Two-way immersion (TWI), an approach that combines language-minority students and native English speakers in dual-language classrooms, is growing in popularity in schools of newly Latinized regions of the U.S. Using North Carolina as an example, this critical review of the literature posits that as neoliberal trends increasingly shape the…

This study looks at how parents in one Spanish-English two-way immersion (TWI) charter school report their participation in various home language and literacy practices. Parent groups, based on a cluster analysis, highlight the heterogeneity of Latino parents at the school while acknowledging the commonalities as well. Four parent groups emerged…

The effects of bilingual education on reading and math achievement were examined by comparing test scores across different elementary school programs. Results revealed that bilingual Two-Way Immersion (TWI) programs benefited both minority-language and majority-language students. Minority-language students in TWI programs outperformed their peers…

This article reports a qualitative study of the reasons mothers chose to enroll their children in a Spanish/English two-way immersion (TWI) Program in Central Texas. Some of the mothers' reasons varied, and others overlap. All mothers expressed the belief that the program would provide their children with more opportunities, cognitive…

This investigation is an initial examination of possible enhancement of executive function through a dual-language (50:50) education model. The ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 120 children from Grades K, 2, and 4 consisted of approximately equal numbers of children enrolled in dual-language and traditional classrooms. Dual-language…

Is it best to learn reading in two languages simultaneously or sequentially? We observed second- and third-grade children in two-way "dual-language learning contexts": (a) 50:50 or Simultaneous dual-language (two languages within same developmental period) and (b) 90:10 or Sequential dual-language (one language, followed gradually by the other).…

This article explores local state bilingual-education policy vis-a-vis pervasive dominant-language ideologies about language-education policy and practice. State-level language-education policy, especially for English Language Learners (ELs), spans a wide range, from states that through policy legally require some form of bilingual education to…

This qualitative study explores how parents decide to enroll their children in one-way immersion programs and how the decision is made to continue in those programs at the middle/junior high school level. A total of 131 parents responded to a survey with open-ended questions about these two decisions. Analyzed thematically and within a conceptual…

Forty initially English-dominant Latino students in four 90:10 Spanish two-way dual-immersion programs and 62 of their peers in mainstream English programs were studied to find out if their attitudes toward Spanish and Spanish-dominant individuals differ. Significant differences were found on many variables, with two-way dual-immersion students…

Research on two-way immersion programs has empirically investigated the success of such programs on children's dual-language development. The present study focuses on the language abilities of Latino children attending a Spanish-English differentiated two-way immersion program in the United States. Family dynamics relating to placement in this…

As classrooms across the U.S. are becoming increasingly more multilingual and multicultural, there is a need for research that provides insight into literacy instruction that builds on students' linguistic knowledge. The qualitative study of a fourth-grade dual-language classroom examined the ways that peer mediation in Spanish and English…

This paper examines language-brokering events to better understand how children utilize their linguistic resources to create spaces where the coexistence of two languages can enable or restrict understanding and learning of academic content for themselves and others. An analysis of the structure of language-brokering events reveals that different…

The question of access to French-immersion programs has become a timely subject in Canada as a result of shifting political priorities, cutbacks, and growing concern around finding the most efficient way to teach French as a second language (FSL). While drawing on social selection and identity perspectives on school choice, this article presents…

This study was conducted to explore the effects of a two-way immersion bilingual program on maintenance/acquisition of Spanish-language proficiency and on reading and mathematics achievement in English over a period of 4 academic years. The researchers used Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) techniques to compare the effects of two different…

Code-switching is a natural part of being bilingual. Yet two-way immersion programs are known to insist upon separation of languages, discouraging both teachers and students from drawing on both linguistic codes at once. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of symbolic power, I examine one second-grade classroom in which the teacher instituted a…