A study investigated the extra-curricular use of French and English by 289 anglophone and ethnic minority fifth and sixth grade students in Montreal. The students were divided into three groups: (1) French sector children in regular French classes; (2) French sector children who were recent immigrants and enrolled in a 10-month familiarization…

The Language Immersion Magnet (LIM) program was established in five San Diego (California) city schools to "immerse" students in a second language by providing a strong emphasis on basic academic skills taught in that language. The primary language--English--is introduced later (as late as grade 3). This study attempted to describe the…

A special journal issue on French language immersion programs in Canada consists of these articles: "The Immersion Phenomenon" (H. H. Stern); "For My Kids, It's French without Tears" (Judy Gibson); "A 'First' for a Toronto High School" (Claire Mian); "The Teachers, Key to the Success Story" (Andre Obadia);…

A report is presented of an evaluation study that was set up to monitor the effects of a bilingual program on students' progress in all subject areas, its effects on student attitudes towards the French language and culture, and the patterns of language usage in the bilingual classroom. The sample for the study consisted of three groups: a…

In 1973-75, as a result of federal grants, the four major boards of education in Ontario experimented with different approaches to the teaching of French, and an evaluation of the experimental programs was also undertaken. The present report is an overview and evaluation of the entire research effort. Three approaches to French instruction have…

Discusses the minority French-speaking population in Ontario from its 17th century origin to the present day, focusing on the changing circumstances affecting minority French-language education. Political, economic, and demographic processes are shown to influence the role played by the French-language schools in the maintenance of French language…

This study used the think-aloud methodology on six Canadian fourth graders to promote the use of reading strategies in their first and second languages as part of a bilingual process-based remedial reading program. Students' English and French reading levels were established at baseline and reexamined at the end of the intervention. Pre- and…

The report, entirely in French, describes Alberta's curriculum for ninth-year French immersion, as revised in 1998. An introductory section offers background information on the curriculum revision, links between the core curriculum and French immersion, underlying principles of second language instruction, the revised curriculum's objectives and…

Reviews impact of Canadian French immersion research on theoretical conceptions of bilingualism and biliteracy and identifies four major issues: effects of bilingualism on children's cognitive and academic development; effects of intensity of school exposure to the second language; the "optimal age" issue; and the suitability of a…

Compares effects of three grade-six late immersion programs in British Columbia which differed in amount of instructional time in French (90 percent vs 60 percent), previous student French background, and use of selection criteria. Significant differences occurred in attitudes, but not in French comprehension, English achievement, mathematics,…

Examined corrective feedback and learner response to feedback in four primary level immersion classes. Transcripts of classroom interactions from subject-matter and French language arts lessons were analyzed using a model comprising the various moves in an error treatment sequence. Findings reveal a strong tendency for teachers to use recasts…

Research on Canadian bilingualism, multiculturalism, and language policy is reviewed, including the recent history of public policy, the challenge of implementing official bilingualism/multiculturalism, assimilation and language demographics, status of non-official languages, French immersion and francophone schooling, Quebec's unilingualism and…

The status of higher education provided to the francophone minority outside Quebec is examined, including accessibility of French-language institutions, francophone assimilation, and the effects of bilingual institutions on francophones. Research on these issues are summarized, and experiences with French-language schools in Alberta are discussed.…

A study of French immersion teacher education programs at Simon Fraser University and Faculte Saint-Jean (University of Alberta) in Canada is reported. The in-depth case studies examined program clientele, models, participant experiences and needs, and planning, especially in relation to current research on teacher education. (Author/MSE)

Reports on an investigation of learning-strategy applications in elementary French, Japanese, and Spanish immersion classrooms. Focus is on identifying strategies that more and less effective learners use for classroom reading and writing tasks in the target language. Think-aloud data from 3rd-grade and 4th-grade students were quantified and…