Abstract

Dual language immersion programs have been on the rise in the United States as a proven effective form of bilingual education. As of the 2018–2019 academic year, Utah had 224 dual language immersion (DLI) programs; 113 Spanish, 65 Chinese, 30 French, 13 Portuguese, 2 German and 1 Russian. Roughly 34,000 students were enrolled in one of these programs. The DLI programs in Utah use a 50:50 model, which means half of the students' day is in the partner language model and half is in English. The purpose of my study was to research teachers’ attitudes, opinions, and beliefs within a DLI school environment and understand their experiences of the benefits and challenges on how the DLI program has impacted their career. In order to gain a better understanding of the DLI program and all that it entails regarding teacher attitudes, opinions, and beliefs, a qualitative study, using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), was conducted. There were 12 participants, three of which were male and nine of which were female. They taught in DLI schools in Spanish, English, German, and Chinese. Findings from the interviews conducted identified six primary themes and seven secondary themes from teachers’ experiences working in a DLI program. The primary themes included cultural awareness, school environment, support, curriculum development, collaboration and training. Teachers wanted more training in order to be more prepared to teach dual immersion. They also needed materials and resources that are readily available to them for the target language being taught so they aren’t wasting their time and money creating resources that should be provided. Teachers felt that collaboration is a struggle because of the different schedules that the dual immersion programs require. These finding are based on how educators experienced the DLI program in their respective schools. Implications and recommendations for implementation of a successful dual immersion program are discussed.

Degree

EdS

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/