Article published In: Language Immersion Education: A research agenda for 2015 and beyond
Edited by Diane J. Tedick and Siv Björklund
[Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 2:2] 2014
► pp. 257–272
Attending to the third goal
Cross-cultural competence and identity development in two-way immersion programs
Published online: 12 September 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.2.2.07fei
https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.2.2.07fei
In two-way immersion (TWI) programs in the United States, the development of student cross-cultural competence is one of three primary goals, along with academic achievement and bilingualism and biliteracy. However, as “the third goal,” cross-cultural outcomes have received less scholarly attention. In this article, we briefly review the literature on cross-cultural outcomes for students in TWI programs, and highlight a consistent focus on the self in these studies, particularly as it relates to student identity. As cross-cultural competence begins with awareness of the self within the socially and culturally diverse classrooms that TWI provides, we assert that scholarly attention should be paid to the ways that TWI programs support identity development as an aspect of achieving the third goal of cross-cultural competence. We offer brief descriptions of three theoretical frameworks that hold promise for scholars considering student identity development within TWI, and close with suggestions for further research.
Keywords: identity, cross-cultural competence, two-way immersion
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