On day one the author sets up the expectation that her kindergarten Spanish language immersion classroom will be a 100% target language environment. To accomplish this, the author implements several structures, routines, and expectations to maintain the immersion environment. Getting to know the students, modeling appropriate behavior, promoting…

This article expands upon teacher guidelines for an "immersion talk" originally developed by B. Hegstad (2012), entitled, "What is Immersion, and How Can I Be Successful in That Environment?," to share with the larger language community in hopes that the suggestions will encourage teachers to help their learners successfully…

The K-12 population learning Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) has been increasing rapidly within recent years in the United States. Ruan, Zhang, and Leung (2015) state that summer programs are one of the most recognized forms of Chinese learning, cultivating immersion language environments in the United States. As CFL programs expand, there is…

This paper addresses the issue of integrating students with special needs into foreign language programs in the early childhood years. A partnership between a university and a charter school in central Florida began as a result of parent and teacher interest in providing a foreign language program for its prekindergarten students. Since 2014,…

There is no denying the importance of multilingualism in the 21st century; increased travels, student exchanges, global business, diplomacy, and security are mediated by communication. Education is the key to building a strong multilingual world community that will work for peace and stability. However, it may be often overlooked that a successful…

The aim of the paper is to review the primary language learning situation in Europe and shed light on the benefits it carries. Early language learning is the biggest policy development in education and has developed in rapid speed over the past 30 years; this article considers the effects and advantages of the optimum condition of an early start,…

This article presents a question and answer session in which Paula Garrett-Rucks discusses how creativity and kinesthetics motivate young language learners, the type of characteristics she might consider for different age groups in planning lessons, her views on the goals of world language teachers of young learners, and what a typical lesson…

The author primarily delivered comprehensible Spanish input to her novice 3rd and 4th grade Spanish students via stories she revealed and simultaneously illustrated on a white board. To document comprehension, she obtained student retells of the stories. This approach, used over six months, became an action research project with the goal of…

This article promotes literacy as a a powerful tool for learning new language. Although learners frequently think of comprehensible input as language that is heard, comprehensible input from print can also be accessed. Research has shown that reading has a powerful impact on language learning: much of the vocabulary that educated adults know has…

In this article, Tammy Dann, describes the issues presented by a reluctant learner in a foreign language class and the strategies required to see effective change. The student described in the article struggled to learn or had difficulty paying attention in the Spanish language class. One strategy used was "LinguaFolio Jr." for students…

In her article entitled, "Theoretical Reflections: Intercultural Framework / Model" Darla Deardorff provides the Pyramid Model of Cultural Competency. At the bottom of the pyramid she places three "Requisite Attitudes," which support the remaining three blocks above ("Knowledge & Comprehension/Skills,"…

Teachers and students can have ambitious educational goals, including critical reflection on the world around them, both that which is "home" and that which is "foreign." The environmental questions which face us all can be part of the elementary school curriculum, and the Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES) contribution…

In this brief article, elementary Spanish teacher, Dorie Perugini describes a classroom project that not only enabled students to explore their own culture and cultures around the world, but motivated them to create a beautiful piece of art. Like most elementary language teachers, Perugini needed to teach her class about food. While planning her…

While immersion programs provide some of the greatest benefits to children learning a new language, many school systems have yet to dedicate the financial and personnel resources necessary to plan and implement such programs on a wide scale. In areas where immersion or formal FLES programming does not exist in the schools, often opportunities to…

In elementary schools around the United States, children learn in text-rich environments with literacy a primary goal of instruction, whether the instruction is in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, or Spanish. Nonetheless, second language instruction is often overlooked as a vehicle for building students' reading, writing, speaking,…