Dual-Language Immersion Programs: A Cautionary Note Concerning the Education of Language-Minority Students

TLDR

Dual‑language immersion programs have attracted attention as a means to provide first‑language instruction for non‑English‑speaking students while also offering monolingual peers access to a second language. The article examines potential negative consequences of dual‑language immersion for Mexican‑origin students, questioning its suitability for language‑minority education. The author discusses how instruction quality, intergroup dynamics, and the power dynamics inherent in language policy may influence the outcomes of dual‑language immersion programs.

Abstract

Dual-language immersion programs have received a great deal of attention from parents, researchers, and policymakers. The supporters of dual-language immersion see the promise of providing first-language instruction for children with non-English-speaking backgrounds, while simultaneously offering monolingual children access to non-English languages. In this article, Guadalupe Valdés concentrates on the possible negative effects of the dual-language immersion movement. After reviewing the literature on the success and failure of Mexican-origin children, the author raises difficult questions surrounding the use of dual-language immersion in the education of language-minority students. Among the issues raised are the quality of instruction in the minority language, the effects of dual immersion on intergroup relations, and, ultimately, how dual-language immersion programs fit into the relationship between language and power and how that relationship may affect the children and society.