Achieving bilingualism in the Canadian federal public workplace

Gentil, Guillaume; Bigras, Josée; O'Connor, Maureen

doi:10.1075/hsm.9.05gen

Cited by 3 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Hayday (2015) extensively details how the history of incorporating institutional bilingualism with federal employees has been met with varying degrees of success. Gentil, Bigras and O'Connor (2010) found that, among the nonnative French speakers that they studied, there was a distinct dichotomy that divided the eleven study subjects who took part in their study: "at the risk of oversimplifying, they can be divided into two groups: those who use French at work, and those who (mostly) do not" (p. 94). Some students and language training administrators who work with French as a Second Language students in the federal government have identified three main problems with the French-language instruction books published by the Canada School of Public Service.…”

Section: Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

By the book (or not): A case study exploring the relationship between teacher cognition and teaching materials and resources

Severenuk¹

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While various models of language teacher cognition (e.g. Borg, 2003Borg, , 2006Woods, 1996) have focused on the internal factors (teacher beliefs and knowledge) of teacher decision-making and in-class practices, little research has zeroed in on the effects of external factors on these decisions. Contextual factors, such as student engagement, culture and learning materials, while acknowledged, have rarely been explored in depth. Existing research shows that contextual factors do have an effect on how teachers of English think, yet the effect that language learning materials and resources have on teacher cognition and behavior remains largely unexplored. ESL and EFL teachers, both in Canada and abroad, were asked to complete a questionnaire, then interviewed, to create a more complete picture of the influence that resources and learning materials (availability, quality, and how teachers create their own in the absence of suitable options) have on how teachers make decisions about teaching, both in and out of the classroom. Findings suggest that contextual issues such as employment contexts and working conditions, issues of control, and levels of established knowledge can significantly affect the decisions teachers make about classroom dynamics, the learning/teaching materials they choose to use, and the classroom culture they establish/promote. Though few differences were noted among teachers who identified themselves as teaching ESL or ESL, teaching environments played a role for many respondents.iii

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Section: Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

By the book (or not): A case study exploring the relationship between teacher cognition and teaching materials and resources

Severenuk¹

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“…One outcome of the act is that it has resulted in institutionalized rather than individualized bilingualism. In order to foster a more bilingual workforce, the public service either hires bilingual employees, or invests in language training for those who are not (Gentil et al, 2010; Department of Justice [DJ], 2005;Treasury Board Secretariat [TBS], 2017). This has had significant effects on Canadian public service employees.…”

Section: Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has had significant effects on Canadian public service employees. For example, English-French bilingualism leads to better employment and higher salaries (Turcotte, 2019), months are dedicated to language training, and the stress of achieving the language requirement is a lingering concern (Bessette, 2005;Gentil et al, 2010).…”

Section: Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As stated in the previous section, SLE testing is mandated by the PSC in an effort for departments to meet the requirements outlined by the OLA (Bessette, 2005;Gentil et al, 2010). Kane (2013) explains how a test developed by one person and used for their own personal reasons is not likely to be challenged for its validity.…”

Section: Validitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrarily, tests tend to induce anxiety and stress, which are seemingly negative factors and are therefore considered negative washback on the student . Bailey (1996) 2005and Gentil et al (2010) have documented experiences with the inhouse language training. The intersection between the classroom, the program and the policy where the conversation shifts to discussions of impact.…”

Section: Washbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Government of Canada’s Second Language Evaluation, Test of Written Expression: Exploring Validity

Nearing¹

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D’une langue à l’autre : pour une didactique plurilingue et translangagière de l’écrit

Gentil

2019

The Canadian Modern Language Review

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La didactique de l’écrit est traditionnellement cloisonnée en fonction de la langue : anglais ou français, langue première ou langue additionnelle. Ce cloisonnement est en décalage par rapport aux besoins et pratiques des scripteurs en situations multilingues qui imposent de rédiger dans une langue à partir de sources dans une autre langue tout en alternant la langue utilisée pour composer. Par exemple, au Québec et en France, il n’est pas rare que des étudiants en sciences rédigent leurs thèses en français à partir d’articles en anglais, avant de publier eux-mêmes en anglais tout en vulgarisant leurs résultats en français. Une autre pratique de plus en plus courante est de soumettre une thèse bilingue comprenant des articles publiés, généralement en anglais, insérés dans une charpente en français. De telles pratiques exigent non seulement de savoir lire et écrire dans deux (bilittératie), voire plusieurs (plurilittératie), langues, mais aussi de pouvoir passer aisément d’une langue et d’un mode à l’autre (compétences translangagières ou translittératie). À partir d’études de cas de scripteurs bilingues et d’autres études sur le transfert en écriture, l’éducation plurilingue et la traduction, cette communication vise à illustrer les défis que pose le développement de la bilittératie et de la translittératie tout en proposant des stratégies pédagogiques et curriculaires pour faciliter cet apprentissage.

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Achieving bilingualism in the Canadian federal public workplace

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

By the book (or not): A case study exploring the relationship between teacher cognition and teaching materials and resources

By the book (or not): A case study exploring the relationship between teacher cognition and teaching materials and resources

The Government of Canada’s Second Language Evaluation, Test of Written Expression: Exploring Validity

D’une langue à l’autre : pour une didactique plurilingue et translangagière de l’écrit

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