teachers' views of immersion-type bilingual programs: a quebec example

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Teachers’ Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example Russell N . Campbell, Donald M. Taylor, and G. Richard Tucker ABSTRACT The writers have examined the opinions of English-speaking and French-speak- ing teachers about the traditional program of English language instruction with French as a second language and an innovative program in- volving French immersion. Both French and En- glish teachers agree that the traditional program provides English children with a firm base in English-but not in French-language arts and in content subjects, and with a sensitivity to their own-but not to the other group’s-cultural heritage. The French-speaking teachers general- ly view the immersion programs favorably; but the English-speaking teachers view them un- favorably. Some implications of these findings are presented here. Russell N. Campbell (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Associate Professor of English, University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles; Donald M. Taylor (Ph.D., Uni- versity of Western Ontario) is Assistant Professor of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada: and G. Richard Tucker (Ph.D., McGill University) is Associate Professor of Psychology, McGill Uni- versity. During the initial phase of the study reported in this article, Russell N. Campbell was a Visiting Professor at McCill University. EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS in Canada and the United States have be- gun, in recent years, to encourage the devel- opment of new or varied instructional ap- proaches.1 In the United States, the passage and subsequent funding of the Bilingual Education Act has provided the impetus and direct financial support for 131 model bi- lingual programs currently under way in diverse areas of the country. Most of these 1. The project described in this article was sup- ported in part by grants from the Canada Council and the Defense Research Board to Wallace E. Lam- bert, Donald M. Taylor, and G. Richard Tucker. The writers are grateful to the members of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal, Mon- treal, Quebec, for thcir interest and cooperation. 131 programs are characterized by the use of English and a local vernacular, such as French, Spanish, or Navajo, as the media of instruction during some portion of the school day. Recently, several comprehensive reviews of various aspects of bilingual schooling in North America have appeared? These monographs place the issue of bilin- gual education in clear perspective for the reader by raising questions concerning the purpose of bilingual education and the na- ture of the relationship among learning and linguistic, psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors. Immersion experiment In Canada, the efficacy of a new approach in- volving a home-school language switch is currently being evaluated. In September 1965, the South Shore Protestant Regional School Board began its first experimental 2. Theodore Andersson and Mildred Boyer, d., Bilingual Schooling in the United States (Washing- ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1970); Vera P. John and Vivian M. Homer, Early Childhood Bi. lingual Education (New York: Modern Language 106

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Page 1: Teachers' Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

Teachers’ Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

Russell N . Campbell, Donald M . Taylor, and G . Richard Tucker

ABSTRACT The writers have examined the opinions of English-speaking and French-speak- ing teachers about the traditional program of English language instruction with French as a second language and an innovative program in- volving French immersion. Both French and En- glish teachers agree that the traditional program provides English children with a firm base in

English-but not i n French-language arts and in content subjects, and with a sensitivity to their own-but not to the other group’s-cultural heritage. The French-speaking teachers general- ly view the immersion programs favorably; but the English-speaking teachers view them un- favorably. Some implications of these findings are presented here.

Russell N . Campbell (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is Associate Professor of English, University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles; Donald M . Taylor (Ph.D., Uni- versity of Western Ontario) is Assistant Professor of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada: and G. Richard Tucker (Ph.D., McGill University) is Associate Professor of Psychology, McGill Uni- versity. During the initial phase of the study reported in this article, Russell N. Campbell was a Visiting Professor at McCill University.

EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS in Canada and the United States have be- gun, in recent years, to encourage the devel- opment of new or varied instructional ap- proaches.1 In the United States, the passage and subsequent funding of the Bilingual Education Act has provided the impetus and direct financial support for 131 model bi- lingual programs currently under way in diverse areas of the country. Most of these

1. The project described in this article was sup- ported in part by grants from the Canada Council and the Defense Research Board to Wallace E. Lam- bert, Donald M. Taylor, and G. Richard Tucker. The writers are grateful to the members of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal, Mon- treal, Quebec, for thcir interest and cooperation.

