In the United States, dual-language immersion is becoming more popular. This is different than a bilingual education because in most bilingual education programs, children come from similar backgrounds and speak the same home language. In school, they are learning a second language and enhancing their skills in the home language. Conversely, in a dual-language immersion program, the student body is split evenly of what home language is spoken, and students spend half the day focusing equally on both languages. Students in both groups are engaged in learning the cultures of both languages, and students are not set apart for not being able to speak the principal language of the school. Many times, students who have immigrated or students who are born to immigrants are set apart and placed in ESL programs until they attain a level of proficiency. It is difficult for students to learn when all of the teaching happens in a language they are not familiar with, causing students to struggle. When students are able to engage in learning in the same language they speak at home, even when paired with a second language, they are more likely to embrace aspects of both the sending and receiving cultures. Additionally, dual-language immersion programs promote biliteracy, meaning that students have the ability to read and write adequately in both languages. Many students that are put into ESOL programs, especially at a young age are never given the opportunity to learn to read and write in their first language. Therefore, they may grow up to be bilingual, but cannot read and write well in their home language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1UlcByWXNQ

https://bc-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_cdi_proquest_journals_2561104666&context=PC&tab=pci_only&search_scope=pci&vid=bclib_new&lang=en_US

I have been researching trauma and the effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences play on children’s physical and mental health for many years. However, I have always considered that the ACE screening was not inclusive enough to screen people who are refugees, asylum seekers, or undocumented immigrants. I have long believed that the ACEs framework screening should include screening questions including if a person had to flee their home country to seek safety, if one or more persons in a family had been deported, if the person suffered forced family separation as a child, if one had been forced into a detention center when seeking safety.

In this article, the team of authors shows that Latinx children with varying degrees of immigration statuses, whether US-citizen born to immigrant parents, permanent resident, temporary resident, or undocumented face a higher level of macro-level trauma. The article details different aspects of trauma for Latinx immigrants and the effect this trauma has on children.

While this study is specific to many specifics of the Latinx experience, I believe that parts of the study could apply to Middle Eastern, African, or Asian immigrants as well.