Knowra Language immersion Language immersion Language immersion is an instructional approach in which learners study academic content through a language they are acquiring. It develops subject knowledge and language proficiency together.
Comprehensible input : Language input that learners can understand, even when it contains unfamiliar words or structures. Teachers make academic explanations understandable without switching constantly to learners’ first language.
French immersion in Canada : Canadian school programs that teach much or most of the curriculum through French to students whose home language is usually English. These programs helped establish immersion as a recognizable model of bilingual schooling.
Foreign language instruction : Teaching a language as a subject, usually through lessons focused directly on its vocabulary, grammar, and communication. Unlike immersion, it does not ordinarily use the target language to teach the wider academic curriculum.
Bilingualism : The ability to use two languages, with proficiency varying across contexts and skills. Immersion aims to develop usable proficiency alongside academic learning.
St. Lambert experiment : A 1960s French immersion program in St. Lambert, Quebec, launched for English-speaking children at parents’ initiative. Its outcomes drew sustained attention to whether children could learn school subjects through a second language.
Content-based instruction : An approach that teaches language through meaningful subject matter rather than isolated language exercises. Immersion is a sustained form of content-based instruction, often spanning several school subjects.
Two-way immersion : A bilingual school model that teaches students from two language groups together through both languages. It combines language learning with sustained interaction between native speakers of each program language.
English as a second language : Instruction that develops English proficiency among learners whose first language is not English. It often teaches English directly, whereas immersion teaches academic subjects through the language being acquired.
Academic achievement : Measured progress in school subjects, often assessed through grades, tests, or completed qualifications. A central question is whether learning content through a developing language affects subject outcomes.
Wallace E. Lambert : A Canadian social psychologist whose research examined bilingualism, language learning, and French immersion education. His studies helped document outcomes of the St. Lambert program and shape immersion research.
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