Teacher Discussion Forums

I am trying to get some information on the effectiveness of bringing native speakers into a sheltered class. Throughout my research and interviews in an English Education masters program, I have been increasingly more convinced, it is important to get ESL students involved with native speaking peers.

Unfortunately, I am having some difficulty finding research supporting or rejecting the specific idea of getting the native speakers to interact with sheltered classes.

I would love your personal experiences, or a point in the right direction for research.

Maybe you should look at schools with immersion programs for non native speakers, or how smaller schools (like the one I work in in WI) deal with the issue. We have only one or two per grade, so the students have to be with the native Englissh speakers.

I think there is a lot of research on the opposite of ESL students going directly into native English speaking classrooms showing that they do adapt and learn quickly for the most part. School boards in Vancouver are increasingly dropping the ESL classes. However, I gather there are some studies in the UK about the ESL students floundering in this situation as for awhile they didn't get any extra support.