Nichiei Immersion School

Abstract

Nichiei Immersion School is a private school that offers a K-12 early partial English immersion program (K-8 at the time of my fieldwork). The immersion program is paired with a regular (i.e., non-immersion) program. The majority of the immersion students are native Japanese-speaking children who have never lived abroad and come into the program with little or no English proficiency. The students in grades 1–2 receive approximately two thirds of the instruction in English (math, science, social studies, music, fine arts, physical education, and computer) and one third in Japanese (language arts). In grade 3, music is switched to Japanese, taught by a specialist. From grade 4, social studies and fine art are added to the Japanese component, bringing the proportion of Japanese instruction up to approximately 50 percent (see Figure 3.1). The immersion students use an English translation of the textbooks that the students in the regular program use. After the completion of each unit, students in both programs are given the same test in Japanese.