131 programs are characterized by the use of English and a local vernacular, such as French, Spanish, or Navajo, as the media of instruction during some portion of the school day. Recently, several comprehensive reviews of various aspects of bilingual schooling in North America have appeared? These monographs place the issue of bilin- gual education in clear perspective for the reader by raising questions concerning the purpose of bilingual education and the na- ture of the relationship among learning and linguistic, psychological, sociological, and anthropological factors.

Immersion experiment

In Canada, the efficacy of a new approach in- volving a home-school language switch is currently being evaluated. In September 1965, the South Shore Protestant Regional School Board began its first experimental

2. Theodore Andersson and Mildred Boyer, d., Bilingual Schooling in the United States (Washing- ton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1970); Vera P. John and Vivian M. Homer, Early Childhood Bi. lingual Education (New York: Modern Language

106

Page 2: Teachers' Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

RUSSELL N. CAMPBELL, DONALD M. TAYLOR, AND G. RICHARD TUCKER 107

French immersion classes for a group of En- glish Canadian kindergarten pupils. Pupils attend kindergarten and grade one classes taught exclusively in French by francophone teachers. English, their mother tongue, is formally introduced for the first time in grade two. The amount of English instruc- tion is gradually increased so that by grade five, the children are participating in an es- sentially balanced bilingual program with both anglophone and francophone teachers.

The progress of two groups of pupils en- rolled in this program has been carefully examined each year. At the end of grade four, the children in the experimental group speak, understand, read, and write English as well as do the conventionally educated English pupils in the control group. In addi- tion, they speak, understand, read, and write French far better than do students who fol- low typical French as a Second Language programs. There appear to be no cognitive, attitudinal, or emotional problems attribut- able to participation in the program.3

This experiment which began with two kindergarten classes in one school system during the 1965-66 school year has expanded throughout the South Shore system. During the school year 1970-71, this innovative program was offered from kindergarten through grade five at St. Lambert Elementa- ry School and in kindergarten and grade one in five other schools throughout the system. In fact, approximately 36 percent of all eligible kindergarten pupils were enrolled in an immersion program on the South

Association, 1971); Muriel R. Saville and Rudolph C. Troike, A Handbook of Bilingual Education, rev. ed. (Washington, D.C.: TESOL, 1971); and Horacio Uli- barri, Bilingual Education: A Handbook for Edu- cators (Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist University Press, 1970). 3. See G. Richard Tucker, et al., “Cognitive and At- titudinal Consequences of Following the Curricula of the First Four Grades in a Second Language” (Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, 1971); and G. Richard Tucker and Alison d‘Anglejan, “An Approach to Bilingual Schooling: The St. Lambert Experiment,” in Bilingual School- ing, ed. M. Swain (Toronto: The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1972).

Shore in September 1970. In addition, sim- ilar programs are now under way in twelve schools on the Island of Montreal.

An examination has also been made of the attitudes and expectations of the pupils’ parents concerning this innovative pro- gram.4 Although both parents and pupils seem to prefer the immersion program to traditional instruction with French as a second language, no attempt has yet been made to investigate the views of teachers participating in or affected by these rapidly expanding programs. It is possible that teachers react favorably to experimental teaching situations when they are relatively new and only a few pilot classes are operat- ing. The present situation in Montreal al- lows the writers to examine teachers’ reac- tions to a program that has been in oper- ation for several years and is rapidly ex- panding.

Method of data acquisition

Subjects

The subjects were fifty-four kindergarten and grade one teachers employed by the Protestant School Board of Greater Mon- treal. Nineteen were francophones teaching in French immersion-type programs; eigh- teen were anglophones teaching in conven- tional English language programs in schools that had one or more French immersion classes in the building; and seventeen were anglophones teaching in conventional En- glish programs in schools that did not have French immersion classes in the building. The subjects were selected and contacted by the school board, which had previously se- cured the cooperation of the Montreal Teachers’ Association.

