French immersion

This would have been unthinkable before the constitutional and societal consequences of the Quiet Revolution (circa 1960s) in Quebec, and the passage of the Official Languages Act, 1969 by the federal parliament and the Official Language Act (Bill 22) in Quebec in 1974, which together mandated that tens of thousands of jobs in government and industry including high-paying professional and managerial work now required French.

However, it needed influential English-Canadian champions who were able to convince others both that French was worth learning and that immersion was the correct method before it spread in Canada.

[3] The "founding mothers" of elementary school French immersion in Canada are generally cited as Olga Melikoff, Valerie Neale, and Murielle Parkes from Saint-Lambert, Quebec, three English-speaking housewives who wanted to see their children learn French to a higher standard than was usually achieved in the English schools in Quebec at the time.

The promising results of the experiment in Saint-Lambert were studied and endorsed by researchers at McGill University, Wallace E. Lambert and Wilder Penfield.

Researcher Marjorie Bingham Wesche offers the following contextual characteristics of the original Canadian model:[5] Besides these contextual factors, the program's design also had a few key features:[5] Many variations have emerged since the earlier programs were designed; however, the original model (now called "early immersion") has produced good results and is still one of the most popular in Canada.

French immersion education remains optional and not compulsory; parents have the choice of sending their children to schools that offer such programs.

[13] 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.

[22] Students who do have access to a high school with French instruction may feel overwhelmed with having to learn heavy content in mathematics and science in their second language.

Teachers in such schools can be equally overwhelmed with being restricted to using only French in these contexts, and may experience guilt when English is used in their classrooms to reinforce vocabulary and complex concepts.

[23] Some experts recommend debate within school boards and ministries about allowing the use of English in French immersion contexts when teaching complex concepts in mathematics and science.

[22] In fact, in November 2017, the Halton Catholic District School Board was considering an end to their French immersion program for this reason.

[25] Some experts have 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.

[26] The province of Ontario planned to open its first university where classes will be taught exclusively in French and this may alleviate the staffing problems eventually.

A report, by a PhD candidate scholar in educational policy at the University of Toronto, also discussed concerns about French immersion creating a dual track academic stream in many schools.

She referred to a system "where the smart, motivated kids are funnelled into French, and everyone else gets left behind in English" which can become viewed as the "de facto low track stream".

The author discussed a study at a Vancouver school, published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education, which concluded that "French immersion programmes operate as a 'cream-skimming' phenomenon ... [that] allows white, middle class parents to access markers of higher social status and prestige.

A few institutions have both French and English faculties in the same university, but admission to individual courses still requires preexisting language skills.

Note that these numbers refers to anglophone and allophone pupils: it does not include francophone mother-tongue students, who are enrolled in a separate school system altogether.

In 2008, an editorial in the Vancouver Sun[38][39] criticized French immersion programs for having become a way for higher socioeconomic groups to obtain a publicly funded elite track education.

Enrollment 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.

[40] The lack of accessibility to French immersion programs for English language learners is very similar to that for students with special needs.

It is suggested that Canada's education system provide more opportunities to immigrants to become proficient in English and French in order to increase the number of Canadians who have knowledge of both official languages.

This was considered a major problem by Premier Blaine Higgs as he has stated personal bilingualism for all New Brunswickers should be the goal of the education system.

The report summarized its recommendations on the topic thusly:Our consultation and research have led us to one overwhelming conclusion: New Brunswick needs one strong, authentic, and engaging French second-language program of studies for all students in the Anglophone sector.