Two-Way Immersion (TWI)

The multi-award winning SVUSD Two Way Language Immersion (TWI) Program began in 1991 and is designed to provide English speaking and Spanish Speaking students an exciting, enriching, and challenging educational opportunity for 21st century learning. Students learn to collaborate, communicate and think critically in all academic content areas in both Spanish and English. By the end of twelfth grade, students will have obtained the bilingual skills and multi-cultural competencies needed to succeed in our global society and economy.

Research shows that the second language is best acquired by language minority students when their first language is firmly established (Hakuta & Gould, 1987), and that a second language is best developed by language majority children through immersion in that language (Genesee, 1985). It is felt that the immersion of English proficient students (EOs) in non-English instruction is beneficial for their acquisition of true communicative proficiency in the second language. Their English language skills, meanwhile, develop unimpeded due to the dominance of English in their socio-cultural environment. For the English language learner (ELs), instruction in their native language provides the necessary linguistic foundation for the later acquisition of English and the further development of full proficiency in both languages. In addition, students in the program achieve proficiency in academic subjects and cultivate an understanding and appreciation of other cultures.