TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………………… 1
II. LENSES ON CHILDHOOD ……………………………………………………………….. 5
Child-Centered Research Methodology ………………………………………………… 5
Research of Student Attitudes Toward Language Learning ……………………. 9
III. FOCUSING IN ON IMMERSION EDUCATION ……………………………………. 15
History of Immersion Education in the United States …………………………… 15
Defining ‘Language’ ………………………………………………………………………….. 17
(Insert Prefix Here)-Lingualism ………………………………………………………….. 19
A Multilingual Education Typology …………………………………………………….. 20
Immersion Education in Context ……………………………………………………….. 24
Marie Curie Elementary School ………………………………………………………….. 26
The Elementary School Staff ……………………………………………………………… 27
The Elementary School Site ………………………………………………………………. 29
Balancing Dual Identities: Language, Curriculum & Instruction …………….. 30
IV. STUDY DESIGN & METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………… 32
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Choosing a School …………………………………………………………………………… 33
Recruiting Research Subjects ……………………………………………………………. 35
Participant Observation ……………………………………………………………………. 37
Gathering Survey Data …………………………………………………………………….. 38
Focus Group Discussions ………………………………………………………………….. 40
Writing & Synthesizing the Data ………………………………………………………… 44
V. ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS ………………………………………………………….. 46
Marie Curie’s Students & Their Families …………………………………………….. 46
Who Learns French? ………………………………………………………………………… 46
What Is the Language Background of Most Students? …………………………. 47
Why Immersion? ………………………………………………………………………………. 50
Language Patterns …………………………………………………………………………… 56
What Languages Do They Speak at School? ………………………………………. 56
Student Attitudes …………………………………………………………………………….. 58
VI. LISTENING TO THEIR CONCERNS ………………………………………………….. 63
What Do You Really Think? Underlying Attitudes Toward Language
Learning ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 63
I Guess I Like French: Underlying Attitudes Toward English &
French …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 64
I Might Fail and Then I’d Have to Repeat a Grade: Students’ Fear of
Failure …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 68
The Other Students Might Laugh at Me: Peer-to-Peer Shaming ………….. 71
French Makes You Sound Smart ……………………………………………………….. 74
VII. SHIFTING OUR PERSPECTIVE & LISTENING TO CHILDREN’S
VOICES: CONSEQUENCES FOR PRACTICE ………………………………………….. 76
Improving Immersion Programs ………………………………………………………… 76
Listening to Children’s Voices …………………………………………………………… 76
Building a Supportive Immersion Environment from ‘the Ground
Up’ …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 77
The Challenge of Shifting Our Perspective ………………………………………….. 80
Where Is All of the Research? …………………………………………………………… 80
Occupying the ‘Least Adult Role’ & Building Rapport …………………………… 81
Tangents & ‘Wrong Answers’ …………………………………………………………….. 82
Reversing Our Roles ………………………………………………………………………… 84
VIII. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? …………………………………………………. 86
APPENDICES
A. HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY ……………………………………………………………. 90
B. STUDENT LANGUAGE SURVEY ……………………………………………………….. 92
C. FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS …………………………………………………………….. 96
REFERENCES CITED …………………………………………………………………………. 98