ERIC Number: EJ1273131
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1481-868X
EISSN: N/A
Evaluating the Oral Language Skills of English-Stream and French Immersion Students: Are the CLB/NCLC Applicable?
Burchell, Diana; Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Selvachandran, Janani; Cleave, Patricia; Chen, Xi
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée, v23 n2 p118-140 2020
This study examined the oral language skills of grade-two anglophone children enrolled in French Immersion and English-stream programs. The study had two objectives: (1) to compare performance between the groups on measures of receptive vocabulary, narrative comprehension, and narrative production (i.e., structure and language) in English; and (2) to explore the applicability of the Canadian Language Benchmarks/"Niveaux de compétences linguistiques canadiens" (CLB/NCLC) to assessment of their conversational competency. All children (English-stream n = 27, French Immersion n = 33, aged 7-8 years) were tested in English. In addition, the French Immersion students were tested using equivalent measures in French. The results comparing performance in English revealed no differences between the groups on receptive vocabulary, narrative comprehension and narrative structure. However, the English-stream children outperformed their French Immersion peers in narrative language. Furthermore, CLB/NCLC listening and speaking criteria were applied to conversational samples yielding level scores in English (both groups) and French (French Immersion only). The range of benchmarks that are appropriate for this population is discussed in detail.
Descriptors: Oral Language, Grade 2, Elementary School Students, French, Immersion Programs, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English, Native Language, Benchmarking, Comparative Analysis, Foreign Countries, Receptive Language, Vocabulary Skills, Narration, Conventional Instruction, Listening Skills, Evaluation Criteria, Scores, Language Tests, Student Evaluation
Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics / Association Canadienne de Linguistique Appliquée. Departement de langues, linguistique et traduction, Pavillon de Koninck, Universite Laval, Quebec, QC G1K 7P4, Canada. Web site: http://www.aclacaal.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 2; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A