Literacy development: the 21st century bilingual immersion classroom

ABSTRACT

Reading and writing translate to centuries of shared knowledge and can be expanded upon with the ability to acquire multiple tongues. In response to today’s most widely spoken languages, Chinese/English and Spanish/English dual language immersion programs continue to grow across the United States. Unfortunately, the lack of uniformity in the structure and implementation of national bilingual programs is as prominent as bilingual educators’ concerns on how to best support emergent bilinguals in their development of biliteracy, while meeting state and national standards in both English and the partner language. Immersion classrooms will benefit from practical and effective ways to inform instruction for increased student engagement, greater access to bilingual education resources, and support to deliver content area instruction in the target language to both native and non-native English-speaking students.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual education
• biliteracy
• dual language immersion
• immersion bilingual education
• US English
• second language acquisition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Schalea S. Sanders

Schalea S. Sanders currently pursues her PhD in Literacy through St. John's University in New York, USA. She holds a Post-Master's Advanced Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from SUNY Stony Brook University, NY, USA; an MS in TESOL (PK–Adult) from St. John's University, NY, USA; and a BA in Spanish Language and Literature from SUNY Stony Brook University, NY, USA. Extensive travel, study and living abroad in Europe, South America and the Caribbean inform and enrich her multicultural bent. Sanders's passion for education led to the establishment of Sanders Educational Consulting (SEC). As an innovative educator with more than a decade of hands-on classroom experience, she is a proven leader in delivering student-centered instruction with positive data-driven results to diverse groups. She is also a natural communicator, nurturing rich relationships every day through enthusiastic community participation and volunteer work. Schalea S. Sanders is an active member of our community. She cares about children and is here to help further the development of our teachers to further develop our students – to help them realize their best selves!