Bilingual education can improve learning outcomes but it’s important to consider local context.
In a research study on the accessibility of French immersion, one parent was told she faced a three-year wait to access reading supports for her child.
(Andrew Ebrahim/Unsplash)
Parents in a study about the accessibility of French immersion programs discussed inadequate support for learning to read and feeling pressured to pay for expensive tutors.
A study saw racialized students in Ontario French immersion programs write monologues and stories about their experiences, and also invited immersion stakeholders like teachers and parents to give feedback on
race and racism in Ontario immersion programs.
(CDC)
Listening to voices of racialized students in French immersion matters for creating more inclusive schooling.
Street sign for Fford Pen Llech, said to be the world’s steepest street, with text in English and in Welsh. Approximately 20% of Wales residents are fluent in Welsh, and the goverment is striving to increase that percentage.“
Wikimedia
Media accounts on endangered languages abound, but they don’t always explore how to materially help native speakers. Peer-reviewed research shows that such efforts don’t always have positive effects.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser at a press conference in Ottawa on April 19, 2023.
Canadian Press/Spencer Colby
Despite denunciations of discrimination against French-speaking students who want to settle in Canada, particularly Africans, the federal government does not seem to want to act.
Some have claimed the proposed new Indigenous names for Winnipeg streets are too difficult to pronounce. But what does it mean when we say a word is hard to pronounce?
School choice policies have positioned schools as existing in a free market of schools, but parents and guardians have different amounts of ‘educational currency’ or privilege when choosing programs.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
In a study, teachers who are parents acknowledged programs of choice separate students into cohorts labelled strong and weak, yet many continue to secure spots for their own children.
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at a press conference on Oct. 17, 2022, at the Québec City National Assembly. He repeated that he did not want to swear an oath to King Charles.
The Canadian Press/Karoline Boucher
Yan Campagnolo, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and François Larocque, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
No official French version of the Constitution Act of 1867 exists in 2022. This aberration calls into question the validity of taking an oath to the King in French.
Language-learning research in the Netherlands has determined that using a foreign language rather than just memorizing its grammar can transform how students progress.
French is the official language of Senegal. Photo AFP via Getty Images.
As a language of instruction, French has long held a prominent place in Senegal’s institutions and media. But Wolof, the most spoken national language, has regained its lost places.
‘Lamartine rejects the red flag in front of the town hall,’ a painting by Henri Félix Philippoteaux (1815–1884), captures a seminal moment in the second French Revolution in Paris in 1848, when revolutionaries demanded human and civil rights.
(Les Musées de la ville de Paris)
French has historically been a language of human rights. That’s why the Québec government should promote it as a tool of a human rights-based civic education, not force it on newcomers.
For all sleep-learning’s promises, memorising words while awake was still five times more efficient.
PaeGAG/Shutterstock
In Africa, French will only continue to embed itself - if speaking it is in the interests of Africans and not attached to French foreign policy interests.
Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault launches his campaign at the Montmorency Falls with candidates, Aug. 28, 2022 in Québec City.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
Signs in languages other than French could be seen as an outstretched hand in yet another episode of linguistic tensions, but also as an indicator that French is indeed losing ground.
In Canada, the French and English languages generally peacefully coexist.
Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
It’s common for people to live near others who speak a different – but similar – language. But generally, they handle their differences without violence.
Québec Premier François Legault defended Bill 96 saying he doesn’t want the province to become Louisiana.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
For most Québec residents, there is broad consensus that French should be protected. But many of us believe that multilingualism need not threaten French.
Investir dans l'éducation bilingue peut réduire les redoublements et les décrochages scolaires et améliorer les résultats en matière d'alphabétisation.
Riccardo Lennart Niels Mayer / EyeEm via GettyImages