EVALUATION
STUDY OF THE
GRADE 3 EARLY
AND GRADE 7
EARLY AND
LATE FRENCH
IMMERSION
PROGRAMS IN
BRITISH
COLUMBIA.

Stan Shapson and Elaine
Day, June, 1984.
Summarized here by Mary
Kay Fox.

Years of research from all
across Canada have proven con-
clusively that French Immersion
works. Students learn the same
subject content as their counter-
parts in the English stream, but
have the advantage of acquir-
ing a second language. Shapson
and Day’s latest B.C. French
Study examines the strengths and
weaknesses of B.C. French Im-
mersion students’ second lan-
guage skills, and compares such
skills to native French-speaking
children in Montreal and stu-
dents in similar programs across
Canada.

Programs for grade 3 early
immersion “El.” and grade 7
early and late immersion “L.1.””
were chosen for evaluation.
Eight out of the twelve districts
with grade 3 E.!. agreed to par-

ticipate. All of those taking part
were given a written French
Language Arts test and a sub-
group of 5 students from each
class tested was given a speak-

ing test designed by the research

team. Only the 3 districts with
both grade 7 early and late im-
mersion programs participated,
and the students were adminis-
tered a French Language Arts
test, a French Comprehension
test, a Student Opinions Ques-
tionnaire and a Student Ques-
tionnaire.

The grade 3 Language Arts
test (which was developed for
grade 3 French speaking chil-
dren in Montreal} measured

achievement in such skills as spel-

ling, vocabulary, grammar and

logical sequencing. An oral test,

using story retelling and discus-

sion, measured organization, pro-

nunciation and fluency in com-

parison with a control group of
native French-speaking students.

In the French Language Arts

test the grade 3 students’ results

were low-average when com-
pared to the norms for native
French-speaking children, but
were comparable to those
achieved by other F.l. groups
across Canada. The students

had particular difficulty with the

Vocabulary sub-test, but per-
formed at good levels on sub-
tests measuring their technical
(e.g. spelling), grammatical, and
manipulative skills (e.g. sentence

completion}. The study suggests

that more attention must be

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given to expanding students’
vocabulary.

The results of the French-
speaking test suggest that the
grade 3 students have good com-
municative skills in French. They
could organize and retell a story
on a par with native French-
speaking children, but they re-
ceived lower ratings than the
Francophone children on the
Pronunciation and Fiuency meas-
ures. The immersion students
also made more errors in their
oral grammar. This finding was
consistent with other research
studies which also suggest that
errors tend to persist in the speech
of immersion students. Shapson
and Day strongly recommend
that methods be developed to
improve oral grammar at all grade
levels.

The grade 7 students received
the same French Language Arts
test as that used by native French-
speaking students in Montreal,
and a second test which mea-
sured comprehension of French
in communicative situations. The
Student Opinion Questionnaire
assessed attitudes towards French
and English-speaking Canadi-
ans and towards bilingualism.
The Student Questionnaire

assessed their feelings towards

the French Language, their satis-
faction with the program and
their perception of their knowl-
edge of the language. An oral
test is currently being developed
for the grade 7 students, and
should be ready in the spring.

In the French Language Arts
test, the grade 7 students ach-
ieved results which were low-
average when compared with
Francophone students, but com-
pared favorably with students
in similar French Immersion pro-
grams across Canada. The grade
7 El. students’ comprehension
was noticeably superior to that
of grade 7 LJ. students. Both
groups were particularly posi-
tive in their attitudes toward bil-
ingualism and their motivation
to learn French. The majority
(77%0 of both groups indicated
that they would like to continue
in a French Immersion program.
The E.i. students had more confi-
dence in their skills and abili-
ties in French than did the Lt.
students.

This study has supplied school
districts with provincial norms,
and based on these norms, the
districts can now monitor on
their own the progress of their
immersion students. Further-
more, the results from this study
ought to be used to develop
curriculum and to further improve
the immersion programs in B.C.
French Immersion has reached
the point where researchers are
no longer questioning whether
it works, or whether the stud-
ents’ English Language skills suf-
fer. They are supplying concrete
guides and suggestions on how
these programs can be enhan-
ced. It is now up to teachers,
administrators and curriculum
development committees to act
on their suggestions.

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