This article presents an overview of immersion pedagogy and how it has developed over the years in conjunction with classroom research and evolving classroom practices. We first consider initial conceptualization of immersion pedagogy as being primarily content-based and input-driven with only an incidental focus on the immersion language. We consider the strengths and weaknesses of this approach as a means to explain subsequent recommendations for a more systematic focus on language in immersion pedagogy. We then review classroom research investigating various pedagogical means of enhancing immersion students’ metalinguistic awareness through form-focused instruction, corrective feedback, and cross-lingual pedagogy. We conclude with questions and issues for future research and development in the realm of immersion pedagogy.
Allen, P., Swain, M., Harley, B., & Cummins J. (1990). Aspects of classroom treatment: Toward a more comprehensive view of second language education. In B. Harley, P. Allen, J. Cummins, & M. Swain (Eds.), The development of second language proficiency (pp. 57–81). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bishop, R., Berryman, M., & Richardson, C. (2002). Te toi huarewa: Effective teaching and learning in total immersion Māori language educational settings. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 26(1), 44–61.
Bouffard, L.A., & Sarkar, M. (2008). Training 8-year‐old French immersion students in metalinguistic analysis: An innovation in form-focused pedagogy. Language Awareness, 17(1), 3–24.
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Cammarata, L., & Tedick, D.J. (2012). Balancing content and language in instruction: The experience of immersion teachers. Modern Language Journal, 961, 251–269.
Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 101, 221–241.
Day, E., & Shapson, S. (2001). Integrating formal and functional approaches to language teaching in French immersion: Language Learning, 51(Supplement 1), 47–80.
Fortune, T.W., Tedick, D.J., & Walker, C.L. (2008). Integrated language and content teaching: Insights from the immersion classroom. In T.W. Fortune & D.J. Tedick (Eds.), Pathways to multilingualism: Evolving perspectives on immersion education (pp. 71–96). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Harley, B. (1989). Functional grammar in French immersion: A classroom experiment. Applied Linguistics, 101, 331–359.
Harley, B. (1998). The role of form-focused tasks in promoting child L2 acquisition. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 156–174). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Harley, B., Cummins, J., Swain, M., & Allen, P. (1990). The nature of language proficiency. In B. Harley, P. Allen, J. Cummins, & M. Swain (Eds.), The development of second language proficiency (pp. 7–25). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Hoare, P., & Kong, S. (2008). Late immersion in Hong Kong: Still stressed or making progress? In T.W. Fortune & D.J. Tedick (Eds.), Pathways to multilingualism: Evolving perspectives on immersion education (pp. 242–263). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Kong, S. (2009). Content-based instruction: What can we learn from content-trained teachers’ and language-trained teachers’ pedagogies?Canadian Modern Language Review, 661, 233–269.
Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. London: Longman.
Lee, J. (2007). Corrective feedback and learner uptake in English immersion classrooms at the primary level in Korea. English Teaching, 62(4), 311–334.
Lightbown, P. (2014). Focus on content-based language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lyster, R. (1994). The effect of functional-analytic teaching on aspects of French immersion students’ sociolinguistic competence. Applied Linguistics, 151, 263–287.
Lyster, R. (1998). Negotiation of form, recasts, and explicit correction in relation to error types and learner repair in immersion classrooms. Language Learning, 481, 183–218.
Lyster, R. (2004). Differential effects of prompts and recasts in form-focused instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 261, 399–432.
Lyster, R., & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 191, 37–66.
Lyster, R., & Rebuffot, J. (2002). Acquisition des pronoms d’allocution en classe de français immersif. Acquisition et Interaction en Langue Étrangère, 171, 51–71.
Lyster, R., Saito, K., & Sato, M. (2013). Oral corrective feedback in second language classrooms. Language Teaching, 46(1), 1–40.
McMillan, B., & Turnbull, M. (2009). Teachers’ use of the first language in French immersion: Revisiting a core principle. In M. Turnbull & J. Dailey-O’Cain (Eds.), First language use in second and foreign language learning (pp. 15–34). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Met, M. (1998). Curriculum decision-making in content-based language teaching. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and multilingual education (pp. 35–63). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Met, M. (2008). Paying attention to language: Literacy, language and academic achievement. In T. Fortune & D.J. Tedick (Eds.), Pathways to bilingualism and multilingualism: Evolving perspectives on immersion education (pp. 49–70). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Mougeon, R., Nadasdi, T., & Rehner, K. (2010). The sociolinguistic competence of immersion students. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Netten, J. (1991). Towards a more language oriented second language classroom. In L. Malavé & G. Duquette (Eds.), Language, culture and cognition (pp. 284–304). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Peter, L., Hirata-Edds, T., & Montgomery-Anderson, B. (2008). Verb development by children in the Cherokee language immersion program, with implications for teaching. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(2), 166–187.
