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PARENTS EXPECTATIONS FOR EARLY IMMERSION

Maria Jones Is a liason teacher
for six schools. Her title is French
Immersion Helping Teacher. Ma-
ria teaches a Kindergarten class
at Douglas School In Vancouver.
She has a Swiss Interpreters
Diploma and a S.F.U. Teaching
Certificate.

Maria gave a slide presentation
depicting three Elementary
French Programs; French as a
Second Language, French Im-
mersion and Program Cadre, In
various schools in Vancouver.

1. French as a Second Language
—The children have French
as one subject In the school
day and the focus from K-2 Is
on understanding. There Is
no reading or writing in
French until Grade 4. In
Grade 4 the Program Bonjour
Canada is presented and the
focus is on Canadian content,
communication and persona-
lization.

2. The French Immersion B.C.
Core Curriculum has been In
operation since 1973 and
stresses oral proficiency and
vocabulary acquisition. There
are two methods available—
Sablier and La Methode Dy-
namique. Sablier stresses
syllabification. In Grade 3,
40% of the school day is In
English. There is a question
of whether this is too much
too soon. From Grades 4-7
the school day Is divided
50-50 between class Instruc-
tion in French or English.

“Some schools use Monitors—
French speaking university stu-
dents who work In the school 8
hours a week.

given by Maria Jones

3. Le Program Cadre uses
French exclusively for K-7.
There is some English in-
struction. In the first year in
Vancouver there were 26 stu-
dents from K-7 In one class.

General: One of the main prob-

lems for Anglophone parents is

the difficulty in assisting their
children with homework starting

at about Grade 3.

Maria stressed that student
interest and motivation was the
key to a successful program.

Maria felt that all parents
should question first of all their
motivation for placing their chil-
dren in a French Program, and
secondly, their commitment to
the program.

Regarding motivation—Why do
you want your child to have this
experience? Is it because you are
a concerned parent wanting all
advantages possible or Is it
because both parents are working
and you are using immersion as a
compensatory evasion tactic?
Regarding commiltment—Can
you find a program in which your
child can continue? Are you ready
to be active?

it was suggested that teachers
can broaden their programmes
with the use of audio visual aids
and that there are funds available
for that purpose. It was also
mentioned that It would be help-
ful if teachers were willing to get
involved politically.

Maria Jones herself is a most
enthusiastic and knowledgeable
person regarding French pro-
grammes and offered to speak to
parent groups. Her telephone
number Is 731-1131. She Is also
willing to be telephoned with any
questions that parents might
have.

An excellent workshop!