Dual Language Program / Programa de Lenguaje Dual
-
-
What is Dual Language Immersion?
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School is a proud member of the Boston College TWIN-CS (Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools).What is the TWIN-CS?
TWIN-CS is a national initiative to share dual language research, ideas, techniques and resources with the goal of supporting students in becoming bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate. The network's innovative design and programming enables students to maintain their language and culture, while systemically transforming schools from monolingual to dual language education.What is Two-Way Immersion?
Two-Way Immersion (TWI)—recognized nationally as the most effective approach to bilingual eduction—blends native English speaking students with peers who are native in another language. With more than 20% of the U.S. population speaking a language other than English at home, multiple approaches to educating students with limited English proficiency exist. Typically, these students are provided supplemental assistance focused on English language development. TWI differs from such approaches in two key ways.- TWI supports bilingualism, biliteracy, and pluriculturalism. English learners become fluent in both English and their native language.
- TWI also supports bilingualism and biliteracy for native English speakers. English language learners are not separated from their native English speaking classmates, instead, all students serve as language models for one another, and they become bilingual together.
TWIN-CS Vision, Mission & Goals
VISIONWe envision a dual language network where highly prepared leaders lead by example, where all educators feel part of a professional and spiritual community that shares a Catholic mission; a community that embraces all languages, cultures and diversity, that is committed to equity, and actively seeks that all children and educators find joy and their full potential; and that the students’ families be welcomed, respected and involved in their children’s education.
MISSION
The network seeks to support its dual language Catholic Schools, so these become, or continue to be, equity oriented places of wellbeing for everyone, and strong Catholic communities that have clear goals and action plans to support students in achieving high levels of bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement, and sociocultural competence.
GOALS
Through systemic and meaningful professional development the network creates spaces for leaders and teachers to continue growing as Dual Language Catholic School educators.
The network offers resources that support schools’ goals as DL Catholic Schools.
Through periodic correspondence, the network facilitates information that is pertinent to the schools’ needs and goals.
The TWIN-CS research team conducts meaningful research that will improve the schools’ performance in the areas of sustainability, sociocultural competence, and academic excellence -- including bilingualism and biliteracy.
The network offers an effective platform where educators can share and seek resolution for issues pertaining advocacy and equity for bilingual learners.
Information on this page is shared with permission of the TWIN-CS network.
-
-
-
Boston College's TWIN-CS (Two Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools) is a national initiative to share dual language research, ideas, techniques and resources with the goal of supporting students in becoming bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate. The network's innovative design and programming enables students to maintain their language and culture, while systemically transforming schools from monolingual to multilingual modes of education.
For the 2022-23 school year, Nursery through Kindergarten students learned in our dual-language immersion classrooms with a 50/50 language allocation model. This means that 50% of instruction was provided in English and 50% in Spanish each day. The dual-language program will move up to our 1st-grade classrooms in September of 2023 and continue growing one grade level per year.
Early childhood teachers are trained and mentored in dual language instruction through the Boston College TWIN-CS program (Two-Way Immersion for Catholic Schools). Early childhood teachers also hold a variety of certifications including Bilingual Education and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.Learn more about our partnership with Boston College:
-
-