Why we say ‘oui’ to immersion
It’s more than a desire for a second language that has us picking French for kids.
More parents than ever want a French immersion education for their children. But it’s unclear whether they all make that choice because they want their children to be bilingual.
Some may be attracted to the class composition in French immersion programs. French immersion is viewed by some as a private school within the public system because of the program’s reputation for having fewer students with special needs or lacking English skills.
Figures obtained by The Vancouver Sun from the Ministry of Education confirm French immersion classes in Vancouver have very few English-as- a-second-language students and special needs students, which means the share of these students is higher in the regular English stream.
North Vancouver parent Alex Graham said she chose French immersion for her children not only because she wanted them to be bilingual, but it was also because the students are driven to do well and supported by parents who are more involved.
“The students are all hard working and focused and they want to excel,” Graham said. “And they have this support system ( of their parents) behind them.
She said it’s mostly French immersion parents who attend the parent advisory council meetings at her children’s schools.
“I think it all comes down to the involvement and thought that the parents put into their kids’ education,” Graham said.
Vancouver dad Jonah Eckert said one reason he and his wife chose French immersion for their daughter because he was in French immersion himself.
“We both believe that French immersion gives kids a chance to have a more open mind, to learn about other cultures, and to have a wider perspective,” Eckert said. “It also allows kids to participate in an important part of what it means to be Canadian and our bilingual heritage.”
For Kate Montgomerie, mother of four Vancouver students, putting her children in French immersion was a matter of family heritage.
“I chose French immersion because my mother- in- law was a proud Quebecer and ( as she was passing away of terminal cancer) had a dying wish that her grandkids were bilingual,” Montgomerie said. “A bit dramatic, I know, but it was very much an emotional choice to produce bilingual Canadians. I had always said that the kids were only going to stay in the French immersion program if it ‘ worked’ for them and so far it has for all four of them.”
The Sun limited its analysis to Vancouver elementary classes — because French immersion classes in Vancouver are identified with the letter F in the data, which is not done uniformly in other districts. But the trend is believed to hold throughout the province.
While the class compositions differ, the figures show class size is nearly identical for French immersion and English classes. Enrolment overall is growing in the French immersion program, but declining in the regular English programs, Ministry of Education figures show.
The high demand for French immersion in public schools leaves educational leaders with tough choices.
“Teachers will tell us that the more choice we put in ( the system), the more class composition in the regular stream gets worse,” says Vancouver school board chairwoman Patti Bacchus. “And if you compare the two, it can make it challenging to have properly balanced classes.”
Class composition refers to the number of students in a single class who have special needs or who are learning to speak English.
Myths of learning
Monique Bournot- Trites, an associate professor at the University of B. C.’ s education faculty, blames the lopsided class composition on myths about learning. She says many people — even teachers — believe a student will be more successful if they are learning in their first language. This belief means many parents of English- asasecond- language and special needs students opt out of French immersion.
But she says if a student has a difficulty learning in French, they will have the same difficulty learning in English.
“Lots of people think they will do better if they move to English, but that’s a misunderstanding,” she says. “They will do just as well in French.”
Indeed, research shows English-as- a- second- language students outperform Englishspeaking students in French immersion, for reasons that are unknown, Bournot- Trites said.
Because English- as- a- secondlanguage students are immersed in English outside of school, they will become fluent in English despite being in French immersion, she says. Besides, French immersion students do at least 20 per cent of their studies in English once they reach Grade 3.
Bournot-Trites says each student must be looked at individually when making a decision about their schooling. The most important thing, she says, is whether they enjoy French immersion. She says it also can make a difference if the school has learning assistance teachers with French skills.
There are many benefits to learning a second language, and they go beyond bilingualism.
“It doesn’t make people more intelligent,” Bournot- Trites says. But “the research shows they will be more flexible and open- minded. It helps in adapting to new situations.”
She also cites research suggesting people who are bilingual have delayed onset of dementia.
Waiting lists
French immersion students account for 8.1 per cent of public school enrolment in B. C., after 14 consecutive years of growth, according to the B. C. and Yukon chapter of Canadian Parents for French. A recent CPF report says demand for French immersion is also growing rapidly in the U. S., with waiting lists in many school districts.
