'Language thins the line' The cultural development of dual language graduates: A reciprocal relationship between language, culture and civic identity development

In the United States almost one quarter of all youth are children of immigrants and it is projected that by 2040 over a third of all children will be growing up in immigrant households (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 2010). Many districts are employing dual language programs to facilitate the development of bilingualism and content knowledge development. Two-way immersion (TWI) programs are one type of dual language program that ideally are comprised of balanced numbers of students who speak English at home with students who speak the partner language at home. In this model, each group alternately serves as language learners and language models as all students move toward a common goal of bilingualism. The diversity of students in TWI programs naturally creates opportunities for cross-cultural communication that facilitate bi/multicultural development. While many studies on TWI look at achievement and programmatic structure, this study seeks to understand how the natural cross-cultural communication that exists in the program facilitates cultural development. Moreover, the study examines how this multicultural understanding affects citizenship development. This qualitative study utilizes a phenomenological framework informed by Critical Feminist Theory (CFT) in order to partner with students who are graduates of a dual language program to facilitate their reflections on how participation in a Two-way Immersion program has contributed to their bicultural and civic identity development.