French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French. In most French-immersion schools, children will learn to speak French and learn most subjects such as history, music, geography, math, art, physical education and science in French.
Contents
Features
French immersion programming spread rapidly from its original start in Canada in the 1970s. French Immersion education is optional and not compulsory. Parents have the choice in sending their children to schools that offer such programming. Students are encouraged to begin communicating in French as consistently as possible. Teachers in French Immersion schools are competent in speaking French, having acquired specific French as a Second Language qualifications to teach all subjects in French. Classroom communication of French in French Immersion programs is meaningful and authentic for students. Learning French becomes subconscious and there is a strong focus on understanding before speaking. Most students that enrol in French Immersion programs are not experts in French and lack experience in it. Students in French Immersion programs complete the same core curriculum subjects as students in the Core program.
The French Immersion was designed to: (a) capitalize on children's ability to learn language naturally and effortlessly; (b) take advantage of their social ability and open attitudes to language and culture; (c) reflect on the building blocks of language by emphasizing the use of languages for communication and (d) not stopping the children from participating in native language development, academic achievement or general cognitive development.
Formats
Programs:
French Immersion: French as the language of instruction
Extended French: available only in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia; French as the language of instruction for one or two core subjects in addition to French Language Arts
Intensive French: a more recent program which started in 1998 in Newfoundland and Labrador and branched out to six other provinces and the Northwest Territories; intensive period of French instruction for one-half of the school year (70% of school day in French)
Age: The age an individual begins the French Immersion program varies:
Early Immersion: Kindergarten or Grade One
Middle Immersion: Grade Four or Five
Late Immersion: Grade Six, Seven, or Eight
Time: The amount of time French Immersion students spend in immersion varies:
Total: commences with 100% immersion in the second language and continually decreases to 50%
Partial: commences with close to 50% immersion and remains at this level
Benefits
A study shows that French immersion might improve academic performance.
Students participate in French Immersion programs to gain employability-related skills and to increase job opportunities.
Students in French Immersion demonstrate a superior level of mental flexibility, which is an ability to think more independently of words and to have a higher awareness of concept formation as well as a more diversified intelligence than students in the regular program.
Data illustrates that students in French Immersion programs also have a linguistic advantage as they are able to adopt two different perspectives, offering alternative ways to look at the same information.
French Immersion students also have a deeper appreciation and respect for various cultures. In addition, they also gain more fulfillment in learning a new language.
Students in French immersion programs also have greater opportunity to understand their own culture or their own nation. For example, Canada's identity is based on the fact that it holds two official languages, English and French. French Immersion students have the opportunity to gain a greater understanding of what it means to be Canadian through the French Immersion program.
Challenges
Many challenges in participating in French Immersion programs subsist. For example, many French Immersion students do not reach native-like language proficiency in French. This could be due, in part, to the fact that there is a lack of willingness on the part of French Immersion students to communicate in French outside of the classroom. This lack of willingness may stem from students not feeling prepared or equipped to practice the language.
Access to Special Education resources is often restricted to students in French Immersion and as such, it is often suggested to parents that they switch their children to a regular English stream in order to access the support that their child requires. Suggesting that exceptional students would be better off without the French Immersion program and that resources are not available in the program would be ignorant and misinformed. French Immersion teachers could go through professional development training and courses about special education integration into their programs, all while creating referral processes for special education in French Immersion with parent involvement as an aim. When the rights of children to special education are overlooked, consequences can be costly to students' futures.
French Immersion students, particularly at the secondary level, feel overwhelmed with having to learn heavy content in mathematics and science in their second language. Teachers are equally as overwhelmed with the notion of being restricted to using only French in these contexts, and experience guilt when English is used in their classrooms to reinforce vocabulary and complex concepts. Debate should be provoked within school boards and ministries about the use of English in French Immersion contexts in order to teach difficult content in mathematics and science.
It is extremely difficult for school boards in Canada to hire French teachers in large numbers, as there are not enough graduates from French teaching programs to fill teaching positions available. It is suggested that research be conducted to seek strategies for French teacher recruitment to alleviate staff shortages in Canadian schools. Scholarship and bursary programs for prospective Bachelor of Education students to gain French teaching qualifications are also suggested to alleviate these shortages.
