Article published In:
Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language EducationVol. 4:2 (2016) ► pp.168–197
Vol. 4:2 (2016) ► pp.168–197
Academic achievement and language proficiency in early total Mandarin immersion education
Two types of Mandarin immersion programs for elementary age children are growing in popularity: the early total (90/10) program model and the partial (50/50) model; however, little empirical data exists on student learning in either program type. This paper reports on a multi-year research study of K–5 students who participated in the early total Mandarin immersion program. Findings show achievement in English reading and math that is commensurate with, and at times better than grade-level non-immersion peers’ achievement in the same school, district, and state. There was also evidence of a “math advantage” for the Mandarin immersion learner group both in Grades 3 and 5. Beyond academics, the majority of Grade 5 students demonstrated proficiency in Mandarin at Intermediate levels with listening and speaking skills outpacing character writing and reading. This finding suggests a need to further explore character literacy development to better understand best practice for English-proficient children in the U.S.
References (36)
Avant Assessment. (2012). STAMP 4Se (STAndards-based Measurement of Proficiency – 4 Skills Elementary) Technical Report. Retrieved from [URL].
. (2013, March). STAMP4Se benchmarks and rubric guide. Retrieved from [URL].
Björklund, S., Mård-Miettinen, K., & Turpeinen, H. (2007). Kielikylpykirja – Språkbadsboken [The Immersion Book]. Vaasa: Levón Institute, University of Vaasa.
Center for Applied Linguistics. (2015). Databases and directories. Retrieved from [URL].
Chen, X., Xu, F., Nguyen, T.–K., Hong, G., & Wang, Y. (2010). Effects of cross-language transfer on first language phonological awareness and literacy skills in Chinese children receiving English instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1021, 712–728. 
Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Retrieved from [URL].
Everson, M.E. (2011). Best practices in teaching logographic and non-Roman writing systems to L2 learners. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31(1), 249–274.
Fortune, T.W., & Arabbo, M.A. (2006, January). Attending to immersion language proficiency at the program level. Workshop presented at the
Annual Dual Language Immersion Pre-Conference Institute of the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE)
, Phoenix, AZ.
Fuson, K.C., & Kwon, Y. (1992). Learning addition and subtraction: Effects of number word and other cultural tools. In J. Bideaud, C. Meljac, & J. Fischer (Eds.), Pathways to number: Children’s developing numerical abilities (pp. 283–306). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Genesee, F. (1987). Learning through two languages: Studies of immersion and bilingual education. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Genesee, F. & Fortune, T.W. (2014). Bilingual education and at-risk students. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 2(2), 196–209. [Special issue: Language Immersion Education: A Research Agenda for 2015 and Beyond, edited by Tedick & Björklund].
Genesee, F., & Lindholm Leary, K. (2013). Two case studies of content-based language education. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 1(1), 3–33.
Guan, C.Q., Liu, Y., Chan, D.H.L., Ye, F., & Perfetti, A. (2011). Writing strengthens orthography and alphabetic-coding strengthens phonology in learning to read Chinese. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 509–522.
Hamayan, E., Genesee, F., & Cloud, N. (2013). Dual language instruction from A-Z: Practical guidance for teachers and administrators. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Hanban. (n.d.). Youth Chinese Test. Retrieved from [URL].
Ke, C., Wen, X., & Kotenbeutel, C. (2001). Report on the 2000 CLTA articulation project. Journal of Chinese Teachers Association, 36(3), 25–60.
Knell, E., & West, H. (2015). Writing practice and Chinese character recognition in early Chinese immersion students. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, 50(3), 45–61.
Lindholm-Leary, K. (2001). Dual language education. Avon, United Kingdom: Multilingual Matters.
. (2005, July). Understanding outcomes of diverse students in two-way bilingual immersion programs. Paper presented at
Two-Way California Association of Bilingual Education Conference
, Monterrey, CA.
. (2010). PROMISE Initiative student outcomes. San Bernardino, CA: PROMISE Design Center.
Lindholm‐Leary, K. (2011). Student outcomes in Chinese two‐way immersion programs: Language proficiency, academic achievement, and student attitudes. In D.J. Tedick, D. Christian, & T. Fortune (Eds.), Immersion education: Practices, policies, possibilities (pp. 81–103). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Li, H. (2014). Teaching Chinese literacy in the early years: Psychology, pedagogy, and practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
Lyster, R. (2007). Learning and teaching languages through content: A counterbalanced approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mandarin Immersion Parent Council. (2016). Mandarin immersion school list. Retrieved from [URL].
Mark, W., & Dowker, A. (2015). Linguistic influence on mathematical development is specific rather than pervasive: Revisiting the Chinese Number Advantage in Chinese and English children. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(203), 1–9.
Met, M. (2002). Elementary school immersion in less commonly taught languages. In R.D. Lambert & E. Shohamy (Eds.), Language policy and pedagogy: Essays in honor of A. Ronald Walton (pp. 139–160). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Myers, M.L. (2009). Achievement of children identified with special needs in two-way Spanish immersion programs. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Ngan Ng, S.S., & Rao, N. (2010). Chinese number words, culture, and mathematics learning. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 180–206.
