Becoming Biliterate
A Study of Two-Way Bilingual
Immersion Education
-Bertha Pérez
Preface
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Intended for multiple audiences- from
researchers to teachers and administrators
“offers readers an analysis of the implementation
of two-way bilingual immersion education in two
schools and an analytical examination of the
classroom instructional practices within these
schools.” - Perez
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Limiting the study to the program itself is a
characteristic of qualitative research
Overview
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Introduction- gives background about of the study and
explains researchers’ role
Chapter 1- literature review, theoretical background of
study
Chapter 2- development of the two-way program
Chapter 3- Role of parents, sociopolitical climate of
schools
Chapters 4-6- description of classroom life
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Useful for teachers, language and literacy researchers
Chapter 7- pressures of testing and accountability for
students and teachers
Chapter 8- role of teachers in developing & maintaining
program
The San Antonio Context:
•Value of Mexican/Mexican-American culture has been
appreciated- San Antonio has been considered a
bicultural city
•Role of Spanish has not been appreciated in schooling or
society
- English associated with education, Spanish encouraged
mainly for commerce and media purposes (advertising)
• Code-switching between English & Spanish, use of
“Spanglish” is common
- criticized by Mexican nationals (affluent tourists, businesspeople)
Sociopolitical Context
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Linguicism- the ideologies, structures and practices, which are used to
legitimate, effectuate, regulate and reproduce an unequal division of power
and resources… on the basis of language (Shutnabb-Kangas, 2000)
 In the US, this has to do with political attitudes towards socioeconomic
status of the speakers than with pedagogical effectiveness
Texas schools have historically enforced a subtractive policy (loss of L1 in
favor of English)
In 1995, superintendent in San Antonio identified goals for bilingual
education task force:
 To determine the current status of the bilingual program in SAISD
 To explore model programs throughout the district, the state and the
nation through research and through exploration at model program
sites; and
 To make recommendations for bilingual education program
improvement from prekindergarten through Grade 12
Third Goal redefined by subgroup examining
bilingual instructional methods
“to restructure our program so that as a result of
our instruction
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A) our students become biliterate, bicultural citizens
B) our students are able to think at higher levels, thus
becoming effective problem solvers
C) our promotion rates increase at all levels
D) our students and our program are perceived as
positive contributors to the total San Antonio ISD
education program
School Profiles: Data from 1995
Storm Elementary:
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Average of 548 students
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Located on the poor west side of
San Antonio
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Railroad tracks, public housing,
apartments are some
neighborhood features
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98% Mexican American
 50% speak Spanish at home
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99% economically disadvantaged
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High mobility
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Teachers in dual language
program were all MexicanAmerican
Bonham Elementary:
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Average of 340 students
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Located near near the historic King
Williams district
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Mix of single family wood-frame
houses, old homes, buildings
converted into businesses, public
housing, a homeless shelter, and
historic homes surround the school
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School is a combination of old 2-story
building and new additions
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92% Mexican American
 30% speak Spanish
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93% economically disadvantaged
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High mobility
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Teachers in dual language program
were all Mexican-American
Initiation of the programs
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Two-Way Dual Language Programs
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In 1995, Bonham started two-way immersion program
in kindergarten
1996- Storm began the same program in kindergarten
Title VII System-wide Improvement Grant funded both
programs from 1996-1999
All LEP students can participate in 2-way dual
language, monolingual English students encouraged
to participate
At the beginning, both schools offered a late-exit
maintenance program and English K-5 grade
strand as well
Campus Leadership Team
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Constant parental involvement & influence
Instructional Coordinator
Administrators
Teachers
Community
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Local residents, leaders from business and public
sectors
Parental Input
Opposition
 When are you going to
teach my child English?
 I’m not sure the 90-10
model is the best.
 How will parents help
their child with homework
if they don’t know the
language?
Support
 Trust in teachers
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Constant
communication
Value of Bilingualism
Students
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Total of 216 children in both schools (2001) from grades K-5
 197 Mexican American
 17 white
 2 African American
 7 were special-needs or at risk students
 Most began in kindergarten cohorts, other Spanish dominant
students were admitted at all grade levels on a space available
basis
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Mexican and Mexican American students share many common
cultural features
Language Distribution
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90-10 model selected for K-1st Grades
 Intention: Spanish would become a prestige language with status within
the school so that social pressure for children to use English would be
balanced
 Spanish as primary language of instruction
 At Storm, 2-way teachers exchanged students with transitional bilingual
teachers during ESL time
70 or 80% Spanish for 2nd & 3rd Grades
 Self-contained at both schools
50-50 in 4th & 5th Grades
 Self-contained at Storm
 Classes were departmentalized at Bonham
 2-way immersion teacher provided language arts & math in Spanish
 Other teachers taught social studies & science in English
Oral Language Practices
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Native speakers of each language stimulated
their peers
Teachers encouraged risk-taking, especially for
2nd language learners
Teachers made sure to stimulate language use
through interaction
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Primary grades- centers, environment
Intermediate- centers, mixed language grouping
Teaching children to self-monitor language
development
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ask questions, get clarification, restate, translate
when necessary
Oral Language Practices:
Teacher-Student
Communication
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Wait Time
Say it in Any Language
Think in Spanish/English
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Teachers guided students using their L1 as a
basis
Ask Someone
Pass & Return
Use of Print for Oral Communication
Oral Language Practices:
Instructional Language
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Comprehensible Input
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Total Physical Response
Gestures, objects, pictures
Short, specific statements
Open ended questions
Preview, Review
“These are just good teaching practices, you
provide context, you demonstrate, you repeat,
and you check for understanding” -3rd Grade
Teacher
Developing Literacy
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Teachers and administrators reviewed &
discussed research articles for guidance
on how to structure reading lessons
Used Cummins’ (1981) interdependence
hypothesis as a basis
How it was done…
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K-2: Children taught to read & write in Spanish, with English reading
introduced incrementally
 Many students expressed interest in English reading before then.
