Abstract
French immersion programs are rapidly becoming an integral part of the Canadian education system. Its educational and linguistic achievements have been the subject of an abundant literature that continues to grow. The popularity of the program has helped it expand at a phenomenal rate. From one school and a handful of students in the experimental classes 25 years ago, there are now more than 17,000 schools offering French immersion instruction to close to 250,000 students in all major Canadian cities.
The major theoretical foundations on which French immersion was explicitly and sometimes implicitly based may be summarized as follows:
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Early exposure to a second language is better than late exposure.
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A second language can be learned effectively through the recreation at school of a natural imitative environment which resembles that in which the child learns his first language.
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There may be interferences between English and the second language being learned, but the similarities between the two languages are much more significant in terms of linguistic and cognitive development than the differences.
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The language is more used as a vehicle for teaching subject matters than it is studied as a subject.
The challenge for French immersion administrators resides in meeting the need for curriculum leadership and for the integration of French immersion teachers into the mainstream professional culture.
Zusammenfassung
Französische Immersionsprogramme werden schnell ein integraler Bestandteil des kanadischen Schulwesens. Ihre Leistungen auf pädagogischem und linguistischem Gebiet sind Thema einer wachsenden Fülle von Literatur. Die Popularität des Programms führte zu einer erstaunlich weiten Verbreitung. Während es vor 25 Jahren nur eine Schule mit wenigen Schülern in Versuchsklassen gab, bieten heute mehr als 17.000 Schulen fast 250.000 Schülern in allen größeren kanadischen Städten französische Immersion. Man kann die wesentlichen theoretischen Grundsätze, auf die sich die französiche Immersion ausdrücklich und manchmal auch unterschwellig stützt, wie folgt zusammenfassen:
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Je früher mit dem Erlernen einer zweiten Sprache begonnen wird, desto besser
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Eine zweite Sprache kann durch die natürliche Nachstellung der Umgebung, in der das Kind seine Muttersprache erlernt, effektiv vermittelt werden
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Es können zwischen Englisch und der zweiten zu erlernenden Sprache Interferenzen auftreten, aber die Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den beiden Sprachen sind in Bezug auf linguistische und kognitive Entwicklungen weitaus bedeutender als die Unterschiede
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Die Sprache wird eher als ein Mittel zum Lehren von themenbezogenen Fächern als ein Fach angesehen
Die Herausforderung für die Sachverwalter der französischen Immersion besteht darin, den Bedarf an Pionieren auf dem Gebiet der Curriculumsinnovation zu decken und die Lehrkräfte für französische Immersion einzugliedern, die keine Randgruppe des beruflichen Lebens in der Schule bleiben sollten.
Résumé
Les cours de français par immersion deviennent rapidement partie intégrante du système éducatif canadien. L'acquis éducatif et linguistique de ces programmes fait l'objet d'une littérature abondante qui ne cesse de croître. La popularité du programme a contribué à l'extension considérable de celui-ci. Parti d'une école et d'une piognée d'élèves dans les classes expérimentales il y a 25 ans, ce programme compte aujourd'hui plus de 17 000 écoles offrant un enseignement du français par immersion à quelque 250 000 élèves dans toutes les grandes villes du Canada. Les bases théoriques fondamentales sur lesquelles l'enseignement par immersion était explicitement fondé — et quelquefois implicitement — peuvent se résumer comme suit:
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Un contact précoce avec une langue seconde est plus profitable qu'un contact tardif.
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Une seconde langue peut être apprise efficacement grâce à des activités récréatives proposées à l'école dans un environnement reproduisant le naturel et qui ressemble à celui dans lequel l'enfant apprend sa première langue.
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Il se peut qu'il y ait des interférences entre l'anglais et la seconde langue apprise, mais les points similaires entre les deux langues sont plus importantes que les différences en ce qui concerne la linguistique et le développement cognitif.
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La langue n'est pas étudiée en tant que matière, elle est davantage utilisée en tant que véhicule d'enseignement des différentes disciplines.
Le défi pour les administrateurs de l'enseignement du français par immersion consiste à satisfaire les besoins relatifs à l'administration du curriculum et à l'intégration des enseignants de ces cours dans le courant majeur de la culture professionnelle.
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Safty, A. French immersion in Canada: Theory and practice. Int Rev Educ 37, 473–488 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00597622
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00597622