Transitional Bilingual Education and Two-Way Immersion Programs: Comparison of Reading Outcomes for English Learners in the United States

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to provide a comparison of reading outcomes of the two most popular bilingual programs in the United States: Transitional Bilingual Education and Two-way Bilingual programs. To provide context, we present a theoretical framework and a brief historical perspective on how these programs came to gain popularity. We explored two questions. The first one asks whether there are differences in student outcomes between the programs and whether there are advantages of one program over the other. The second question looks into practical strategies that make these programs beneficial to English learners. For selection methods, we used the previous definition of high-quality articles that included clear outcomes and program definitions. For evaluation of the programs, we used a five-framework model that defines effective bilingual programs that incorporates components of second language literacy development, high-quality instruction, and precise definition of the sample population. After the careful review of articles, academic outcomes are presented, indicating that while there might be non-significant differences on reading outcomes, bilingual programs are not detrimental to English learners and there are additional benefits to having a bilingual program beyond potentially enhancing reading outcomes. Also, we found that strategies that work well in a general education classroom for native speakers, also work well for English learners. Finally, we provide recommendations for program development and future research.

Keywords

• bilingualism
• transitional bilingual education
• immersion program
• bilingual education
• dual-language program