Dual Language
Dual language is a bilingual education model in which students are taught literacy and academic content in two languages. The Dual language program at Cityscape Schools focuses on teaching English and Spanish. It starts at Pre-K and extends all through 5th grade.
The program’s main goals are for students to:
become bilingual and biliterate: understand, speak, read and write in English and Spanish
obtain high academic achievement in all subject areas
gain appreciation for different cultures
Native English Speakers in Dual Language
English-native speaking students can also enroll in the Dual Language program. Just like their Spanish speaking (emergent bilingual) peers, our English-native speaking students who are enrolled in the dual language program can become bilingual, biliterate and bicultural global leaders. They share the classroom and learn alongside their emergent bilingual peers. Ideally, children should enroll in the dual language program in Pre-K or Kinder level. Cityscape Schools ask parents to make a commitment for a minimum of 5 years to allow the time necessary for their student’s academic and linguistic achievement. Additionally, parents have the option to have their child continue with the program through middle school.
ESL
English as a Second Language is an English language study program for non–native English speakers. The goal of the program is to improve students’ level of English. Students are taught conversational English, grammar, reading, listening comprehension, writing and vocabulary alongside their academic grade-level content instruction. Teachers integrate language with content, making it understandable to all English learners. At Cityscape Schools we offer ESL from Pre-K through 8th grade.
Language Proficiency Assessment Committee:
To ensure the academic success of emergent bilinguals, Cityscape Schools follows the Texas Education Agency’s Language Proficency Assessment Committee (LPAC) identification and placement process for emergent bilingual students.
The process for emergent bilingual services includes 4 steps:
TEA Resources: Supporting Emergent Bilingual Students in Texas
Frequently Asked Questions
Ideally, children should enroll in PreK or Kinder level. We don not recommend for a child to enroll in the program after Kinder.
The curriculum for PreK-4 is based on the Texas Pre-K guidelines, approved by the Commissioner of Education, and provides preschool students with learning experiences and a foundation that guides children academically, socially, and emotionally.
- OWL PK4 Guidelines (8 Thematic Units)
- Vocabulary Development
- Foundational Skills
- CIRCLE Assessment (BOY, MOY, EOY)
Dual language immersion programs, in which students learn content in two languages, help children become bilingual and gives them the tools to achieve success in school and life.
A child’s propensity for acquiring new languages at a young age makes it easier to achieve biliteracy –the ability to speak, listen, read, and write proficiently in two languages. Aside from the ability to communicate in more than one language, the skills involved in learning a new language will also have secondary benefits to a student’s native tongue. Mastering a new language improves a student’s communication skills and helps them understand more about how language works.
Research shows that dual language programs are also an effective way to educate English-language learners while also providing numerous benefits to native English speakers. According to research, these are key reasons to consider a dual language program:
- Biliteracy is good for your brain because individuals who are exposed to two languages at an early age, on average, outperform their monolingual peers on tests of cognitive function in adolescence and adulthood.
- Learning a language is easier for young children.
- English learners succeed while maintaining their native language because dual language programs help minimize the achievement gap by supporting students in both content and language.
- Students build strong social connections and cultural awareness as they work and learn with peers of diverse backgrounds.
For more information about the Thomas & Collier (2002) research, click here. (add Canva page link here)
Ideally, children should enroll between the ages of four to six years old, when they are in pre-K and kindergarten. Numerous studies have shown that when students are exposed to two languages at an early age, on average, they outperform their monolingual peers on tests of cognitive function in adolescence and adulthood.
Conversational language is acquired between 6 months and 2 years. Academic language can take up to 5-7 years to fully develop. At Cityscape Schools, students will be engaged in speaking, listening, reading, and writing in Spanish and English daily. It is natural for students to develop certain skills quickly while some skills will take longer to develop. It is important to note that they will be able to follow instructions and perform tasks that require listening before they are able to fluently speak in the second language.
There are many benefits to embracing and drawing from a student’s native language. Connections to a student’s home language encourages bilingualism, preserves language and culture, helps develop a solid academic identity, and promotes overall academic literacy.
One of the keys to the success of a dual language program is its implementation in an atmosphere in which both languages are equally valued. Teachers and administrators celebrate and value cross-cultural connections, thus creating and nurturing an environment that allows for dual immersion to reach its full potential. Evidence of this equal value is seen at the district level, campus level and in the dual language classrooms.
Studies show that learning content in your first language while learning the second language results in increased academic success. Additionally, students can learn English (or Spanish) in school while enriching their Spanish (or English).
