Discussion Session: Beyond Myths: Immersion, Bilingualism and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Kellogg I 
Alexandra Oppenheimer, Twin Cities German Immersion School
Mary Fred Bausman Watkins, Twin Cities German Immersion School

Traditionally experts have discouraged parents of children with language learning disabilities from exposing them to multiple languages. At the Twin Cities German Immersion School we believe it possible to argue that for some high functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), early exposure to a second language is of great benefit in developing greater communicative competence. Relevant literature will be reviewed. Case documentation will be given and many questions for possible future inverstigation will be asked.

Paper Session: Bringing Content to Life Through Theater
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Governors III 
Kim Wieber du Saire, Park Spanish Immersion School

It starts with a story. Three weeks later, the students are taking a bow in front of a backdrop that they have painted. One student proudly proclaims, “We made zero mistakes!” Engage students by using theater-related activities - some very simple - to bring content and vocabulary to life in your classroom. 

Paper Session: Concept Mapping: Student-Centered Approach for Developing Language and Content
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: State I 
Holly Kaptain, Iowa State University
Claudia Navarro, Iowa State University
Marcia Rosenbusch, Iowa State University

Concept mapping is a unique approach to organizing curriculum content in language-rich graphic organizers that emphasize key vocabulary terms and concepts. The approach encourages individual student input and integrates students’ personal and cultural perspectives while fostering transfer between languages. Participants will engage in creating a concept map during the session.

Paper Session: Developing a K-12 Spanish Language Curriculum Framework: Successes and Challenges
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Great River Ballroom IV 
Cinnamon Bancroft, Portland Public Schools
Michael Bacon, ESL/Bilingual Department - Portland (OR) Public Schools

Dual language teachers developed a K-12 Spanish curriculum framework to guide program development, inform teachers' instructional decisions, and support students' language and literacy development in Spanish. Presenters will share successes and challenges faced throughout the development process.

Session Handouts (in PDF): PowerPoint               

Invited Symposium: European Immersion: Context, Content and Cognition
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Great River Ballroom II & III 
Siv Björklund, Centre for Immersion and Multilingualism, University of Vaasa
Karita Mård-Miettinen, Centre for Immersion and Multilingualism, University of Vaasa

The development of immersion programs in Europe is closely linked to the language history and language needs of individual nations and regional areas. The aim of this symposium on European immersion is to start with an historical overview of the implementation of immersion programs in different parts of Europe. The discussion will then shift from more locally oriented, program-based initiatives to current global European perspectives on language education. Brief presentations of key features such as language competence and evaluation, immersion teaching and content-specific knowledge in a second language will be analyzed and used as starting points for discussion among symposium participants.

Paper Session: Highly Qualified Immersion Teachers: The Louisiana Experience
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Governors II 
Terri Hammatt, Louisiana Department of Education

Since the 1970's, Louisiana has recruited Foreign Associate Teachers, native speakers with teaching degrees in their home countries. After dealing with recruitment and pre-service training issues, this presentation offers an example of how to handle certification and NCLB's highly-qualified requirements. Paricipants will discuss and compare their own practices.

Session Handouts (in PDF): PowerPoint               

Invited Symposium: Imagine Revitalization: Creating Ojibwe and Dakota Immersion Teachers
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Governors IV 
Mary Hermes, University of Minnesota Duluth
Hemi Dale, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Brendan Fairbanks, Twin Cities
Tara Fortune, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
Leslie Harper, Niigaane Ojibwe Immersion Program
Keiki Kawaiaea, University of Hawai’i at Hilo
Brian McInnes, University of Minnesota Duluth
Neil McKay, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Keller Paap, Waadookodaading Ojibwe Immersion School
Diane Tedick, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Minnesota and Wisconsin's budding indigenous immersion movement has created an immediate need for teachers with both a high level of language proficiency and elementary education teaching skills. In this session, Dakota and Ojibwe immersion school teachers will discuss with University faculty from Dakota, Ojibwe, Hawaiian, and Maori immersion contexts how we can work across institutions to create programs to grow indigenous immersion teachers.

Paper Session: Irish Immersion Students’ Insights into Their Target Language Use
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Carousel East 
Pádraig Ó Duibhir, St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University

The speaking skills acquired by Irish immersion students tend not to reach native speaker levels. This study used a ‘stimulated recall’ to investigate students’ insights into their target language use. One possible implication for pedagogy in Irish immersion schools is the need for a greater emphasis on an analytic approach.

Session Handouts (in PDF): PowerPoint               

Paper Session: Multicultural Immersion: A Comparison Across Languages
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: State III 
Hannah Emery, University of California - Berkeley

Through interviews with families pursuing Spanish, French, Mandarin and Cantonese immersion programs, this paper explores both parents' reasons for choosing bilingual education for their children and their motivations for selecting one language – and, by implication, one type of cultural education – over another.

Paper Session: Practical Suggestions for Meeting the Challenges of CBI: A Canadian Perspective
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Windows on the River 
Sheila Scott, University of Ottawa

This presentation will focus on best practices in university-level immersion courses, based on the University of Ottawa’s new immersion program. This model, based on Swain’s Output Hypothesis, pairs a content course with an adjunct language course taught by a language teacher and focusing either on receptive or on productive skills.

Paper Session: Realizing the Vision of Two-Way Immersion
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Great River Ballroom I 
Julie Sugarman, Center for Applied Linguistics

This presentation will highlight a new book from Liz Howard and Julie Sugarman, "Realizing the vision of two-way immersion: Fostering effective programs and classrooms." Drawing on ten years of research, the authors illustrate how the cultures of intellectualism, equity and leadership reinforce positive instructional practices at four effective TWI schools.

Paper Session: So You Are Considering Starting a Chinese Immersion Program...
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Kellogg II 
Molly Wieland, Hopkins Public Schools
Rosemary Lawrence, Eisenhower Elementary/XinXing Academy

XinXing Academy in the Hopkins Public Schools has just finished its first year. If you are considering starting a Chinese immersion program in your district, we would like to share our successes and challenges with you. In this paper, we will provide tips for starting a Chinese full-immersion program, from vision to design to Board approval to implementation.

Session Handouts (in PDF): Powerpoint               

Discussion Session: Team-teaching in an Immersion Classroom
Friday, October 17, 3:00 pm, Room: Kellogg III 
Suzanne Green, Milwaukee French Immersion School
Dawn Mahuta, Milwaukee French Immersion School

Team-teaching is implemented in immersion schools where space is at a premium or in a dual-immersion setting where two teachers share a class. The advantages and challenges of team-teaching are described including: sharing space, teaching in core academic areas, combined instructional experiences, tutoring opportunities, and coping with noise and distractions.