Learning French as a second official language in Canada: comparing monolingual and bilingual students at Grade 6

Mady, Callie

doi:10.1080/13670050.2013.767778

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Many underlying causes, whether specific to the L2 learners or to their environment, play a role in the observed differences in second language acquisition (SLA), including but not limited to: age of acquisition and cognitive factors (Granena and Long, 2013; Nicoladis and Montanari, 2016), motivation (Gao, 2010; Mady, 2014), learning strategies, type of L2 exposure (Munoz, 2008), and identification with the L1 or L2 culture (e.g., Lybeck, 2002; Hochman and Davidov, 2014). The large number of factors influencing L2 knowledge and proficiency increases the difficulty of identifying the mechanisms underlying second language sentence processing and whether the latter follows the same principles as native speakers’ processing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do French–English Bilinguals Pull Verb Particle Constructions Off? Factors Influencing Second Language Processing of Unfamiliar Structures at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

2018

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An important challenge in bilingualism research is to understand the mechanisms underlying sentence processing in a second language and whether they are comparable to those underlying native processing. Here, we focus on verb-particle constructions (VPCs) that are among the most difficult elements to acquire in L2 English. The verb and the particle form a unit, which often has a non-compositional meaning (e.g., look up or chew out), making the combined structure semantically opaque. However, bilinguals with higher levels of English proficiency can develop a good knowledge of the semantic properties of VPCs (Blais and Gonnerman, 2013). A second difficulty is that in a sentence context, the particle can be shifted after the direct object of the verb (e.g., The professor looked it up). The processing is more challenging when the object is long (e.g., The professor looked the student’s last name up). This shifted structure favors syntactic processing at the expense of VPC semantic processing. We sought to determine whether or not bilinguals’ reading time (RT) patterns would be similar to those observed for native monolinguals (Gonnerman and Hayes, 2005) when reading VPCs in sentential contexts. French–English bilinguals were tested for English language proficiency, working memory and explicit VPC semantic knowledge. During a self-paced reading task, participants read 78 sentences with VPCs that varied according to parameters that influence native speakers’ reading dynamics: verb-particle transparency, particle adjacency and length of the object noun phrase (NP; 2, 3, or 5 words). RTs in a critical region that included verbs, NPs and particles were measured. Results revealed that RTs were modulated by participants’ English proficiency, with higher proficiency associated with shorter RTs. Examining participants’ explicit semantic knowledge of VPCs and working memory, only readers with more native-like knowledge of VPCs and a high working memory presented RT patterns that were similar to those of monolinguals. Therefore, given the necessary lexical and computational resources, bilingual processing of novel structures at the syntax-semantics interface follows the principles influencing native processing. The findings are in keeping with theories that postulate similar representations and processing in L1 and L2 modulated by processing difficulty.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do French–English Bilinguals Pull Verb Particle Constructions Off? Factors Influencing Second Language Processing of Unfamiliar Structures at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

2018

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“…Indeed, critiques of bilingualism remain in the public discourse [see, e.g., recent debates concerning the costs of bilingualism in the provinces (Carlson, 2012)] and despite support for bilingualism, actual bilingualism among English speakers remains rare [only 8% reporting that they can speak French (Lepage & Corbeil, 2013)]. This suggests that a monolingual mindset which sees English as the dominant and thus only language necessary remains prevalent in Canada (Coyle, 2010;Mady, 2014).…”

Section: Going Beyond Bilingualism; Adopting the Identity Values Andmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…While the impact of these concepts has been important in the field of L2 acquisition, work on identity construction in Canadian immersion contexts remains relatively scant (notable exceptions include Dagenais, Day, & Toohey, 2006;Makropoulos, 2005;Marshall & Laghzaoui, 2012;Roy & Galiev, 2011). Rather, the principal focus in immersion research has been on students' linguistic achievement in these programs as well as, in particular in the early years of French immersion research, the potential consequences of these programs for students' L1 development and academic achievement.…”

Section: Identity and L2 Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The University of Ottawa Immersion Program

Séror

Weinberg²

2015

JICB

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This article reports on case studies of university students participating in the University of Ottawa French Immersion Study (FIS) program, the largest tertiary immersion option in Canada. This program allows Anglophone students to complete an undergraduate degree while taking academic courses in their second official language (French). Semi-structured interviews with case study participants were used to analyze immersion students' accounts of their experiences within this program. Findings focus on the interactions offered to FIS students and their role in shaping students' identities and orientation to French and Francophones. Through the FIS, students are able not only to acquire linguistic and disciplinary knowledge, but also engage, often for the first time, in in-depth and daily interactions with the French community. As a result, their discourse reflects an identification and coming together with the Francophone community thereby seeming to bridge a gap between English speakers and French speakers typically found in elementary and secondary immersion programs.French abstract at end.

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“…Wall (2010) outlined a set of pervasive myths about the FI program stemming from its hypothesized inability to adapt to newer, diverse populations of students. This student selection persists despite studies showing that ELLs perform as well as, if not better than, their monolingual English counterparts in FI (Mady, 2014b).…”

Section: Background the French Immersion (Fi) Context In Canadamentioning

confidence: 96%

Principals’ Beliefs About Language Learning and Inclusion of English Language Learners in Canadian Elementary French Immersion Programs

Mady

Masson²

2018

cjal

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Gatekeepers’ language ideologies and beliefs about language learning determine how learners experience French as a second language programs, in particular, their access to, and success and inclusion in, the French immersion (FI) program. In this article, we explore how FI principals understand language learning and the inclusion of English language learners (ELLs) and how these perspectives shape school policy in FI programs. The study took place in a large urban school board in southern Ontario with student population consisting of 50% ELLs. After conducting a questionnaire with principals across the school board, we interviewed a subgroup of principals gathering quantitative and qualitative data. In addition, we consulted the board’s website and documentation provided to parents regarding enrolling their children in FI. The study highlights convergence or divergence from principals’ beliefs in relation to board policy about access and inclusion to the FI program. Through critical discourse analysis, data revealed that principals have contradictory beliefs about language learning, and at times principals struggle to reconcile these beliefs with official board policy. While FI principals are mostly positive about including ELLs in FI, to provide equal access to the program, they would benefit from (a) moving away from a definition of bilingualism as equalingualism and (b) expanding and developing the meaning of inclusivity beyond physical presence to adapt the FI space for greater inclusion of ELLs.

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Learning French as a second official language in Canada: comparing monolingual and bilingual students at Grade 6

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

How Do French–English Bilinguals Pull Verb Particle Constructions Off? Factors Influencing Second Language Processing of Unfamiliar Structures at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

How Do French–English Bilinguals Pull Verb Particle Constructions Off? Factors Influencing Second Language Processing of Unfamiliar Structures at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

The University of Ottawa Immersion Program

Principals’ Beliefs About Language Learning and Inclusion of English Language Learners in Canadian Elementary French Immersion Programs

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