Immersion Education & Bilingualism

Research in the Immersion Program

Katoh School is interested in supporting research and furthering our understanding of immersion education in Japan. Research has been conducted by teachers at our school as well as researchers in Japan and from around the world. The following is a partial listing of studies related to our program.

Genesee, F. (1994). Integrating language and content instruction. In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition Through Content Based Study: An Introduction to Immersion. (pp. 44-54). Katoh Gakuen, Japan.

Curtain H. (1994). Integrating language and content in an immersion program. In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition Through Content Based Study: An Introduction to Immersion. (pp. 26-43). Katoh Gakuen, Japan.

Ellis, R. (1994). Immersion education: Is there a role for formal L2 instruction? In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Second Language Acquisition Through Content Based Study: An Introduction to Immersion. (pp. 55-67). Katoh Gakuen, Japan.

Bostwick, M. (1995). After 30 years: The immersion experiment arrives in Japan. The Language Teacher. vol. 19 no. 5. (pp. 3-6). Zenkoku Gogaku Kyoiku Gakkai.
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Cummins, J. (1998). Immersion education for the millennium: What have we learned from 30 years of research on second language immersion? In M. R. Childs & R. M. Bostwick (Eds.) Learning through two languages: Research and practice. Second Katoh Gakuen International Symposium on Immersion and Bilingual Education. (pp. 34-47). Katoh Gakuen, Japan.
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Bostwick, M. (1998). The application of immersion education in Japan: Results, challenges and possibilities. In M. R. Childs & R. M. Bostwick (Eds.) Learning through two languages: Research and practice. (pp. 8-22). Numazu: Katoh Gakuen
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Met, M. (1998). Integrating language and content. In M. R. Childs & R. M. Bostwick (Eds.) Learning through two languages: Research and practice. (pp. 59-69). Katoh Gakuen, Japan.

Bostwick, R.M. (1999). A Study of an Elementary English Language Immersion School in Japan. Temple University, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 1999. 9921151.

Bostwick, M. (2001). Bilingual Education of Children in Japan: Year Four of a Partial Immersion Program. In M.G. Noguchi & S. Fotos (Eds), Studies in Japanese Bilingualism (pp. 272-311). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

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Bostwick, M. (2001) English Immersion in a Japanese School. In D. Christian & F. Genesee (Eds), Bilingual Education (pp. 125-138). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
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Downes, S. (2001). Sense of Japanese Cultural Identity Within an English Partial Immersion Programme: Should Parents Worry? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 4 (3), pp 165-80.
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Kite, Y, Sakui, K. (2001) Requests by Young Japanese Learners of English in an Immersion Context. Asian English Studies Monograph Series, 2001

Bostwick, M. & Yokota, R. (2001). イマーション教育. In K. Nakayama (Ed.) 児童英語教育を学ぶ人のために。京都：世界思想社。

Downes, S. M. (2001). Psychological factors within the language immersion program (Doctoral dissertation, University of Tsukuba).
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Downes, S. (2002) Is Participation in an English Language Immersion Program Detrimental to a Student’s Knowledge of Japanese vocabulary?
Tsukuba Psychological Research, 24, p199-202
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Kambara, J. (2002). Early grammatical development of English syntax among Japanese English-immersion pupils. Doctoral Dissertation.  Meikai Uninversity, Japan.
Kite, Y, Sakui, K. (2002) “Excuse me, but assist my project.”: The Pragmatic Ability of Japanese Students in an Immersion Program. Studies in Language Sciences (2) / Kuroshio Publisher Tokyo, 2002

Willis, S. (2002) Culture-Bound Pedagogy’s Effect on Immersion Implementation ? the Asian Example. Intercultural Communication Studies, X:1, 2000
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Bostwick M. (2004). Two languages, Many worlds. In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Putting it All Together: Best Practices in Immersion, EFL & Early English Education. (pp. 15-27). Numazu: Katoh Gakuen.
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Met M. (2004). An international success story: What we know about early language learning. In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Putting it All Together: Best Practices in Immersion, EFL & Early English Education. (pp. 28-36). Numazu: Katoh Gakuen.
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Lyster, R. (2004). Issues and options in immersion pedagogy. In M. Bostwick (Ed.) Putting it All Together: Best Practices in Immersion, EFL & Early English Education. (pp. 52-61). Numazu: Katoh Gakuen.
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Yokota, R. (2004). English Immersion at Katoh Gakuen Elementary School: the Program and the Children 神戸外大論叢, 12/2004, Volume 55, Issue 7, pp. 55 ? 76

Bostwick, M. (2005). Four myths of early foreign language learning. (Feature Article) Teachers Learning with Children. vol. 10, no.2. (pp. 3-22) Tokyo: JALT Publication

Nozomi, K. (2007). Pragmatic performance of English immersion students in Japan: Politeness in second language requests. McGill University (Canada), ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2007. MR32530.

Kanno, Y. (2008). Language and education in Japan: Unequal access to bilingualism. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
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Sakai KL, Nauchi A, Tatsuno Y, Hirano K, Muraishi Y, Kimura M, Bostwick M, Yusa N., (2009).Distinct roles of left inferior frontal regions that explain individual differences in second language acquisition. Human Brain Mapping. 9:2440?2452. doi: 10.1002/hbm.20681.
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Kimber, L. (2009). English Immersion in Japan: Investigating Attitudes of Mainstream Junior High School Students. Kyushu University Press.
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Rian, J., Schinckel, P. (2011). On the feasibility of English immersion programs in Japan. Journal of the Society of Humanities, Sapporo Gakuin University, Vol.90, pp. 75-91.

Sugiura, L., Ojima, S., Matsuba-Kurita, H., Dan, I., Tsuzuki, D., Katura, T., and Hagiwara, H. (2011) Sound to language: different cortical processing for first and second languages in elementary school children as revealed by a large-scale study using fNIRS. Cerebral Cortex, 21 (10), 2374-2393.
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Ojima, S., Matsuba-Kurita, H., Nakamura, N., Hoshino, T., and Hagiwara, H. (2011) Age and amount of exposure to a foreign language during childhood: Behavioral and ERP data on the semantic comprehension of spoken English by Japanese children. Neuroscience Research, 70 (2), 197-205.

Ojima, S., Nakamura, N., Matsuba-Kurita, H., Hoshino, T., and Hagiwara, H. (2011) Neural correlates of foreign-language learning in childhood: A 3-year longitudinal ERP study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 23 (1), 183-199.