Research perspectives on immersion pedagogy: Looking back and looking forward

This article presents an overview of immersion pedagogy and how it has developed over the years in conjunction with classroom research and evolving classroom practices. We first consider initial conceptualization of immersion pedagogy as being primarily content-based and input-driven with only an incidental focus on the immersion language. We consider the strengths and weaknesses of this approach as a means to explain subsequent recommendations for a more systematic focus on language in immersion pedagogy. We then review classroom research investigating various pedagogical means of enhancing immersion students’ metalinguistic awareness through form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, and cross-lingual pedagogy. We conclude with questions and issues for future research and development in the realm of immersion pedagogy.