F.A.Q.s

Q: What is Dual Language Spanish Immersion and how does it work?
A: A Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program brings together native speakers of a minority “target” language, in this case Spanish, with native speakers of the majority language, in this case English, in the same classroom. Both groups of students develop fluency and literacy in both languages. The early grades are taught mostly in Spanish. The amount of English-language instruction increases as the children progress through the grades. English-language instruction typically reaches 50 percent by fourth or fifth grade. Parents do not need to be bilingual for their children to succeed in a dual-immersion program, and enrollment in such a program is also voluntary.

Q: Has dual Language Spanish Immersion been proven to be an effective education paradigm?
A: Yes. In large-scale studies over many years, university researchers have documented a very high rate of success in achieving academic proficiency for both Spanish and English-speaking children in programs similar to ours. Typically, both Spanish and English speakers achieve native or near-native fluency in their new language. On standardized academic tests, both groups outperform their counterparts who have been educated in monolingual classrooms. Spanish speakers also outperform their counterparts who have been educated in traditional bilingual classrooms.

Q: What happens in the classroom?
A: Language is the vehicle for instruction in a Dual Language Spanish Immersion classroom. A visitor would not find a class conjugating verbs or memorizing prepared “dialogues.” Rather, one would see children using the language – speaking, reading, writing, adding, subtracting, experimenting, singing, arguing, whispering and shouting – all in Spanish, under the guidance of a teacher, who has been specially trained to teach the language while using it. The teachers follow the same curricula as the district’s English-only classes.

Q: How do English speakers specifically benefit from this program?
A: English speakers get the chance to acquire a new language in the years when their brains are most receptive to language learning. Most become highly proficient in the target language, a standard that most adult Americans, who typically began to study a world language in middle or high school, can never hope to attain. English speakers also gain socially by making friendships across cultural, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries. Researchers who study this phenomenon find that English speakers in language-immersion programs hold positive attitudes about people from other cultures.

Q: How do Spanish speakers specifically benefit from this program?
A: Spanish-speakers get the chance to advance academically and socially while becoming bilingual. They can maintain their first language, Spanish, while learning a second language, English, at a time when their brains are most receptive to language learning. Spanish-speakers also gain friendships across cultural, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries and are found to hold positive attitudes about people from other cultures.

Q: How do children who are already bilingual benefit from this program?
A: Dual Language Spanish Immersion programs allow bilingual children to continue to develop their proficiency in speaking and writing fluently in two languages.

Q: Is this method of early language learning in wide use?
A: In short, yes. There are more than 300 elementary Dual Language Spanish Immersion Programs throughout the United States, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C. There are Dual Language Spanish Immersion Programs in many languages, but the most common by far is Spanish. The model was developed in the 1970’s in Quebec, Canada, where it is still used extensively to develop bilingualism in French and English-speaking students.

Q: Are there local models of successful language immersion programs?
A: Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School in Detroit and the Fiesta Garden School in San Mateo are two examples of successful Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program.

Q: How did the River Rouge Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program get started?
A: Our program will begin in the fall of the 2010-2011 school year, but its roots go back to 2010, when Dr. Carlos Lopez, Superintendent of Schools received a Board of Education resolution to implement a comprehensive Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program.

Q: Who are the children and staff of the Ann Visger Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program?
A: Spanish-speaking or bilingual, and native English speakers in grades Preschool through first grade. Our staff is dedicated, creative, and trained in Dual Language Spanish Immersion techniques. All are completely fluent in English and Spanish.