The fact that early immersion in a second language has led to bilingualism and academic success among majority language children has been used as an argument against mother tongue instruction for minority language children. However, for minority language children, immersion in a second language has often led to language loss and academic failure.…

The basic language issues in Canada are two-fold: (1) French-Canadians are making serious attempts to maintain their native language and culture, and a move towards French unilingualism is apparent; (2) English-Canadians are showing increasing interest in becoming bilingual, mainly because they are not threatened by native language loss or by…

Several research and evaluation studies completed in bilingual education programs for language minority children in Canada are presented to support the claim that heritage, or first, language (HL) literacy plays an important role in the acquisition of a third language. A study completed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education…