ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Immersion at CEFORMA SEESCYT D.R
Santiago De Los 30 Caballeros

Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language (also called L2, or the target language). Unlike a more traditional language course, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool, surrounding or "immersing" students in the second language. In-class activities, such as math, social studies, and history, and those outside of the class, such as meals or everyday tasks, are conducted in the target language. Today's immersion programs are based on those founded in the 1960s in Canada when middle-income English-speaking parents convinced educators to establish an experimental French immersion program enabling their children 'to appreciate the traditions and culture of French-speaking Canadians as well as English-speaking Canadians'.^[1]

Educators distinguish between language immersion and submersion programs. In the former, the class is composed of students learning the L2 at the same level; while in the latter, one or two students are learning the foreign language, which is the first language (L1) for the rest of the class, thus they are "thrown into the ocean to learn how to swim" instead of gradually immersed in the new language.

A new form of language related syllabus delivery called Internationalised Curriculum provides a different angle by immersing the curricula from various countries into the local language curriculum and separating out the language-learning aspects of the syllabus. Proponents believe immersion study in a language foreign to the country of instruction doesn't produce as effective results as separated language learning and may, in fact, hinder education effectiveness and learning in other subject areas.