 Teachers decided to respond by providing resources and
encouraging this, but did not formally teach reading in English
until children had developed literacy in Spanish (literacy will
transfer to L2)
 Many children could read & write in English before formal
teacher-directed English
3-5: Balanced literacy- integrated literature, content materials into
reading and writing
 Small group instruction
 Cooperative activities
 Independent reading
Primary Grades
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Spanish literacy taught through syllabic
method, phonemic instruction,
segmentation, etc.
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Focus on accents and tildes
Used writing as a cultural activity
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Integrated hybridized culture of San Antonio
Emphasis on language separation
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Purposeful code-switching in informal writing
(letters, signs, etc.)
Literacy Transfer
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Cummins’ “common underlying proficiency”
Strong basis in Spanish literacy had a positive
consequence during English literacy
development at both schools
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Lots of experimentation in primary grades with
interpreting English text & writing in English
Phonics lessons in English starting in 2nd grade
Academic Biliteracy:
Intermediate Grades
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Teachers had to follow balanced literacy
framework (school district) while attending to
bilingual immersion model (50-50)
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Content areas covered in literacy block, strategic
integration of subjects
Pressures of TAAS test influenced learning
opportunities
Intermediate Focus: helping students
internalize their language skills while using
them to learn academic content
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Strategies:
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As children became more proficient in English,
they read & produced work in L2
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Using text features and contextual clues, cognates,
summarizing & re-telling, translating and transferring
information across languages
Often used both languages in their work (start in one
language and extend in another)
Teachers often taught a lesson in Spanish and
extended it in English through another content
area
Balanced Literacy in
Intermediate Grades
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Guided Reading- teachers called attention to
language concepts to reinforce rules & patterns
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Literature- balance of English & Spanish readaloud/independent reading with journal entries
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Used student responses to guide grammar lessons
TAAS practice integration
Spelling- theme-based word lists in both
languages
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Emphasis on accents and punctuation
Writing in Intermediary Grades
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Heavily influenced by TAAS test
Numerous samples examined, evidence of
cross-linguistic, cross-cultural influences
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Applied language rules of Spanish to English writing
(propositi for purpose)
Used language to convey cultural significance even
though they knew of the correct word in both
languages (field day= día de campo)
Borrowed words from another language and
conjugated them (cacharías, cachaste)
Data used in the Study
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Ethnography- can yield a rich description of the
culture of a community
Extensive observations
Interviews
Student work (especially writing samples)
Case studies of specific students
Standardized testing scores
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TAAS, ITBS, Aprenda NCE, Tejas Lee, etc.
Running Records (reading)
Influence of TAAS
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Instruction was often guided by TAAS objectives
Pressure from school district- performance rating
Issue of language of testing
Results
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Both schools made steady improvements over time
Students performed academically at grade level in all
subjects (TAAS) in both languages when compared
with peers
Teacher Role and Impact
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Teachers expressed need to explain their
program and practices
Participated in choices and decision
making
All were Mexican American
Storm Academy
435 Brady Boulevard
San Antonio, TX
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“Two Languages and
College
Preparation....Creating
Choices and Expanding
Opportunities”
K-5
Bonham Academy
925 South Saint Mary’s St.,
San Antonio, TX
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"Quien Sabe Dos
Idiomas Vale Por
Dos”
2-Way Dual
Language Program
since 1995
Now offers dual
language education
through 8th grade
(chartered)
Questions I still Have…
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Perez mentions that 6 teachers left the program and tells where they
went, but does not give insight as to why.
Bonham Academy now goes all the way to 8th grade. I would like
more information about student progress in secondary grades and
high school.
Are the students from these schools still bilingual?
I assume that some students may not have been as successful as
others in becoming biliterate. While the book offers information
about the program, there isn’t detailed information about struggling
learners.
How would two way dual language immersion look with a more
diverse population?
What would be different if teachers had not all been MexicanAmerican?