2-1-L2: La Inmersion Reciproca

A Critical Literature Review of 21st Century Dual Language Instruction (DLI) Program Design and Implementation: Next Steps for Extending the Reach of DLI into the Secondary & Higher Education Levels.

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by

Steve Daniel Przymus

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SLAT 596y Proseminar Final Paper
Submitted to the Second Language Acquisition &Teaching (SLAT) Executive Council
As a qualifying exercise of the PhD in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching (SLAT)
At the University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
December 11, 2012

A Critical Literature Review of 21st Century Dual Language Instruction (DLI) Program Design and Implementation: Next Steps for Extending the Reach of DLI into the Secondary & Higher Education Levels.Abstract
This critical literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the area of dual language instruction (DLI) in the 21st century. Thanks to Collier & Thomas’ (2004) 18-year longitudinal study of over two million student records and five-year study (Thomas & Collier, 2002) of the effectiveness of programs for minority students in all regions of the United States, there issubstantial evidence of how DLI models close the achievement gap for English Language Learners (ELLs). Other studies (De Jong & Bearse, 2011; Alanís & Rodríguez, 2008; Torres-Guzman et al., 2005) have highlighted this closing in achievement gap and have shown that both English dominant students and ELLs who participate in one specific DLI model, Two-Way Immersion Instruction (TWI), haveout-performed non-immersion participating L1 & L2 English speaking peers on standardized tests throughout schooling. Although the DLI goals of promoting bilingualism, biliteracy, high academic achievement, and heightened multicultural understanding remain consistent across programs, design and implementation can vary greatly. This literature review proposes to be a guide for understanding thecurrent, various theoretical models of DLI, the goals and effectiveness of a successful program and the challenges of program design and implementation. This review will conclude with suggestions for a new DLI model of a more practical approach for extending the benefits of DLI to meet the immediate needs of Newcomer ELLs at the high school level, to offer a more content-based, naturalistic approach forforeign language instruction in the US and even for teaching bilingual content classes at the university level.

Introduction
As of August 2012, there were 415 Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWI) programs in 31 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2012). TWI programs are specific Dual Language Instruction (DLI) programs where native speakers of two languages learncontent together, immersed in a language other than English for at least 50% of instruction, and strive for bilingualism, biliteracy, and multicultural competence (Lindholm-Leary et al., 2007). In order to be listed on the Center for Applied Linguistics’ directory of TWI programs the TWI program must have a balance of language-minority and language-majority students, with each group making upbetween one-third and two-thirds of the total program population, while also ensuring that these two groups are integrated for at least 60% of instructional time at all grade levels (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2012). The majority of these programs are at the elementary school level. Of the 415 programs, 74 continue into middle school and only 14 continue on through high school (Center forApplied Linguistics, 2012). Many structural aspects of elementary education facilitate the designing and implementing of an immersion program. One such characteristic is the grouping of students in self-contained classes and in cohorts of grade levels. Students in these immersion programs are able to stay together throughout the day and take the same content classes and specials, immersed in the...