTCOMES

1. Set targets 2. Describe end-of-year outcomes3. Integrate outcomes into content units and

lesson plans 4. Provide explicit language/literacy instruction

DO WHAT/ WITH WHAT/ HOW WELL

10

FOCUS ON OUTCOMES

Grade Level

Total Immersion

ACTFL CAWLSK1 Novice Mid Mid Stage I2 Intermediate Low Beginning Stage II3 Intermediate Med* Mid Stage II*4 Intermediate Med* Mid Stage II*

5 Intermediate High * End Stage II/Beginning Stage

III8 Advanced Low Beginning Stage III

12 Advanced Mid Mid Stage III

At the end of

FOCUS ON OUTCOMESIdentify end-of-year outcomes

12

On familiar topics, using more extended discourse with connected sentences, the student can . . .

Intermediate Mid

1. describe experiences (family, home, daily activity, personal preferences and needs, food, shopping, events and plans).2. state opinions and give supportive reasons.3. tell or summarize a storyline with many details.explore different ways of formulating questions.5. describe own feelings and feelings of others.6. describe and explain personal experiences and give the reactions of the individuals involved with many details. 7. create a simple dialogue related to a formal situation (banks, restaurants, stores).8. give a short presentation: on how something works, a current event, academic topic, famous person.9. ask and give directions using an Ohio/USA map.10. ask relevant clarification about directions.11. analyze grade-lvele appropriate graphs, charts, and diagrams (related to math, science and social studies).12. invite and make plans about where to go.

Instruction:Language ObjectivesStudents can • compare _____ to ____ using “…”• predict _____ using “…”• identify how new vocabulary is related to known

vocabulary (e.g., said/uttered; benefit/beneficial).• use the language of place value, including million,

thousand, hundred.• express agreement/disagreement with peers

using sentence frames (I agree with …. in that…)

Instruction:Language Objectives

Students can …• Defend an opinion about ____ using “…”• Demonstrate expanded use of sequence

words (initially, subsequently, ultimately)

HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL

STRATEGIESLANGUAGE SPECIFIC

• INPUT• OUTPUT/

INTERACTION• ENGAGEMENT

CONTENT-SPECIFIC

• LITERACY• MATH• SCIENCE ETC.

HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Integrated into unit and lesson plans• Professional development• Criteria for teacher performance

Classroom observations, mentoring and coaching

HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTION• Principles of practice-- Strategic repertoire• Connect curriculum, instruction, and

assessment: identify the goal, figure out how you will know you’ve achieved it, decide how to get there (strategies; materials)

Principles of Practice

• Provide rich comprehensible input• Check for comprehension• Provide multiple and regular opportunities for

interaction and output• Ensure student engagement and motivation• Monitor student learning