Elementary Spanish Immersion

Babies are born as “world citizens,” able to distinguish any sound in spoken language.

Toddlers learn through interaction with their families and their immediate surroundings (Vygotsky, 1978).

School-age children make sense of new concepts by relating those new concepts to what they already know.

The human brain is more open to linguistic development prior to adolescence and students therefore  more easily attain higher levels of proficiency and more native-like pronunciation.

Research suggests that learning a second language allows students to more easily attain additional languages.

In the United Sates, 1 in 7 persons is Hispanic. By 2020, Hispanics are expected to account for half of the growth in the United States’ labor force. Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world. Spanish is a “gateway” language that allows students to learn the syntax and and orthography of a LaEn-based or Romance language, thus fostering metalinguistic awareness and allowing students to more easily master academic vocabulary in English, of which many have latin origins (the Spanish word mal = evil/bad — >malicious, malign, malevolent) (Nagy & Townsend, 2012).

The single most important activity families of immersion students can do to aid in their children’s education is reading aloud in English (or the primary home language). This does NOT mean you need to teach your children to read. As long as families commit to reading to their children in English (or home language) and exposing them to the language in a variety of social settings, they can trust the add.a.lingua dual language immersion model to ensure their children will read at or above grade level in the immersion language and in English.

Most children growing up in homes in which at least one parent is a native English-speaker, within the United States, acquire English syntax (structure/grammar) and basic vocabulary through interaction with caregivers, relatives, and media by the time they are of school age. Because of time spent in the English language (or primary language in two-way models) at home, the classroom can then become the environment in which immersion students expand their second language (L2) vocabulary and acquire L2 syntax. Interactive classroom read-alouds and guided reading groups allow immersion students to add to vocabulary they have already acquired by listening and responding to their immersion teachers during class time.

Reading skills such as learning to scan sentences from left to right, decoding (looking for phonetic or semantic clues – finding parts – such as prefixes, suffixes, radicals, or characters within words), or deciphering meaning from context are all “transferable” between many languages. Students who learn to read first in Spanish transfer those same skills to the majority culture language of English and are ultimately able to then attain grade level reading competency in two languages rather than just one.

Tell your children what to expect. Help them to understand that “going to school” means learning another language along with all the other interesting skills they will gain (reading, writing, spelling, etc…).

Explain to your children that they will NOT understand every word their teacher is saying when first entering the immersion classroom. Explain that over time, perhaps without even being aware, they will understand and even begin to use the immersion language themselves. For now, encourage your children to think of the first few weeks of school as a game – observing the teachers and then following their lead.

BE POSITIVE. It is natural for many children to resist leaving you upon beginning school, regardless of whether or not the classroom they enter dual language immersion. Many preschool students cry initially and are perhaps more reserved at school as they process the “newness.” Behaviors such as crying and/or acting shy are often extremely normal responses.

Students who enter the program in kindergarten and first grade may have the same types of responses. Because the brain is “exercising” more, as children initially begin to acquire a second language, many students will cry and adamantly oppose the added “work.” Even students who have begun the program in preschool may struggle in kindergarten and/or first grade, as they adjust to being immersed in their second language for longer periods of time.

Your positive attitude will make a huge difference to your children. Immersion students observe their parents’ responses to the program and eventually adjust their attitudes accordingly. Students who receive regular encouragement and assurance from their parents that learning a second language in an immersion setting is the right choice for their family, ALWAYS settle into the program.

The same children who resist an immersion experience at the beginning are often the ones who are vocally grateful for their ability to speak a second language in the higher grade levels.

Just as toddlers learning their native language, immersion students pass through “stages,” as they acquire their second language. As children connect learning in an academic environment with the immersion language, they are able to comprehend and gradually produce more of their ideas and thoughts in not only the target language, but also their primary language.

Children learning another language in an immersion program intuitively understand that language is the means through which they communicate with real people in real-life situations. Immersion students typically will not “perform” on cue when asked by family members to “say something” in Spanish.

Many families of immersion students share concerns about their children never using their second language in the home or when prompted, only to be amazed when hearing their children revert to the target language upon encountering a native Spanish-speaker in the community.

REMEMBER: your children “switch” languages almost automatically, depending on their environment (classroom or real-life context) and with whom they are speaking.

In the initial stages of language acquisition, immersion students may not be able to share what they learned in school. In preschool through a large portion of second grade, most immersion students are unable to directly translate or interpret concepts learned in school for their parents in the non-immersion language. Because immersion students are learning content and their second language simultaneously in an interactive academic and social setting, they do not learn direct translations as in some more traditional world language instructional settings. As students cognitively develop, however, they are more and more able to address new concepts in either language.

Whenever possible, we send homework in English so that parents can participate in helping their children when they do not speak Spanish.

Throughout the initial literacy process (K-2nd grades), immersion teachers send books home with their students so that they can hone reading skills by practicing outside the classroom. A parent or caregiver can sit next to children learning to read in any language and encourage them.

Asking your children to act as the “teachers” or “experts” in the Spanish language gives them confidence. They appreciate having knowledge about something you might not.

As dual language immersion students progress through the grade levels, teachers may assign some homework in Spanish. However, the concepts the homework entails are clearly laid out in English via newsletters or email explanations. In this way, parents understand assignments their children must complete and the subject content areas being covered.

Once dual language immersion students attain middle and high school grade levels, they receive most subject content instruction in English. In this way, as students’ workload and level of difficulty increases, parents are able to help.

Holland Christian partners with our friends at add.a.linga for our elementary Spanish Immersion program. We are grateful for their expertise and research into best practices in the area of immersion education. Thank you to add.a.linga for also providing the answers to the FAQ’s on this page!

Interested in Spanish Immersion for your kids, but need a little outside research to persuade you it truly is a good idea? That your kids could possibly “fare better in the job market,” could be “more likely to demonstrate empathy and problem solving skills”? There are a raft of well-researched articles out there, but here’s a decent online list to start with:

• The Conversation.com: Why the baby [and kid] brain can learn two languages at the same time
• The Conversation.com:  Know more than one language? Don’t give it up!
• The Atlantic: America’s Lacking Language Skills
• Dual language immersion strengthens the brain and enlarges the heart’ part 1 and 2.
• If you want a lot more depth, try Immersion Education: International Perspectives, by Merrill Swain and Keith Johnson