What Happens to Pre-service Teachers After They Graduate from a University Immersion Program?
The ACIE Newsletter, February 2006, Vol. 9, No. 2
By Tony Erben Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
The Languages and Cultures Initial Teacher Education Program (LACITEP) is a 4-year Bachelor of Education program in which some courses are delivered through the medium of Japanese to native English speakers. Located at a rural Australian university, LACITEP was established in 1993 as a response to the Australian government’s agenda to promote instruction in languages other than English (LOTE) throughout the country. The idea behind LACITEP is to graduate highly proficient second language (L2) teachers through the practice of immersion at the university level. Within LACITEP a minimum of 50% of curriculum subjects are delivered through the medium of Japanese. In effect a subject is either (a) totally delivered through Japanese; (b) delivered in such a way that the lecture is given in English and the tutorials or seminars are given in Japanese; or (c) totally delivered through the medium of English.
Teachers enrolled in LACITEP become licensed as K-12 teachers
with specializations in (1) Japanese as a Foreign Language
(JFL) K-12, (2) elementary education, and (3) elementary immersion
education through Japanese. The purpose of the study reported
in this article was to explore whether LACITEP graduates remain
in the teaching profession or take their language expertise
into other workplace settings.
Literature
A survey of the literature shows that no long-term survey
of students graduating from university immersion degree programs
exists. However, Hart, Lapkin and Swain (1998) and Wesche
(1992) tracked French immersion students who graduated from
high school and entered university. A part of both studies
focused on what happened to immersion students in the work
force. Their general findings included that: (1) graduates
valued their immersion experience; (2) French helped graduates
secure employment; (3) graduates generally have positive attitudes
towards French and francophones; (4) most plan to send their
own children to an immersion program in the future; and (5)
many graduates could fill bilingual positions, especially
those not requiring writing.
Many respondents also made recommendations as to the need
to increase opportunities for contact and interaction with
francophones in most parts of Canada (e.g. Wesche, 1992),
and increase exposure to different varieties of French in
classrooms, especially oriented to the ability of immersion
students to understand speakers of Canadian French.
What these studies do not answer is whether or not immersion
graduates actually use their language skills in their jobs,
for how long and to what degree, and whether their language
skills after graduation increase or decline? Such questions
were explored in this study. Specifically, the primary research
questions guiding this study were:
1) What difference has immersion schooling made in the lives
of graduates?
2) What kind of L1 and L2 skills do graduates have 1, 2, 5
and 10 years after graduation?
3) What are their attitudes toward the L2 and its use and
how much do they use it?
4) What factors in the workplace frame the use and maintenance
of Japanese by graduates?
Data Collection and Findings
The study focused on 105 graduates who entered LACITEP beginning
in 1993 and through 1997. In June 2004, letters inviting all
105 graduates to respond to a survey questionnaire were mailed.
Of the 105, 90 (71 female; 19 male) were located, and 15 envelopes
were returned unopened. A positive response rate of 75 returns
(83.3% of total graduates, 66.66% of total located) was achieved.
In October, 2004 follow-up telephone interviews were conducted
with 20 who had returned the survey. The returned surveys
were distributed into five cohort piles (1993-1997) and 20
were randomly selected for follow-up interviews (four from
each cohort pile).
Based on the data received from the surveys/interviews, six
major themes arose and are presented in the table on page
14.
Discussion
In light of the data summarized in this table, I will return to the original questions of this study to contextualize these findings.
What difference has participation in immersion schooling made in the lives of graduates?
Many respondents indicated that their reason for entering LACITEP was to improve their Japanese and not necessarily to enter the teaching profession. Others saw teaching as a stepping stone into other professions or travel overseas. However, many indicated that LACITEP offered such a wide range of experiences that many graduates just ‘fell in love’ with teaching. The majority (75%) of immersion graduates have remained, even ten years on, in the teaching profession. Respondents saw their immersion pre-service program as an investment in the future. Even though the vast majority considered the program demanding and time-consuming, they did see the rewards early in their studies, namely great strides and improvement in their L2 proficiency. Data indicate that the more proficient the immersion graduates were at the end of their studies, the more likely they have been to remain in teaching. 36% (n=27) have gone on to graduate studies and two are completing Ph.D.s.
What kind of first and second language skills do these
graduates have one, two, five and ten years after graduation?
In terms of language maintenance, a surprising 50% of respondents said that their L2 improved since graduation. Concomitantly, interview data reveal that graduates feel that those reaching higher proficiency levels in the L2 by time of graduation have been better able in the long-term to maintain and/or improve their Japanese in subsequent years. This is because those with higher proficiency levels sought out more opportunities to engage with native speakers and enter linguistically more demanding situations than those with lower levels of L2 proficiency.
What are their attitudes toward the L2 and its use
and how often do they actually use it?
Interestingly, interviews revealed that most graduates’
self perceptions of their own L2 ability are pessimistic compared
to testing data. At their employment interview with the department
of education in this rural Australia, all prospective foreign
language/immersion teachers undergo an oral proficiency interview;
on a six point scale LACITEP graduates have always received
the top two ratings (S1 and S2) outperforming all other graduates
from other universities. The discrepancy between their self
perceptions and their ratings on proficiency tests seems to
boil down to a collective notion among LACITEP students that
in terms of knowing the L2, it is a case of ‘the more
they know they don’t know’. Aside from any professional
humbleness, LACITEP graduates maintain very positive attitudes
towards the L2. Many have engaged in cultural ambassador roles,
revisited Japan, or currently live in Japan and have married
Japanese nationals. There is a high correlation between those
who have maintained or increased their level of Japanese proficiency
and level of usage in social or work settings. For example,
25% of graduates indicating that their L2 has improved since
graduation use it extensively on a daily basis.
What factors in the workplace frame the use and maintenance of the L2?
LACITEP graduates expressed a number of factors which helped to facilitate and/or constrain the maintenance/further development of their L2. Facilitative factors included: structured time (for example, a school providing in-service opportunities, course release for further study, paid leave & sabbatical opportunities to travel to Japan, etc.), working with like-minded associates, working with native speakers. Constraining factors included: L2 not valued by employers, no opportunity to dialogue with native speakers, no use of L2 in workplace setting. Lastly, because LACITEP graduates become certified in elementary, Japanese as a foreign language and immersion, they do perceive themselves as offering something unique to education and of being a positive intercultural influence on other teachers at their schools.
Conclusion
In order to maintain the L2 over a lifetime, it is vital that
immersion graduates maintain a positive self-attitude about
their L2 language abilities, and plan for L2 usage as part
of a routine (including social activities with L2 speakers,
and utilizing L2-language media). It is also suggested that
it is highly important that school cultures take advantage
of the special skills that these highly proficient L2 teachers
have developed to gain maximum benefit for children. The LACITEP
graduates are ready change-agents and can contribute in positive
ways within school cultures towards change and innovation.
Conversely, school cultures can have a stifling effect on
immersion graduates, if school culture/administration is not
flexible or open-minded.
