All students

Name: ACTFL
Address: 1001 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA, 22314, United States
Telephone: (703) 894-2900
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Language learning can benefit all students

Evaluated a program of partial (half-day) French immersion in kindergarten. The English and French language development of 122 native English-speaking children from both working and middle class backgrounds was assessed. Results indicate that the 73 experimental students progressed just as well in English as 70 matched controls who followed a conventional all-English program. It was also found that socioeconomically underprivileged students (both Black and White) benefited from an immersion-type introduction to a foreign language as much as students from middle class homes did. Degree of progress in French was not linked with social class background, even though this background factor clearly affected performance on the English language tests.

Effectiveness of partial French immersion for children from different social class and ethnic backgrounds. Applied Psycholinguistics, 8(2), 137-151. from PsycINFO database.

Holobow, N. E.,Genesee, F., Lambert, W. E., & Gastright, J. (1987).