Teachers are trained to provide comprehensible input through the use of their L1 skills and appropriate methodology. Teachers may be monolingual English speakers without specialized training in L2 methodology. Teachers may or may not value bilingualism. Bilingual teachers are restricted by law in the amount of L1 they are permitted to use. There is no research evidence to demonstrate what level of competency is attainable in each of the four language skills in a one-year program.
Attrition rates are high due to academic and behavioral difficulties.
Failure to progress in the mainstream may or may not be used to infer success or failure of one year sheltered immersion. Additional Information on Language Immersion Click here to go to a web page with descriptions of additive-model language immersion programs throughout the United States. Click here for a comparison of the philosophies underlying sheltered English immersion versus bilingual education. Click here to go to the home page of the Dolores Gonzales Elementary School dual immersion program in Alburqueque, New Mexico. Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism .