Pros and Cons in Immersion : - A Study of a Swedish and Italian Exchange Project Focused on Immersion

Abstract This study examines the Comenius exchange project between Da Vinci, Kattegattgymnasiet in Sweden and Liceo Scientifico F. Vercelli in Asti, Italy from both a qualitative and a quantitative angle. This exchange project was working with immersion. The purpose of this essay is to investigate to what extent second language learning is achieved in an immersion project. The essay aims to answer the following thesis questions: What are the learning outcomes of this exchange project, focused on immersion? What are the advantages, and disadvantages of an exchange project, focused on immersion? To undertake this study, I travelled to Asti and distributed a quantitative questionnaire to the students in this project. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the two main teachers and the students, as well. The data was then processed and analyzed, along with my theoretical framework: second language acquisition theory and immersion. The results show that the Swedish students were better at speaking; the Italian teacher focused more on grammar, that the objectives sometimes were unclear and that language development occurred. The study also provides the data that tells us that there might be challenges with your colleagues and that it is time-consuming. For further research I suggest a focus on why language development features in a project like this. It would also be interesting to analyze a project like this by observations of the linguistic content of the lessons and the specific differences between Italy and Sweden. Key words: Immersion, Second language acquisition, input, exchange project, language instructio