Procedure

Each subject completed a twenty-item ques- tionnaire of which eighteen questions

4. Wallace E. Lambert and G. Richard Tucker, Bilingual Education of Children (Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1972).

Page 3: Teachers' Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

108 Teachers’ Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

probed feelings about the Experimental French Immersion Program (six); the Con- ventional Program of English Instruction with French as a Second Language (six); and the ‘amount of contact with other teach- ers or supervisors (six). One question con- cerned the subject’s opinion about whether immersion programs would affect the job security of English-speaking teachers, and the final item asked whether the subject thought that these programs were receiving too much publicity. The subjects expressed their degree of agreement or disagreement with each item using an eleven point seman- tic differential type rating scale. The franco- phone teachers completed a French version of the questionnaire; the anglophone teach- ers, an English version prepared by means of a back-translation procedure. The ques- tionnaires were completed by the subjects at their leisure, returned directly to the school board, and then sent to the writers for analysis.

Method of data analysis

The data for each question were analyzed separately using a series of twenty one-way analyses of variance. The independent vari- able was the type of class taught: (1) French immersion (FI), (2) conventional English in a school that also had French immersion classes (EFI), or (3) conventional English in a school with no immersion classes (EC).

Findings and discussion

The Conventional Program of English In- struction was viewed in a similar manner by subjects from all three groups. They agreed that such a program, followed throughout primary school, would produce children skilled in English (Z = 7.95; note that a rating that approaches 11 indicates yes, positive, often, etc.; whereas a rating approaching 1 indicates no, negative, never, etc.) and in content subjects (X = 7.18). Furthermore, the pupils would likely be- come sensitive to the values and traditions of English Canadians (X = 7.05). The sub-

jects agreed, however, that this conventional program that includes French as a Second Language would probably not produce chil- dren skilled in French (rr = 3.00) or children sensitive to the values and traditions of French Canadians (R = 3.33). Finally, they were relatively noncommittal about whether this model is appropriate for the education of English-speaking Quebec children (X = 5.02). The investigators were interested to find that both English- and French-speaking teachers shared these views concerning the inadequacy of the traditional English lan- guage program.

This same consensus did not, however, characterize the subjects’ views of the Ex. perimental French Immersion Program. In general, the French-speaking teachers re- acted favorably toward this program; where- as the English-speaking teachers reacted un- favorably.

The FI teachers believed that children who follow an immersion program through primary school will become skilled in French (Z = 7.84); both the EFI (X = 3.37) and the EC ( j7 = 3.32) teachers reported that they do not agree (F = 10.57, 2/54 df, p < .01). Likewise, the FI teachers believed that pupils will master course content (X= 7.37); but the EFI (sr = 3.47) and the EC (X= 2.68) teachers disagreed (F = 10.03, 2/54 df, p < .01). Furthermore, the FI teachers re- ported that pupils instructed in this way are likely to become sensitive to the values and traditions of French Canadians (rr = 6.26), although again neither the EFI (Z = 2.68) nor the EC (G = 3.32) teachers agreed (F = 6.52, 2/54 df, p < .Ol). Most important, the FI teachers believed that such a program will not affect pupils’ English skills adverse ly (X = 6.26); whereas both the EFI (%= 3.16) and the EC (X = 3.05) teachers viewed the program as potentially detrimental (F = 4.76,2/54 df, p < .05).

Not surprisingly, the overall evaluation of immersion-type programs was significant- ly more favorable by the FI teachers (% = 7.32; F = 13.51, 2/54 df, p < .01) than by the EFI (Z = 2.95) or the EC teachers (X = 2.26). All teachers, without exception, ex.

Page 4: Teachers' Views of Immersion-Type Bilingual Programs: A Quebec Example

RUSSELL N. CAMPBELL, DONALD M. TAYLOR, AND G. RICHARD TUCKER 109

pressed some reservation (X = 4.16) about whether a French immersion experience could produce pupils who are sensitive to the values and traditions of English Canad- ians.

