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Researching Developing Discourses and Competences in Immersion Classrooms

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Research Methods in Language and Education

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

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Abstract

This chapter traces the development of research in immersion and in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms from their beginnings, when the emphasis was on program evaluation to current tendencies foregrounding pedagogical concerns, code-switching, multilingual perspectives, and sociocultural concerns. The main contribution section initially examines how ethnography came to be seen as an important means of researching classroom processes, teacher and student beliefs, as well as sociocultural and political factors. The results of studies carried out in Finland, the United States, Catalonia, Canada, Austria, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Colombia, and Paraguay are presented and discussed, particularly with respect to qualitative perspectives. Finally, in the section directed toward future tendencies, there is a discussion of studies focusing on bilingual and multilingual classroom discourse in immersion education and teacher training for practitioners working with young children. This chapter finishes by concluding that research on immersion and CLIL programs has greatly broadened in scope from its beginnings.

In the context of this chapter, the term “immersion” refers to the type of bilingual programs that originated in Canada in the 1960s. It does not cover the “dual” or “two-way immersion” modality, which has become popular recently in the United States with non-immersion students (de Courcy 1997).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Educación, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    Anne-Marie de Mejía

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  1. Anne-Marie de Mejía
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Correspondence to Anne-Marie de Mejía .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Second Languages and Cultures Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    Kendall King

  2. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Yi-Ju Lai

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, School of Critic, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

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de Mejía, AM. (2016). Researching Developing Discourses and Competences in Immersion Classrooms. In: King, K., Lai, YJ., May, S. (eds) Research Methods in Language and Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02329-8_24-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02329-8_24-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02329-8

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