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The Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School is the first Chinese Dual Language Immersion Program in the K-5 Public school in the Greater Boston Area. The program began in 2011, bringing together Eastern and Western culture in order to provide a rich academic, linguistic, and cultural experience for students.
The DLI program at the King is a two-way 50/50 program. Our goal is to develop our students' proficiency in both English and Mandarin, as well as their intercultural competence and academic performance in content area including language art, math, science and social studies.
WHAT IS A TWO-WAY DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM?
WHAT IS A TWO-WAY DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM?
A two-way dual language program is based on the premise that two groups of students (in our case Mandarin and English) learn together in a systematic way so that both groups become bilingual and biliterate in the two languages. At the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, half of our students are in two-way dual language program where about 2/3 of them are English-native speakers and 1/3 are Mandarin heritage or native speakers.
WHAT DOES LANGUAGE IMMERSION LOOK LIKE AT THE MLK SCHOOL?
WHAT DOES LANGUAGE IMMERSION LOOK LIKE AT THE MLK SCHOOL?
Language immersion is a teaching technique used in bilingual language education in which two languages are used for instruction in a variety of subject areas such as math, science, social studies, art or music. Our program model at the MLK school is Early Partial Immersion, meaning students start learning the target language (Mandarin) at the age of 5, and their class time is share between their native language (usually English) and the target language. The subject being taught in the target language are math, social studies and science.
WHAT DOES A DAY IN IMMERSION LOOKS LIKE?
WHAT DOES A DAY IN IMMERSION LOOKS LIKE?
In our dual language program, the school days are divided into halves. Half of the day spent in the English classroom, half in the Chinese classroom:
Subjects taught in the English Classroom:
English Language Arts
Math
Subjects taught in the Immersion Classroom:
Math
Chinese Language Arts
Social Studies
Science
Specials taught in English:
Art
PE
Music
Library
BILITERACY
BILITERACY
Proficiency in more than one language is one of the skills being highly valued in the 21st century. At our DLI program, we are dedicated to developing language proficiency and literacy skills in both English and Mandarin. Our goal is for our students, both English native speakers and heritage Mandarin speakers, to maintain their language while learning another language so they develop pride in their own culture while grow an understanding and appreciation of others.
BICULTURALISM
Recent research has shown increasing positive impacts of biculturalism. People who identify themselves with more than one culture may demonstrate more social flexibility in response to different social contexts. They might also provide positive coping responses in a racialized society. Here at our DLI program, we believe that students from different backgrounds, either linguistically or culturally, can have equal status in developing bilingual and bicultural identity. To our heritage learners, their home language should be viewed as a valuable asset in this interconnected world.
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