The percentage of B. C. students in French immersion would be even higher, but thousands of students are turned away each year because of a lack of spaces, the group says. Every year, there are lotteries and lineups of families hoping to get their children into a limited number of classes.
Trustees, Bacchus says, are always debating the principle of choice versus neighbourhood schools.
She said there are many choices besides French immersion — including early Mandarin immersion, early years international baccalaureate, fine arts and Montessori. Vancouver also has several minischools attached to its secondary schools. The mini- schools are smaller programs, usually within a larger school, with a specific focus such as outdoor education, fine arts or a sports academy.
“It keeps kids in the public system. We’re always in that tension where we’re competing ( with private schools) for kids,” Bacchus says. “We know that our mini- schools draw kids in from the private schools because we can provide a much greater range of programs than any one private school can provide. They will come to mini programs, but they might not come to the regular program. The consumer approach to education has really shifted.”
If public schools lose students to private schools or other districts, they lose funding, which is allocated per student. Last year, it was $ 8,654 per student in a public school. In B. C. the share of students attending independent schools is nearly 12 per cent; five years ago it was 10.7 per cent. Today, more than 18 per cent of students in public schools in Vancouver are enrolled in programs of choice, like French immersion or a mini- school, with the majority of those ( 10 per cent) in French immersion.
But providing choice can be costly. Bacchus says you need to have seven empty classrooms and at least that many capable teachers available to start a French immersion program.
The shortage of qualified French immersion teachers and other school support staff who can speak French was cited by both Bacchus and BournotTrites as one of the challenges to meeting the demand for French classes. Earlier this fall, a Canadian Parents for French report found 85 per cent of B. C. school districts say it is challenging to find qualified French teachers. French teachers are paid on the same pay scale as English teachers.
Bacchus says demand for French immersion is much higher on the west side of Vancouver, where space is already at a premium, but a few programs on the east side are not full.
Emotional stress
There can be drawbacks to all the educational choices outside of the regular program , Bacchus says — including student anxiety, which studies say is on the rise. The National Institute of Mental Health in the U. S. reports that a national survey found that about eight per cent of teens have an anxiety disorder, with symptoms commonly emerging around age six.
“I always say to people, you’ve got a great neighbourhood school. Sometimes parents are panicking and they feel obliged to shop around for specialty programs,” she says.
“Anxiety is going up among children, right from preschool age to adolescence. I wonder sometimes if we’re feeding that with all of these choices. On the other hand, I hear from people all the time that they wouldn’t have made it through high school without a special program.”
So, it’s a balancing act between how much choice to provide and what makes the best educational sense, she says.
“It’s a constant tension of how much choice do we provide and what does it do to the typical program? Does it make it seem like it’s somehow not optimal? Kids in Grade 7 are bombarded with all these brochures and options,” Bacchus says.
The Vancouver district now tracks choices for kindergarten, including French immersion, Mandarin bilingual and Montessori, and is able to see what parents do if they don’t get the program they wanted: where they go and what the attrition rates are over time. Bacchus says the board hopes to determine if students are leaving the public system and going to private school if their parents don’t get their first choice.
Although some parents may view being in a class with fewer ESL or special needs students as a benefit, Bacchus says there are also benefits to being in diverse classes.
Bacchus says her children went to school in the English program with many kids who were English language learners, but that added to their experience rather than taking away from it.
“My kids went to school with kids from all over the world and they know so much more about world culture from their classmates. To me that makes the world a lot smaller and that’s the beauty of public education is that you meet people from different cultures and yet you work together with them. You understand their values and respect each other. That’s the city we’re in. Shouldn’t our classrooms reflect that?” Bacchus says.
“They know another language, and sometimes two or three languages, and they’re bringing this richness to the classroom. Often they know another culture and often would be very high- achieving in their own language. We shouldn’t be thinking of them because they’re ELL ( English language learners) as somehow at a deficit, actually, they have more. They’re multilingual and they’ve had to adapt — by Grade 12 they’ve had to adapt.”