Challenges and issues regarding the effectiveness of the two way Essay

Challenges and issues regarding the effectiveness of the two way immersion program - Essay Example The two way immersion teachers integrate the majority and minority languages at the same school and deliver the content by equally using two different languages. The main goal of dual language education is to improve students’ bilingual skills, academic learning, and tendency to learn different cultural aspects from each other (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). In my research, I will discuss the challenges and issues that may negatively impact the outcomes of language learning in two way immersion and bilingual programs. These challenges may need to be considered in order to encourage parents to enroll their children in such programs. The first challenge is the perception that increased exposure to English develops higher level of proficiency in the children (Genesee and Lindholm-Leary, 2008). The study demonstrated that there is no correlation between the amount of time spent by English language learners in English language instructions, and higher level of proficiency. One study drew comparison between English language learners getting little English instructions in schools and students enrolled in a dual language program that learn the contents by equally using English language and their native language. The study showed that students who received little English have similar or more advanced proficiency compared to the proficiency of st udents that studied in dual language program (Lindholm-Leary, 2012). However, I think many other components such as untrained teachers and poor curriculum may influence the effectiveness of dual language programs. In my own experience of acquiring English language, I have observed that the Saudi schools do not mandate the teachers to use English language to teach English subjects, even though English subjects need to be taught in English. However, as a former Saudi student willing to learn English language, I tried to create my own English language environment; my TV