Padilla, A.M., Fan, L., Xu, X., & Silva, D. (2013). A Mandarin/English two-way immersion program: Language proficiency and academic achievement. Foreign Language Annals, 46(4), 661–679.
Rose, J.M. (2013). Disparity analysis: A review of disparities between White Minnesotans and other racial groups. Retrieved from [URL].
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1982). Evaluating bilingual education: A Canadian case study. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Tan, L.H., Spinks, J.A., Eden, G., Perfetti, C.A., & Siok, W.T. (2005). Reading depends on writing, in Chinese. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 102(24), 8781–8785.
Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (2012). Dual language education for a transformed world. Albuquerque, NM: Dual Language Education of New Mexico – Fuente Press.
Turnbull, M., Hart, D., & Lapkin, S. (2003). Grade 6 French immersion students’ performance on large-scale reading, writing, and mathematics tests: Building explanations. The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 49(1), 6–23.
Valentino, R., & Reardon, S. (2014). Effectiveness of four instructional programs designed to serve English language learners: Variation by ethnicity and initial English proficiency. Stanford, CA: Center for Education Policy Analysis.
Ye, L. (2011). Teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language in the United States: To delay or not to delay the character introduction. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. Retrieved from [URL].
Cited by (19)
Cited by 19 other publications
Huang, Dori & Johanna Watzinger‐Tharp
2024. The use of cohesive devices as proficiency level discriminators in Chinese DLI learners' writing. Foreign Language Annals 57:2 ► pp. 472 ff. 
Lü, Chan, Amy E. Pace & Liu Liu
2023. Student-Level Variables and Academic Achievement in a Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Program. In Crossing Boundaries in Researching, Understanding, and Improving Language Education [Educational Linguistics, 58], ► pp. 213 ff.
Lu, Xinyue & Francis John Troyan
2022. Diversity and inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse students in K‐12 Chinese language education. Foreign Language Annals 55:3 ► pp. 684 ff.
Tian, Zhongfeng
2022. Challenging the ‘Dual’: designing translanguaging spaces in a Mandarin-English dual language bilingual education program. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 43:6 ► pp. 534 ff.
Genesee, Fred & Kathryn Lindholm-Leary
2021. The suitability of dual language education for diverse students. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 9:2 ► pp. 164 ff.
Grivet, Candice Suzanne, Michelle Haj‐Broussard & Rodger Broomé
2021. School administrators’ perspectives of French immersion programs. Foreign Language Annals 54:1 ► pp. 114 ff.
Ju, Zhongkui, Yanling Zhou & Robert delMas
2021. The contributions of separate pinyin skills and oral vocabulary to Chinese word reading of U.S. Mandarin immersion third graders. Reading and Writing 34:9 ► pp. 2439 ff.
Lee, Jin Sook & Tiange Wang
2021. A review of Korean/English and Mandarin/English dual language programs in the United States. Language Teaching for Young Learners 3:1 ► pp. 28 ff.
WATZINGER–THARP, JOHANNA, DOUGLAS S. THARP & FERNANDO RUBIO
2021. Sustaining Dual Language Immersion: Partner Language Outcomes in a Statewide Program. The Modern Language Journal 105:1 ► pp. 194 ff.
Knell, Ellen & Shin Chi Fame Kao
2020. Repeated readings and Chinese immersion students’ reading fluency, comprehension and character
recognition. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 8:2 ► pp. 230 ff.
Ruiz‐Funes, Marcela T.
2020. The development of oral ability in L2 Spanish by English‐home language learners in a TWI program. Foreign Language Annals 53:1 ► pp. 96 ff.
Wang, Danping
2020. Studying Chinese language in higher education: The translanguaging reality through learners’ eyes. System 95 ► pp. 102394 ff.
Lü, Chan
2019. Morphological Awareness, Vocabulary Knowledge, Lexical Inference, and Text Comprehension in Chinese in Grade 3. In Chinese Literacy Learning in an Immersion Program, ► pp. 167 ff.
Lü, Chan
2019. Theoretical Framework, Literature Review, and the Current Project. In Chinese Literacy Learning in an Immersion Program, ► pp. 27 ff.
Lü, Chan
2019. Introduction. In Chinese Literacy Learning in an Immersion Program, ► pp. 1 ff.
Lü, Chan
2020. Teaching and Learning Chinese through Immersion: A Case Study from the North American Context. Frontiers of Education in China 15:1 ► pp. 99 ff.
Annick De Houwer & Lourdes Ortega
2018. The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingualism,
Yang, Lu, Genevieve Leung, Rosina Tong & Yuuko Uchikoshi
2018. Student attitudes and Cantonese proficiency in a Cantonese dual immersion school. Foreign Language Annals 51:3 ► pp. 596 ff.
Fortune, Tara W. & Zhongkui Ju
2017. Assessing and Exploring the Oral Proficiency of Young Mandarin Immersion Learners. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 37 ► pp. 264 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.