Poirier, J., & Lyster, R. (2014). Les pronoms objets directs de la 3e personne et leur apport aux indices du genre grammatical dans le discours oral des enseignants en immersion. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 70(2), 246–267.
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Spada, N. (1997). Form-focussed instruction and second language acquisition: A review of classroom and laboratory research. Language Teaching, 291, 73–87.
Swain, M. (1988). Manipulating and complementing content teaching to maximize second language learning. TESL Canada Journal, 61, 68–83.
Swain, M. (2006). Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced language proficiency. In H. Byrnes (Ed.), Advanced language learning: The contribution of Halliday and Vygotsky (pp. 95–108). London: Continuum.
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2002). Talking it through: Two French immersion learners’ response to reformulation. International Journal of Educational Research, 371, 285–304.
Tan, M. (2011). Mathematics and science teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the teaching of language in content learning. Language Teaching Research, 151, 325–342.
Tedick, D.J., & Young, A.I. (2014). Fifth grade two-way immersion students’ responses to form-focused instruction. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Weber, S., & Tardif, C. (1991). Assessing L2 competency in early immersion classrooms. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 471, 916–932.
Wright, R. (1996). A study of the acquisition of verbs of motion by grade 4/5 early French immersion students. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 531, 257–280.
Yamauchi, L.A., Ceppi, A.K., & Lau-Smith, J. (2000). Teaching in a Hawaiian context: Educator perspectives on the Hawaiian language immersion program. Bilingual Research Journal, 241, 385–403.
Yamauchi, L.A., & Wilhelm, P. (2001). E ola ka Hawai‘i i kona ‘ōlelo: Hawaiians live in their language. In D. Christian & F. Genesee (Eds.), Bilingual education (pp. 83–94). Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.
Cited by (21)
Cited by 21 other publications
Mary, Latisha, Véronique Lemoine-Bresson & Anne Choffat-Dürr
2024. Se distancier du principe monolingue en programme d’enseignement en immersion. Recherches en didactiques N° 36:2 ► pp. 85 ff.
Mary, Latisha, Véronique Lemoine-Bresson & Anne Choffat-Dürr
2024. Fostering teacher language awareness in a primary English-language immersion school in France: supporting teachers on the road to engaging students’ bilingual competencies. Language Awareness 33:2 ► pp. 365 ff.
Schwartz, Mila & Miriam Shogen
2024. Guardians of the Circassian Heritage Language: Exploring a Teacher’s Agency in the Endeavour of Endangered Language Maintenance. Languages 9:8 ► pp. 275 ff.
Villabona, Nerea & Jasone Cenoz
2022. The integration of content and language in CLIL: a challenge for content-driven and language-driven teachers. Language, Culture and Curriculum 35:1 ► pp. 36 ff.
Briceño, Allison
2021. Influence of Sequential and Simultaneous Bilingualism on Second Grade Dual Language Students’ Use of Syntax in Reading. Reading Psychology 42:2 ► pp. 150 ff.
Hickey, Tina M.
2021. Heritage Language Early Years’ Immersion: Irish-Medium Preschools in Ireland. In Handbook of Early Language Education [Springer International Handbooks of Education, ], ► pp. 1 ff.
Hickey, Tina M.
2022. Heritage Language Early Years’ Immersion: Irish-Medium Preschools in Ireland. In Handbook of Early Language Education [Springer International Handbooks of Education, ], ► pp. 317 ff.
Ó Ceallaigh, T. J., Máiréad Hourigan & Aisling Leavy
2021. Developing potentiality: pre-service elementary teachers as learners of language immersion teaching. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 24:4 ► pp. 515 ff.
Ó Ceallaigh, T.J., Mairéad Hourigan & Aisling Leavy
2019. Comhtháthú an ábhair agus na teanga i gcomhthéacs an tumoideachais: múinteoirí faoi oiliúint i mbun éabhlóide tríd an Staidéar Ceachta. COMHARTaighde :5
Bateman, Blair, Michael Child & Eliane Berlendis Bueno
2018. Enseigner en immersion française au Canada : synthèse des connaissances sur les défis et leurs implications pour la formation des enseignants. The Canadian Modern Language Review 74:1 ► pp. 101 ff.
2018. Searching for identity and focus: towards an analytical framework for language teachers in bilingual education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 21:3 ► pp. 366 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.