THE CI IMMERSION SYSTEM
CI Immersion is a Complete Comprehension-Based and Proficiency-Driven Language Acquisition System.
Comprehension comes first. Proficiency is the goal.
I have developed and refined CI Immersion through more than 15 years of classroom teaching. It brings together smaller instructional systems and routines that give learners repeated opportunities to understand and interact with meaningful language.
Comprehension-based instruction makes meaning accessible. Context, pacing, familiar language, stories, and checks for understanding help a teacher respond to the learners in the room.
Proficiency-driven instruction keeps the larger purpose in view: students developing their ability to understand and communicate. Curriculum and assessment should support that purpose, rather than making textbook coverage the destination.
THE ACQUISITION ENGINE
I use “acquisition engine” to describe the smaller instructional systems working together to create opportunities for students to understand and interact with meaningful language. The routines support one another: familiar language gives students a way into a story, questions check their understanding, and reading gives them another encounter with that language.
IN CLASSROOM PRACTICE
These are interconnected areas of classroom practice, rather than a fixed sequence of techniques.
Respond to student ideas, ask questions they can understand, and build exchanges around a shared message. Comprehension checks help reveal when to slow down, clarify a message, or return to familiar language.
Connect listening and interaction with reading. Revisit familiar language in new contexts, giving students repeated encounters with messages they can follow.
Develop sustainable classroom routines so teachers can focus on meaning and students can participate with a clearer sense of what to do.
Connect daily practice to longer-term proficiency goals. Use what students understand and can communicate to inform instruction and assessment.
The podcast takes up individual instructional decisions and classroom routines in more detail. Episode descriptions and show notes can help you find a topic relevant to your teaching.
Hear the decisions behind the system →Workshops, coaching, and department PD in comprehension-based, proficiency-driven language instruction. Available virtually or in person.
Discuss training for your school →