Cultural diversity is more than just a demographic metric – increasingly, it is used by educational programs to immerse students into unfamiliar cultures, cultivating an environment that champions diversity. With the help of Dual Language/Immersion (DL/I) programs, students across North Carolina are becoming global citizens from the comfort of their hometowns.
What is Dual Language/Immersion?
Since 1990, North Carolina has created more than 260 DL/I programs in eight different languages. According to Dr. Ann Marie Gunter, the World Languages consultant for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), 53 out of 115 public school districts in North Carolina have at least one DL/I program.
These schools teach content in two languages: English and another one of the eight languages offered, such as Spanish, Japanese, Cherokee or Urdu. All students are encouraged to attend, regardless of their current foreign languages experience. However, in most cases, students are native English speakers who are eager to learn an additional language.
The immersion process doesn’t look the same for all participants. There are two types of immersion offered: one-way immersion and two-way immersion. The NCDPI explained that one-way immersion is for students “enrolled in the DL/I program [who] are mostly monolingual speakers, either of English or of the DL/I program language,” whereas two-way immersion is when students are “a combination of native speakers of English and native speakers of the DL/I program language.” These programs guide students from diverse backgrounds to expand their language fluency and cultural awareness.
There are also a wide variety of programs offered in North Carolina such as partial immersion, full immersion, continuing immersion and developmental bilingual, among others. Developmental bilingual programs stand out because they are for English learners to “develop English proficiency, as well as to maintain and improve their native or heritage language skills.” This sets students up to excel in American society without having to lose aspects of their heritage.
Implementation of DL/I programs has thrived in recent years. NCDPI World Languages Consultant, Dr. Ann Marie Gunter, shared that neither money nor staffing are issues. In some cases, schools hire native speakers from within their community to teach. Over 13 languages besides English are used in North Carolina, which makes it easier to recruit community members when needed. This collaboration furthers global efforts to increase diversity and interconnectedness among communities.
Benefits of Dual Language Immersion
By learning another language, students learn to expand their perspectives while equipping themselves with tools to help them succeed in the workforce. Research has demonstrated that DL/I programs have a number of academic benefits such as test score improvement, increased critical thinking and improved executive function – the ability to plan and manage everyday tasks. Learning how to think, converse and problem-solve in different languages increases students’ flexibility, a key component of executive functioning. The effects of these improvements can be seen both inside and outside of the classroom.
One study showed that DL/I students experienced growth in both English and math test scores. “Students in DL/I programs outperform their monolingual peers across the board.” NCDPI’s Dr. Ann Marie Gunter cited the Thomas and Collier studies and explained how they found that involvement in a DL/I program closes achievement gaps created by low socioeconomic status and disabilities, while also increasing scores for all groups.
Dr. Gunter explained how outside of the classroom, students can use their second language to create connections across the world. “Bilingual education, being able to communicate and be socio-culturally competent with at least two languages is the path for success.”
These immersion experiences enhance academic achievement and increase connections, but they also have another benefit: a leg-up in the job market. The ability to communicate in multiple languages is a skill that most employers are in constant need of and are willing to pay extra for. Language Testing International, a Samsung company that assesses language proficiency, estimates that bilingual employees earn up to 20% more than their monolingual peers. With multilingualism being the latest in-demand skill, students have endless opportunities for success.
Stephanie Cyrus, a parent of a DL/I student, shared her family’s experience with a DL/I program. Her daughter has been enrolled in a program for Spanish since the first grade and is now a high school student. Cyrus described how her daughter “is more accepting and has a deeper sense of empathy and compassion than she otherwise would have had.” Cyrus believed these characteristics – and the ability to communicate in multiple languages – will enable students to be able to solve just about any problem they are confronted with.
At one point, the school district where Cyrus’ daughter was attending school threatened to eliminate the continuation of DL/I programs in middle and high school, which led her and her husband to pay tuition for a different school so that their daughter could continue learning Spanish. She warns against stopping the immersion process after elementary school and explained, “When students are no longer using those skills daily, those skills erode, and that is so unfair to the students who have worked hard to develop in two languages. It is also unfair to the parents and families who have invested and sacrificed time, money, and effort to support their students through the language immersion process.”
One of the motivations for keeping her daughter in a DL/I program was increased job opportunities. “I believe her being bilingual will be a tremendous advantage for her,” Cyrus said. With many industries seeking bilingual applicants, she hoped this will give her child the opportunity to be competitive in the workforce while simultaneously building resilience, improved focus, as well as the ability to “code-switch,” which she describes as the ability to “move in and out of different communities almost seamlessly.”
Cyrus’ daughter has also “thoroughly enjoyed” learning Spanish in a DL/I setting. According to her mother, it has provided her with a diverse community and a unique learning environment, both of which she is grateful for.
By enhancing collaboration within communities and developing students’ critical thinking, North Carolina’s DL/I programs are cultivating a generation of bright minds equipped with the ability to share their knowledge with the world.
