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Journal 6

Lizbeth Jara Oregon

University of St. Thomas

Professor Cruz
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Students who are enrolled in a dual language or two-way immersion program have many

benefits when acquiring a second language. These students are exposed to many cultures, are

better able to empathize and are better prepared for the changing demographics by being

bilingual in a country that speaks 350 languages. Research also shows that the bilingual brain has

cognitive advantages that the monolingual brain does not. Some of these advantages include

multitasking, language processing, and academic achievement. These benefits are not exclusive

to English Language Learners. Native English speakers whose initial literacy is in Spanish will

also benefit.

Native English speakers benefit from initial literacy instruction in Spanish due to the

similarity in alphabets between English and Spanish and the phonetic nature of the Spanish

language. Providing students with simple T charts, sentence stems, visuals, and opportunities to

develop oracy in the minority language will prepare the students to move from the concrete to

the abstract. These factors can help students with the language transfer and language

development. Metalinguistic awareness such as bridging can help students in the same ways that

Spanish speakers benefit from making connections between the languages. It is also important to

elevate the status of the minority language to match the primary language. According to Beeman

& Urow, by prioritizing Spanish “the teacher is sending a clear message that Spanish is important

and that the students are expected to use Spanish for academic interactions. Also, in keeping with

her understanding of the first premise, she is setting aside time for explicitly teaching in Spanish”

(Beeman & Urow, 2013). Students who are in a dual language or two-way immersion program

have many advantages when initial literacy is in Spanish.

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References

Beeman, K. & Urow,. C. (2013). Teaching for biliteracy. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing

Escamilla, K., Hopewell, S., Butvilofsky, S., Sparrow, W., Soltero-Gonzalez, L., Ruiz-Figueroa,

O., & Escamilla, M. (2014). Biliteracy from the start: Literacy squared in action.

Philadelphia, PA: Caslon Publishing