Students who are learning in both languages in a high-quality environment are more likely to be able to close the achievement gap (Thomas & Collier, 1997). This is one of the reasons Cityscape is continually working to strengthen our dual language instruction. Being in a dual language program by itself will not ensure that our students are meeting the standards, but Thomas and Collier’s (2007) research points to long-term gains. Students in well implemented dual language programs even outperform monolingual speakers by 12th grade (Thomas & Collier, 1997).
Preguntas y Respuestas
Los programas duales son aquellos en los que los estudiantes aprenden contenidos académicos en dos idiomas. Estos ayudan a los niños a ser bilingües y les proporcionan lo necesario para ser exitosos en la escuela y en la vida.
La facilidad de un niño de adquirir nuevos idiomas a una edad temprana favorece que se conviertan en biletrados (la capacidad de hablar, escuchar, leer y escribir adecuadamente en dos idiomas). Aparte de poder comunicarse en más de un idioma, las habilidades involucradas en el aprendizaje de un nuevo idioma también tienen beneficios para la lengua materna del estudiante. La capacidad de dominar un nuevo idioma mejora las habilidades de comunicación y le ayuda al estudiante, a entender mejor cómo funciona el idioma.
Los estudios muestran que los programas duales también son una forma efectiva de educar a los estudiantes de habla inglesa, ya que brindan numerosos beneficios. Según los estudios, las siguientes son razones claves para considerar un programa dual:
- La bialfabetización es buena para el cerebro porque los estudiantes que están expuestos a dos idiomas a una edad temprana, en promedio, superan sus compañeros monolingües en pruebas de función cognitiva tanto en la adolescencia, como en la edad adulta.
- Aprender un idioma es más fácil para los niños pequeños.
- Los programas duales ayudan a minimizar la disparidad en el rendimiento escolar por medio del desarrollo sistemático de dos idiomas. Los estudiantes tienen éxito manteniendo su lengua materna y añadiendo una segunda ya que pueden desarrollar el contenido académico y social en ambos idiomas.
- Los estudiantes construyen fuertes conexiones sociales y conciencia cultural mientras trabajan, conviven y aprenden con compañeros de diversos orígenes y culturas.
Para obtener más información sobre los estudios de Thomas y Collier (2002), haga clic aquí.
Lo ideal es que los niños se matriculen entre los cuatro y seis años, cuando están en prekínder y kínder. Numerosos estudios han demostrado que cuando los estudiantes están expuestos a dos idiomas a una edad temprana, en promedio, superan a sus compañeros monolingües en pruebas de función cognitiva tanto en la adolescencia, como en la edad adulta.
El lenguaje conversacional regularmente toma entre 6 meses y dos años en desarrollarse, sin embargo, el lenguaje académico toma de 5 a 7 años en desarrollarse. Es importante notar que habrá algunas destrezas que los estudiantes desarrollarán más rápido que otras y esto es normal durante la adquisición de un segundo idioma. El seguir instrucciones verbales y realizar tareas que requieran el entendimiento del segundo idioma probablemente ocurrirá antes de que los estudiantes puedan demostrar la habilidad para hablarlo. Sin embargo, los estudiantes estarán escuchando, hablando, leyendo y escribiendo en el segundo idioma desde el primer día de clases.
Hay muchos beneficios relacionados con utilizar el idioma nativo de un estudiante. Las conexiones con el idioma materno estimulan el bilingüismo, ayudan a conservar el idioma y la cultura, apoyan el desarrollo de una identidad académica sólida y promueven la alfabetización académica.
Una de las claves del éxito de un programa dual es la fidelidad en su implementación. El entorno requiere que ambos idiomas sean valorados por igual. En Cityscape, los maestros y administradores celebran y valoran las conexiones interculturales, creando y promoviendo un ambiente que permite que el programa alcance su máximo potencial. La evidencia de este valor se ve por igual a nivel de distrito, campus y aulas de enseñanza.
Los estudios demuestran que el aprendizaje en el primer idioma (mientras se está aprendiendo el segundo idioma), proporciona resultados académicos avanzados. Adicionalmente, los estudiantes aprenden inglés (o español) en la escuela mientras enriquecen su español (o inglés).
Los estudiantes que aprenden en dos idiomas, en un medio ambiente de enseñanza de calidad, pueden alcanzar niveles académicos superiores y entonces minimizar o desaparecer las diferencias de rendimiento académico (Thomas & Collier, 1997). La anterior es una de las razones por la cuales Cityscape trabaja continuamente para fortalecer la instrucción en el programa dual. Los estudiantes en programas con adecuada implementación demuestran rendimiento superior cuando se comparan con otros estudiantes que no participan en el programa (Thomas & Collier, 1997).
