Two-Way Bilingual Instruction: Learning From PeersDr Katharine Panfil, Graduate School of TESOL, University of Canberra, ACT. AbstractThis session will discuss a study of two-way instructional model for primary schools, in which students from two language groups, in the same classroom, receive instruction together for part of the day in each language. Since the study took place two years ago, recent program refinements will also be described. Two-way bilingual programs are spreading in the United States and Canada. These programs address the urgent need in many primary schools to teach ESL, and use approaches that implement recent research in second language acquisition. At the same time, these two-way programs also offer instruction in a foreign language to monolingual English-speaking children. This presentation will review a case study of a model two-way program, with findings in three areas; first, native-speaking peers were found to be a valuable resource for both groups. Second, the two-way design encouraged cognitive development. Third, although the program had a broad base of support, the diverse groups with in the school liked the program for different reasons. The study was carried out by teachers, administrators and parents from both language groups, working together. This presentation will describe strategies which made collaborative action inquiry feasible, and ways that the process of self-study contributed to other purposes of the school. In the two years following the study, further collaborative action has resulted. |
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