Effective teaching strategies for oral second language use in German and French first-grade immersion classrooms

Abstract

This micro-ethnographic classroom-based case study explores analytic and experiential teaching strategies that lead to engaged student participation and increased learning opportunities in German and French first grade language arts and math classes. The data were collected from two successful public elementary immersion schools in Milwaukee where English-speaking children learn the school curriculum through a second language (German or French) starting from kindergarten. The data in this study were collected in a seven-month time period by using data collection methods such as field notes, audiotaping, videotaping, and interviews. The constant comparative method, based on grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and enumerative techniques were used for data analysis. The data have shown that the first grade immersion teachers used analytic and experiential teaching strategies in learning contexts in order to promote oral second language use and content learning in language arts and math classes. Analytic teaching strategies focus on specific features of the target language, such as syntactic structures, pronunciation, and vocabulary, whereas, experiential teaching strategies focused on the use of the target language in a meaningful and contextualized way. This study also suggests that teachers' learning and teaching philosophies are reflected in their actions and behaviors, and analytic and experiential teaching strategies are the reflections of the teachers' belief systems and their instructional practices. The knowledge gained from this study may form a solid background for pre-service and in-service teacher education programs by demonstrating the needs of immersion teachers, and also recognizing the challenges of immersion education.