Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education - Volume 3, Issue 1, 2015

This paper reports on the effectiveness of bilingual education in the Netherlands. After a brief history of the rise of bilingual education in the Netherlands, the study traces the development of English proficiency of two cohorts at Dutch high schools during one year: a group of Year 1 students (average age 12) and a group of Year 3 students (average age 14) were tested three times during one academic year. The results suggest a dynamic interplay as proficiency increases between condition and other factors such as initial proficiency, scholastic aptitude, out of school contact, and motivation/attitude factors. In Year 1, scholastic aptitude and initial proficiency were strong predictors for all students. In Year 3, scholastic aptitude no longer played a role, but initial proficiency and motivation/attitude did. The students who received bilingual education outperformed the students from the other two groups (regulars and controls).

Language learning is multifaceted, and within Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, motivation is one of the most frequently studied aspects. The impetus of the current study is to further explore second language learning motivation as well as its impact on the language acquisition process within the context of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). This study uses Dörnyei’s (2009) framework of the L2 Motivational Self System from which the Motivational Factors Questionnaire (MFQ) has been created and validated by Ryan (2009). This study was conducted at the high school level in Sweden and includes students enrolled in CLIL programs (N = 109) and non-CLIL programs (N = 68) at three different schools. In this paper, the subcategories of the MFQ are analyzed using one-way ANOVAs with CLIL/non-CLIL, L1, and gender as the independent variables. The results indicate that there are differences in attitudes and motivation of CLIL vs. non-CLIL students.

Recent studies have highlighted the benefits of CLIL instruction regarding general competence in the acquisition of second languages. However, it is not clear whether these benefits extend to specific areas of grammar. Here we compare the general proficiency and specific linguistic features of a group of learners of L3 English in a CLIL programme with two EFL groups: one matching the CLIL group in age and hours of exposure and a second group two grades ahead. The results confirm that the benefits of CLIL in general competence do not extend to the acquisition of specific linguistic features. In this respect, the best results were obtained by the older EFL learners suggesting that CLIL benefits do not extend to the acquisition of English verbal morphology.

This paper presents findings from a year-long study of pair work and bilingual development in a hybrid developmental bilingual pre-kindergarten classroom. Grounded in sociocultural theory and developed using ethnographic approaches to data collection and analysis, the researchers analyzed how a master bilingual teacher scaffolded pair work and peer teaching. Findings revealed an association between teacher modeling of language use and behavior, and student language use and behavior in pair work. How the teacher scaffolded both the structure and processes of pair work and the resulting student interaction and peer scaffolding contributes both practical teacher strategies and a deeper theoretical understanding of how teachers can create spaces for young students to engage in their non-dominant language.

Research has shown that two-way bilingual immersion (TWBI) programs provide positive outcomes for all students to become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural. Yet, studies have shown that there can be challenges in student-to-student interaction in TWBI programs. This study reports on peer interaction dynamics during content instruction in two 90/10 programs through lesson observations, teacher interviews, and reflections. Teachers in Grades 4–6 provided their perspectives concerning the status of English and Spanish in their classrooms. Teachers also shared instructional strategies to support students’ progress in Spanish. This study presents important instructional implications for sociocultural and sociolinguistic goals pertaining to English and Spanish speakers in TWBI programs.

The case study summarized in this article relies primarily on activity theory (e.g., Engestrom, 1987), and incorporates complexity, accuracy, and fluency analyses (see Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005) to describe real-time oral language production by four focal English language learners (ELLs) in a sheltered high school math classroom in the U.S. Further, it describes how that language use was influenced by the classroom context. Findings indicate that ELLs produced very little complex, elaborated academic language because there were a variety of contextual factors that interacted to minimize students’ need to use it. Insights gained from an activity theory perspective highlight the influence of three unresolved tensions in the classroom activity system, namely: low language expectations in the curriculum, the teacher’s lack of familiarity with L2 instructional strategies, and the students’ lack of engagement with “best” practices that included use of hands-on material. Greater administrator support and transparency about desired academic language outcomes could enhance both the teachers’ language development skills and student outcomes.