The writers then investigated the teach- ers’ patterns of interaction in their schools. All teachers reported that they frequently initiate contact with English-speaking teach- ers ( j t = 8.35), and likewise that English- speaking teachers often initiate contact with them (Z = 7.98). The absence of significant group differences for these two questions suggests that the FI teachers have not be- come social isolates in their predominantly English schools. Furthermore, all teachers report frequent contact with their principals (Z = 8.21) and similar, but less frequent, contact with their supervisors (X = 6.14). There were significant group differences for the two questions concerning contact with Frenchapeaking teachers. The FI teachers report initiating contact most frequently with French-speaking teachers (i = 9.47), followed by the EFI (rr = 7.32), and then the EC teachers (X = 3.95; F = 11.12, 2/54 df, p < .Ol). A complementary response pat- tern was found when questions were asked about the frequency with which French- speaking teachers initiate contact with the subjects (F = 11.40, 2/54 df, p < . O l ) . The FI teachers reported the greatest frequency (ii = 8.53), followed by the EFI (X = 7.26), and then the EC teachers (X = 3.79). The subjects’ responses to these two questions probably reflect both the obvious lack of opportunity for EC teachers to interact with francophone colleagues and the slightly greater tendency for the FI teachers to inter- act with other francophones than for the EFI to do so. The major point of interest, however, is that EFI teachers do report interacting with francophone colleagues. In this sense, the immersion-type program ap- pears to foster cross-cultural interaction not only for the pupils, but also for the teachers. Unfortunately, it cannot be determined from the data whether these meetings and conversations are conducted bilingually or in English or in French.

Finally, it was noted that both the EFJ (Z = 6.53) and the EC (x = 5.05) teachers, but not the FI (r; = 3.47) teachers, believe that immersion-type programs are receiving too much publicity (F = 3.63, 2/54 df, p < .05). There is also a slight tendency for all teachers to agree that French immersion programs will affect the job security of En- glish-speaking teachers (% = 7.44).

Summary

In summary, these data reveal a consensus among French and English teachers em- ployed by the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal that the traditional pro- gram of English language instruction pro- vides pupils with a solid foundation in their native language, skill in content subjects, and sensitivity to their cultural heritage; but that it does not produce children who are skilled in French or sensitive to the values and traditions of French Canadians. The program of home-school language switch (a French immersion program) was general- ly viewed favorably by francophone teach- ers, but not by anglophone teachers. This feeling by the anglophone teachers, despite the apparent success of the program, sug- gests that their unfavorable perception may be attributable, in part, to the threat which this type of program poses to their job se- curity.6

The writers draw this latter inference cautiously, and believe that it necessitates careful and more broadly based experimen- tal replication. The long-term efficacy of these experimental immersion or bilingual education programs still remains to be dem- onstrated. If such programs prove to be suc- cessful and if more parents demand this type of opportunity for their children, then pre- sumably the teacher-training colleges would recognize reduced demand for monolingual anglophone teachers and would adjust their enrollment quotas and training programs accordingly. 5. See Tucker, et. al., “Cognitive and Attitudinal Consequences”; and Tucker and d’Anglejan, “An Ap- proach to Bilingual Schooling.”

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110 Teachers' Views of Immersion-Type Bilingu.1 Programs: A Quebec Example

These data have been collected in Mon- treal. They pertain to the educational sit- uation in the province of Quebec, where these innovative programs are sponsored entirely within the existing framework of the local educational agencies. The situation in other parts of North America may, in many respects, not be analogous. The de- velopment of many of the bilingual educa- tion projects in the United States has been sponsored by the federal government under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Although the existing pro- grams do not pose an immediate threat to presently employed teachers, the govern-

ment's expectation that local educational agencies will absorb responsibility for these programs within a period of five years may generate increasing anxiety, at least on the part of young nontenured teachers. Such anxiety could, of course, come to affect the success of the programs. Although the re- sults of this study are speculative, the in- vestigators believe that the data strongly suggest that evaluators of innovative edu- cational programs must examine carefully the repercussions of these programs not only on pupils and parents, but also on the teachers and administrators who are directly or indirectly associated with them.