Researching Developing Discourses and Competences in Immersion Classrooms

Abstract

This chapter traces the development of research in immersion and in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms from their beginnings, when the emphasis was on program evaluation to current tendencies foregrounding pedagog-ical concerns, code-switching, multilingual perspectives, and sociocultural concerns. The main contribution section initially examines how ethnography came to be seen as an important means of researching classroom processes, teacher and student beliefs, as well as sociocultural and political factors. The results of studies carried out in Finland, the United States, and Paraguay are presented and discussed, particularly with respect to qualitative perspectives. Finally, in the section directed toward future tendencies, there is a discussion of studies focusing on bilingual and multilingual classroom discourse in immersion education and teacher training for practitioners working with young children. This chapter finishes by concluding that research on immersion and CLIL programs has greatly broadened in scope from its beginnings.