Worldwide
The Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger (AEFE) runs or funds 470 schools worldwide, with French as the primary language of instruction in most schools.
Australia
French immersion is used in Australian schools such as Benowa State High School and The Southport School; teaching mathematics, SOSE, science and French, entirely in French.
There is also a French immersion program offered at Methodist Ladies' College and Mansfield State High School teaching a variety of subjects over three years in French.
Telopea Park School in Canberra is a bilingual French-English school.
The program is also offered at The Glennie School in Toowoomba, Queensland.
Lycée Condorcet in Maroubra, Sydney teaches almost entirely in French and conforms to the French government system, enabling students to easily transition to and from France to the school.
Canada
French immersion programs were introduced into Canadian schools in the 1970s to encourage bilingualism across the country. Now immersion programs provide an alternative education stream for many students. Since their implementation, French immersion programs have become increasingly popular across Canada and school districts have seen significant increased enrolment in their French immersion student population over the years.
K-12 Education
French immersion programs are offered in most Anglophone public school districts. French immersion is also done in some private schools and preschools.
Higher Education
Several Canadian universities offer opportunities for students to continue to study subjects in either French or English, such as Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, the University of Alberta Faculté Saint-Jean in Edmonton, the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, the Université de Saint-Boniface of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, University of Ottawa, Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, York University's Glendon College in Toronto and HEC Montréal in Montreal. HEC Montréal's situation is unique, as it is located in francophone Montréal, the majority of the students are francophone (both from Quebec and from France), and it offers a prestigious bilingual bachelor's degree in commerce: in that sense, it is not a typical French immersion program, but rather a complete francophone experience in a francophone environment.
Regional Discrepancies
French-immersion programs are offered in all ten Canadian provinces. French popularity differs by province and region. Currently, enrollment in French immersion is highest in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and lowest in Saskatchewan. Western Canada, which is predominantly Anglophone, is experiencing high population growth, and has seen significant increases in the proportion of French immersion students.
Britain
Walker Road Primary School, Aberdeen, Scotland started an early partial immersion program in 2000. Also, Judgemeadow Community College, Evington, in Leicester, has been using a French Immersion course in one form group a year for the last four years. Pupils answer the register in French, and their French, IT and PHSE lessons are all in French. The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle (originally Lycée Français de Londres) is a French school transported to England and as such the vast majority of the teaching is in French and caters to French curricula and indeed, as far as quatrième (at the age of 13-14), all pupils are taught entirely in French.
United States
Private French language immersion schools in the United States have existed since at least the 1950s. Most of these schools receive help from the AEFE. There are currently almost 40 of these schools in the United States.
Public school districts have run French immersion programs since 1974.
The southern part of Louisiana has a strong French heritage extending back to colonial times. During the mid-twentieth century, however, the number of native French speakers plunged as French was banned in public schools and children punished for speaking it. The social stigma associated with speaking French was sufficiently strong that many parents did not speak the language to their children, so generations born in the second half of the century rarely spoke French in the home. As a result, French immersion is today viewed by parents and educators as a way to save the French language in Louisiana.
Controversy
In 2008, an editorial in the Vancouver Sun criticized French immersion programs for having become a way for higher socioeconomic groups to obtain a publicly funded elite track education. Since lower socioeconomic groups and children with learning and behavioral problems have lower rates of participation in French immersion, a situation has developed in which ambitious families might prefer French immersion for its effective streaming than for the bilingual skills it gives to students.
Enrolment in French Immersion programs has become difficult for immigrants to Canada, because it is argued by school administrators and board professionals that learning English as a second language presents enough of a challenge for students. The lack of accessibility to French Immersion programs for English Language Learners is very similar to that for students with special needs. As a result, the media places blame on Canada's immigrants for the declining number of bilingual citizens in Canada, while the immigrant community continues to pursue opportunities to become bilingual. It is suggested that Canada's education system provides more opportunities to immigrants to become bilingual in order to increase the number of official bilingual Canadians.