French Immersion Schools Are Popular. What Can That Teach Us?

Despite Canada officially being a bilingual country and home to more than 70 Indigenous languages, the majority of public education in Canada is conducted in English.

The benefits of learning another language include improved problem-solving skills, creativity and better long-term job prospects.

For Indigenous students, there is the bonus of reconnecting with the culture, land and ways of knowing of their ancestors, which has been disrupted by ongoing colonialism and genocide.

These benefits lead parents to advocate to school districts for immersive language programs for their kids, in turn influencing what “choice” programs districts offer in addition to the standard core English language curriculum.

But not everyone who wants their kids in these programs gets the opportunity. And despite teachers’ best efforts, language immersion programs don’t always create fluent speakers.

The Tyee spoke with teachers and other experts to learn what stands in the way of more French and First Nations language teaching in B.C.’s schools, with better outcomes.

This first in a two-part series focuses on French immersion, a program that has been criticized as difficult to access for many parents. There aren’t nearly enough French immersion seats to meet student demand, thanks in part to a nationwide shortage of French language teachers.

And even those students who gain one of the limited spots can emerge after years of instruction without being fully fluent in French, because the French exposure students get in class is pitted against the English spoken with their friends and family and in the media they consume.

We asked what can be done to make the program more accessible and effective.

French teaching resources are rare and often created by the teachers themselves, said Julie Chami Lindsay, a French immersion teacher and recent University of Toronto education PhD graduate with 17 years of teaching experience in the Greater Toronto Area.

French immersion programs are also, by their very nature, elitist, Chami Lindsay added.

“Anytime you have an either/or situation, you’re going to run into issues of equity,” said Chami Lindsay, referring to the choice between English core curriculum and choice programs like French immersion.

“You’re still attracting a group of the population that is informed about the pros, cons and benefits of French immersion, which are not always accurately portrayed.”

Educational currency

Chami Lindsay published an essay on French immersion and choice program elitism for the Conversation earlier this year.

While she loves French and has pursued French choice programs for some of her own children’s education, Chami Lindsay sees the flaws in the system.

“Anytime there’s another program besides the core program, any choice at all, I think, is virtually impossible to make equitable,” she said.

“I invented this term ‘educational currency’ and what I mean is any kind of advantage, privilege or capacity that makes you a more powerful chooser, opens up your ability to choose or your range of choices.”

Those who access French immersion have educational currency because they know about a French immersion program in their district and have applied for it. They know the benefits of French immersion for their child and have the connections — like an older child already in the program — or luck to get into a high-demand program.

Chami Lindsay’s essay notes that in Canada it’s typically English-speaking, middle-class families who have the educational currency to get their kids in French immersion.

But Chami Lindsay does believe you can make French immersion more equitable than it currently is.

For example, schools and school districts should translate their French immersion information into all languages spoken by parents, and make it available both online and in schools.

Parent information sessions should be held during the day and the evening to reach as many parents as possible, she suggested. And schools or districts could hold enrolment lotteries to randomize who is picked for the few available seats.

But you would still need to know about the lottery, Chami Lindsay added. And students who are learning English, struggle with academics or have learning or behavioural disabilities may be discouraged by their parents, teachers or school administration from applying for French immersion, she said.

“That in itself will in some ways reserve it for people in more privileged situations,” she said.

Chami Lindsay loves French immersion and sees value in the program for students. “But I think finding that equity piece is more difficult,” she said.

Improving French-language fluency

Graduating fluent students at the end of any language immersion program is difficult, too.

In the Ontario school district where Chami Lindsay teaches, French immersion students from Grade 1 to Grade 12 receive a 50/50 split of French and English lessons.

In B.C., ministry guidelines recommend 100 per cent French instruction from kindergarten to Grade 3; 80 per cent French instruction for Grades 4 to 7; 50 to 75 per cent French instruction for Grades 8 to 10; and no less than 25 per cent French for Grades 11 and 12.

If the immersion program is in a school that also has an English core program, then school announcements, assemblies and field trips are more likely done in English, Chami Lindsay noted, cutting into students’ exposure to and use of French.

“We are trying and hoping to create students that are able to work and communicate pretty well in French,” as well as English, she said.

For a number of reasons, including the learning disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chami Lindsay says students are not necessarily reaching this level.

But she believes it is possible to get there with changes, like having entirely French immersion schools and/or increasing the French content above a 50/50 split with English.

Have ministry-created French teaching resources, instead of having teachers create their own, Chami Lindsay suggested. And increase the French teacher education seats in universities and colleges, including for specialty teachers like art, music and gym, so more courses can be offered in French.

For their part both the B.C. and Canadian governments recognize the French teacher shortage.

Earlier this year they announced a combined investment of $13.5 million to recruit and retain French teachers in B.C., including $1.26 million for the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University to improve education and networking opportunities for current and future French teachers in B.C.

---

Tomorrow: how to improve access and outcomes for First Nations language learning in BC’s schools.