Many students find elementary school to be a daunting experience: thrust out of their houses, put in a building full of strangers and expected to study for hours. It's easy to understand why adjusting to elementary school isn't easy.

Now imagine on top of that not understanding the language spoken at the school.

An increasing number of children find themselves in at local schools, including two last month at Cherry Hill Elementary School in Orem.

"They didn't speak a word of English," Cherry Hill Principal Alisa Hart said. "It's a real challenge."

Fortunately for these and other students, some local schools including Cherry Hill have a dual language immersion program where the students are taught in a classroom environment in both English and Spanish.

The program, now in place in some form in almost a dozen local schools, aims to teach students to be proficient in English and Spanish.

"It's more about learning other cultures and breaking down barriers," Hart said. "It has helped with racism at our school."

The program, started six years ago at Cherry Hill, is for children in first through sixth grades.

The students start with a mix of about 50 percent English and 50 percent Spanish instruction in the first grade.

"We start them young because the younger the kids, the easier it is to pick up a second language," Hart said.

Nationwide research has shown evidence of positive cross-cultural attitudes being developed through dual language immersion programs, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics, an organization that studies language and cultural issues.

"Dual immersion is based on a specific need," Hart said. "Not every school has that need."

Utah schools, and especially those in Utah valley, do have that need.

Between the years 2000 and 2006, Utah's Hispanic population increased by 85,000 people, according to U.S. census bureau data. Many of those have taken up residence here in the Utah Valley.

In addition to breaking down racial barriers, dual language programs for elementary students have academic benefits.

According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, students who are involved in some sort of dual language immersion program perform at the same level or better in the long run than their English-only instructed counterparts.

Dual language programs, however, are not without their challenges.

"The program has made it tough on the school in some ways," Hart said. "The teachers get burned out really fast."

Hart commented that it is difficult to find well-qualified teachers to run the program. This year, she had to find replacements for four of the six teachers at her school. Dual language teachers are paid the same as regular teachers, but deal with almost twice the workload, making it a challenge to hire them.

The problem is further complicated by Utah's teacher shortage.

According to the American Federation of Teachers, Utah teachers make an average of $37,006 annually, making Utah the 48th lowest state in average teacher pay.

"Money would help a lot," Hart said, speaking about the future of the program.

For now, however, students including the two new arrivals at Cherry Hill are continuing to break down cultural barriers learning in their neighbors' native tongue.



Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Feb 2008