A Balanced Approach to Bilingual Education

“Esta es la cabeza. Esta es la cintura.”

The head and the waist. The children in Veronica Johnson’s kindergarten class chant along with their teacher as she goes through a short list of body parts from cabeza to pies (feet). A few minutes earlier they were drawing pictures to illustrate verbs: things they can do with their hands. Every word is in Spanish, a language about half the kids in the classroom did not comprehend at all five weeks earlier.

“Pasa papel, pasa papel!”

In Silvia Saña’s first-grade class, the kids chorus as they pass up papers from a spelling test. A few doors down, Diane Sievenpiper’s second-grade class is looking at the interactive whiteboard at the front of the room as they practice spelling: vengo, feo, baño.

This is the Dual Immersion Academy at Mount Vernon, where about half the school’s enrollment is learning the three R’s in two languages. It’s a 50/50 program, with about half the day conducted exclusively in English and half in Spanish, a model designed to equally benefit both English speakers and kids from homes where Spanish is the primary language and who may be lagging in English proficiency.

Dual language immersion, sometimes called two-way immersion, was introduced in Canada more than 40 years ago and is widespread in the U.S. with at least 224 programs in California alone, according to the state Department of Education. Spanish is the most popular second language statewide but other partner languages in California include Korean and Mandarin. In San Diego County, nine districts offer a two-way program in one or more schools; Chula Vista has a particularly active program.

The Lemon Grove program still is in its infancy, having expanded to fourth grade in its third year at Mount Vernon.

“Part of our district’s goals is preparing students to be 21st century learners and to be competitive in a global economy,” said Mount Vernon Principal Russell Little. “You’re going to need language skills, especially being so close to Mexico. I think it behooves us, especially here in California, to be competent and biliterate in two languages at least.”

The program is expected to expand to fifth grade next year and then move with the kids into Palm Middle School, a more unusual setting for dual immersion. Little (who pulls double duty as principal of both schools) said in addition to other benefits, participants will be well positioned for the College Board’s Advanced Placement Spanish test by seventh or eighth grade.

Dual immersion doesn’t appear to suffer any of the image problems of the bilingual education models that were the focus of California’s Proposition 227. The June 1998 initiative, which drew a 61 percent “yes” vote amid polarizing debate over education for immigrant children, sought to severely restrict Spanish-only instruction for English-language learners.

At Mount Vernon, parents opt in or out of dual immersion when their children start kindergarten; there are 257 children enrolled this year balanced roughly between those who hear Spanish at home and those who don’t. Kids in the program have two teachers: science and social studies are conducted in Spanish, math primarily in English. Language arts are split between Spanish and English.

And no one is simply dipping a toe in the water. In the Spanish-oriented classrooms all the materials, from picture books to the materials posted on the wall, are in Spanish. Except when calling children’s names, even the kindergarten teacher speaks exclusively in Spanish. Little said some kids probably think she can’t speak English.

Even in the lower grades, some of the homework is assigned in Spanish. Parents who don’t speak the language may have to settle for a role—albeit an important one—as cheerleader, Little said.

Some find it rough going. The morning Lemon Grove Patch visited Mount Vernon, a distressed mom was in the office saying her daughter, who was enrolled in dual immersion, was so unhappy with the program she didn’t want to come to school anymore.

In such situations, Little said the school encourages parents to keep trying. “We’re not going to let them drown,” he said. “You don’t want to make it totally uncomfortable but you want to push them a little bit.”

Others are ecstatic with dual immersion and the results they’re seeing at home.

Shelene Lopez said her second-grader, Julia, already is speaking Spanish fluently after starting from scratch in kindergarten. “She doesn’t feel challenged enough at school, so this provided another challenge for her,” Lopez said. “She’s doing really well with it.”

Lopez’s fourth-grade son, David, has expressed interest in learning French or Latin. His brother Alex will enroll in dual immersion when he starts kindergarten next fall.

Lina Scott said her kindergartner, Antonio, showed a little anxiety over dual immersion at first but now is “excited about learning the new words and bringing them home.” Her third-grader, Angelina, has a much more extensive vocabulary and loves talking to her mom in Spanish.

“I’m hoping that it broadens her perspective and her horizon where she wants to go even further and maybe take another language,” said Scott, adding that Spanish fluency will be an asset in the San Diego job market.