Balancing Content and Language in Instruction: The Experience of Immersion Teachers

Research on immersion teaching has consistently shown that immersion teachers tend to focus on subject matter content at the expense of language teaching. The response to that research has often entailed suggestions for teachers on how better to integrate language and content in their instruction. However, missing from the discussion are rich descriptions of the actual experiences that immersion teachers have as they attempt to balance language and content in their teaching. This phenomenological study aims to address this gap by exploring teachers' lived experience with content and language integration. In this article, authors report on findings suggesting that immersion teachers' experience with balancing language and content is a multifaceted struggle involving issues related to teacher identity, stakeholder expectations, and understandings regarding the relationship between language and content. Implications for school-based support for immersion programs as well as calls for reform in immersion teacher preparation and professional development are shared.