Abstract
Student populations in Unites States schools have changed and continue to do so. Educators have had to adapt in order to be effective and equitable. Bilingual/immersion teachers, specifically, are experiencing difficulties in fostering cross-cultural competence. This creates myriad issues for students concerning diversity, cultural conflicts, and racial tensions. The purpose of this chapter is to provide context and a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of bilingual/immersion teachers. This will be accomplished by a thorough review of recent literature, an analysis of the discovered themes within the literature, and a discussion of practical recommendations to provide support to teachers, administrators, and district stakeholders.
TopBackground
This chapter may add to the growing understanding of the teaching and learning of cross-cultural awareness and competence. According to current research, teachers are experiencing difficulties and barriers to achieving this goal (Cervantes-Soon et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2017; Menken & Avni, 2017).
Smolcic and Katunich (2017) conducted an extensive literature review of over 90 peer-reviewed studies on the topic and determined that many teachers lack experiential learning. They claimed international study tours, overseas student teaching, and similar opportunities aid teachers in understanding second language acquisition, the skills and attitudes that support cross-cultural connections, and personal growth. While researching Chinese immersion programs, Chen et al. (2017) described two main obstacles immersion teachers struggled with including inadequate professional development and a lack of quality resources and materials. It was also mentioned that each immersion program is unique in its nature. Carstens (2015) aimed at creating a comprehensive curriculum to address language and culture for Mandarin/English bilingual programs and reported a lack of curriculum designed to incorporate social studies and arts and humanities topics. After conducting the ethnographic study, it was evident that each school’s curriculum should be shaped by their specific context and student body. Yet another study by Freire and Valdez (2017), as previously mentioned, listed four common barriers, including a lack of time, culturally-relevant materials, and knowledge, the fourth being the belief that some social justice topics are unsuitable for younger children. They concluded by advocating for teachers, explaining that CCC is a community-based endeavor and that parent and administrative support could go a long way.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy (CRP): Culturally-relevant pedagogy is a combination of academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical competence that influences and enhances instructional planning, practices, and expectations; also known as culturally-responsive teaching.
Language Distribution: The determination of language distribution quantifies the ratio of majority language to minority language used in the classroom for instructional purposes. The three main options are 50:50, 80:20, and 90:10. The first number indicates the percentage of instructional time that is devoted to the minority language, and the second number is the percentage of instructional time that is devoted to teaching in the majority language.
Majority Language: A majority language is the language that the majority of the people in a given population uses. In general, the majority language in the U.S. is English.
Cross-Cultural Competence (CCC): Cultural competence is the ability to balance two or more sociocultural environments, maintaining cultural beliefs, identities, and practices to build community, expand the knowledge base, and connect to the larger world.
Second Language Acquisition (SLA): When individuals gain native-like proficiency in a second language, either in an authentic or instructional context, they have achieved second language acquisition.
Minority Language: A minority language is the language that a minority of the people use in a population. The most common minority languages spoken in the U.S. are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
Language Allocation: The determination of language allocation specifies which language of instruction will be used at different times, with different content areas, or different days of the week.
Bilingual/Immersion Education: Bilingual/immersion, also known as dual immersion or dual language, is an educational program designed to support both emergent bilinguals and English-speakers desiring to gain a second language with the end goal of bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cultural competence.