There is no effort to make the language comprehensible to students. The immersion approach presents programs for students who lack enough English language skills to understand the regular curriculum. Many teachers use Sheltered English, also known as Alternate Immersion, which is a simplified vocabulary and sentence structure to teach school subjects. Teachers may also use the structured immersion method of teaching in English. In structured immersion, the teacher understands the native language and students may speak it to the teacher, although the teacher generally answers only in English.
Many programs combine ingredients from each of the five approaches in their bilingual classes.
Currently, the number of Americans whose native language is other than English is 34.7 million. However, only four percent of all Americans do not speak English at all. According to demographic research, linguistic assimilation has been increasing rather than slowing down. The population of immigrants from Third World countries is rapidly increasing. During the 1980's, English Only initiatives passed in 14 states.