It must be one of the most singularly astonishing sights in any classroom in Utah Valley -- first-graders being taught entirely in Chinese, even though they didn''t know a single word of the language until four months ago.
Alpine School District''s hugely successful Chinese language immersion program was the first of its kind here two years ago. Today, it is one of the district''s biggest success stories. The pilot group, now in second grade, have learned to speak Chinese so quickly and so fluently that the district is looking to expand the immersion program into other languages and other schools. An announcement could be made before Christmas.
In the first-grade and second-grade Chinese language classrooms at Cascade Elementary this week, not a single word of English was spoken by teachers in either classroom. The first-graders seemed to understand every word of rapid Mandarin spoken to them, responding over and over to the teacher''s requests. The first-graders spoke to their teacher in English, but after Christmas, they will transition to speaking only Chinese.
That the students were enjoying their fluency was obvious. They happily goaded Principal Doug Finch, coming up to him in small groups and talking to him in rapid-fire Chinese, knowing he didn''t understand a single word they were saying. Finch said that once or twice he has been called to the classroom because students were arguing heatedly over some perceived wrong -- but when Finch arrived, the children would not break the classroom rule, which hangs on a sign over the doorway: "No English, please!" Their teacher had to translate for the principal. Precisely to make sure the students don''t lose sight of English while in immersion, they are taught in Chinese only half of each day. But don''t think they just learn mandarin during the immersion part of their day -- they learn Chinese culture, math, science and history, all using written and spoken Chinese.
Why does the program, which is based on numerous similar programs throughout the state and nation, work so well? Because this is the ideal age to learn a second language, Finch said. The results are these: Children who complete the immersion program through the sixth grade have second-language fluency for life. And Chinese is the most widely spoken first language in the world and is expected to be a critical language for business. The students in these two classrooms may be the most employable students in the district when they graduate to adulthood.
But the benefits are not just in Chinese fluency. The students show improved performance on standardized testing (done in English, of course), they have enhanced cognitive skills and increased cultural sensitivity. And for some of these first- and second-graders, Chinese is actually their third language, and learning third and fourth languages comes more easily after fluency in a second language, Finch said.
By the time this year''s second-graders enter sixth grade, half of the student population at Cascade Elementary will choose to learn Chinese. The program is already hard to get into. This year there was a waiting list of 15 students who had to be turned away. Competition for spots in next year''s first-grade class is expected to be even more difficult; winners will be chosen by lottery in the spring.