Why Is Two-Way Immersion Right For Us?
In the United States and in Cupertino, the majority language —
the language primarily used in all facets of life — is English. Whether you speak English or not, whether English is your native language or not — English is all around you.
People around you, on the TV, or radio, signs, packaging, bus schedules all use English. This is why it’s referred to as the dominant or majority language. If we lived in China, the dominant language would be Mandarin; in Italy, it would be Italian; in France, it would be French.
We’re lucky to live in a community so culturally diverse, where there are many people whose native language — the language they first learned and many times the language still used at home — is Mandarin, which is this program’s target or second language. We have children in our community who speak only English, and some who speak only Mandarin; there are some who are already bilingual in English and Mandarin, or other languages. All of these groups of children are represented in CLIP.
Because of this language “demographic,” both languages need to be used over a period of time, in different percentages, so our goal of producing bilingual and biliterate children can be achieved. If all the children spoke only English, or only Mandarin, or if all the children were bilingual upon entrance to kindergarten, we would need to look at a different immersion model. Two-way immersion is the most appropriate language acquisition model for this district because it integrates both the English- and Mandarin-speaking students in a classroom environment where instruction is presented in both languages.
Our goal is to develop bilingual and biliterate competency. The percentage of time children spend learning in Mandarin or English changes as they move from kindergarten through fifth grade. This is because we live in an English-language-dominant country where children are immersed in English outside the classroom. Therefore, the target language (in this case, Mandarin) requires more time to develop — even in children who come from homes where the target language is spoken.
As students move past second grade, the time spent in both languages becomes evenly split. And as children move through this program, acquisition of both languages will vary. It is common for one language to be stronger than the other at any given time. Then language facility will switch, and the language that was lagging will become stronger. By the time children reach the fifth grade, they will be fully biliterate in both languages and will test equal to or higher in standardized English tests compared to their monolingual counterparts.This does not happen overnight, so parents must be committed to the long-term immersion process to reap its benefits.
In addition to developing a lifelong ability to communicate with more people, children derive other benefits from early language instruction, including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. Knowing a second language ultimately provides a competitive advantage in the workforce by opening up additional job opportunities.
