Official Languages Support Programs Branch |
Programmes d'appui aux langues officielles |
|
|
Francophone
Minorities:
French Language Education in Canada - A Community FocusIn 1998-99, 155,872 students were enrolled in French minority-language education programs in Canada outside of Quebec. In order to illustrate the rising rate of participation of children eligible for French language schools, Table 19 looks at the proportion the minority school system represents of total enrollment compared to the proportion minority Francophones represent in the population. The index indicates a rising rate of participation, though the proportion of minority students is still below the community's weight in the population. Given the number of students in all schools have been dropping due to lower fertility, this index is intended to provide a more meaningful reflection of participation than raw enrollment numbers. The first objective of any school system is to provide the basic educational experiences necessary to ensure the social, emotional and intellectual development of the student. Minority language schools have an additional objective, the maintenance and in some case the development of French language skills as well as the heritage and culture of this community. Ideally learning is enhanced because it builds on cultural references to family and community which have meaning to the minority language student. The objectives of the French-language schools include:
To achieve these aims, it is vital that the school be integrated into the life of the community and provide opportunities for full parental participation. School/community centres are an example of a model which attempts to achieve these ambitious objectives. The importance of the school to the survival of minority communities cannot be overestimated. As Canada's former Commissioner of Official Languages, Victor Goldbloom has noted: Few can doubt the importance of minority language schools to the vitality of their communities. Such institutions provide an essential physical and social space within which members can meet and foster their cultural and linguistic heritage. Indeed, without minority language schools, the very conditions necessary for the preservation of Canada's linguistic duality would be markedly diminished.1 French minority language education is very distinct from French immersion, but there are also some similarities. Since the right to minority language education is vested in the parent and not the child, often children have only a weak mastery of French-particularly those from mixed families. For these children the French language school is in a sense an enhanced immersion experience. Enhanced because most of the children they are interacting with in the school setting will have a solid grasp of the French language. In this sense schools are not just places where children learn together, but also where they learn from each other. French immersion is a program for the "majority" child-a child who lives in an environment in which his or her first language is constantly reinforced by the surrounding community. The minority child lives in an environment in which the first language is often not present outside of the home or the school. Minority language education is designed for children whose first language is French, but live in a largely Anglophone environment. The school is therefore a crucial part of a minority community's response to that environment. Children only spend a small part of their time at school, and the home environment has a considerable influence on language learning. Close links between the school and the community are essential if the community is to profit from the potential synergies between the home and the school. In this relationship the weakness of the minority language in one context can be offset in the other. When we talk about language we need to keep in mind its multifaceted nature. Language in a minority context is not just a means of communications or a form of human capital. It is also a symbol of identity and a vehicle for transmitting culture and values. A recent study prepared for Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages entitled Motivations for School Choices by Eligible Parents Outside Quebec looked at why parents choose the minority French stream for their children. The study is based on the opinions of 81 parents interviewed in four cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Sudbury) in 8 groups. The Charter defines which parents (" eligible parents ") have the right to have their children attend the minority official language school-not all eligible parents exercise this right. A percentage of eligible parents choose to send their children to English schools (including immersion).2 The study explores the reasons why eligible parents choose a school system over another. The study identified the following key factors:
Table 20.1 Motivations for School Choices by Parents
PERCEPTIONS OF THE FRENCH
COMMUNITY
Parents choosing the
English System
Parents choosing the
French System
- No real local
French-speaking community.
- Some perceive those who
identify with the French-speaking community as
tending to be fanatics who reject the English
language.
- Describe a lively and
dynamic French-speaking community which encouraged
them to transmit their language and culture.
- School is the linchpin of
the community - it is thanks to the school that
members of the community are able to come
together.
- Even parents strongly
committed to the local French-speaking community
expressed profound helplessness in dealing with the
anglicization of their children and in conveying
the value of the French language and
culture.
PERCEPTIONS OF THE FRENCH
SCHOOL
- Not familiar with French
schools (to the point of questioning their
existence).
- Made much of the distance
from their home to the French school.
- Meet Department of
Education standards and offer instruction of equal
value.
- Smaller schools
mean :
offer fewer
extra-curricular activities. - French schools are
overcrowded and farther away.
- Influx of students for whom
French is not the language spoken at home. Some
very critical of this growth - requires scarce
francization resources.
- Schools are increasingly
mixed linguistically - slow down learning as
teachers must devote time to basic linguistic
instruction.
- Catholic schools are viewed
by some as a barrier to access to the French
schools; greater rigour/discipline.
- Sports, extracurricular
activities and technical programs more
limited.
- Reject idea that French
schools would isolate children.
Table 20.2 Motivations for School Choices by Parents
IDENTITY AND VALUES
Parents choosing the
English System
Parents choosing the
French System
- Tend to identify themselves
as Canadians or French Canadians.
- Tend to be uncomfortable
with the concept of values common to
Francophones.
- Identifying with the
majority way of doing things was not seen as an
important factor.
- Varied identity
profile : Albertan, Quebecer, Acadian, Brayon,
Franco-Canadian, Franco-Ontarian and French
Canadian.
- For many, the
French-speaking component was more important than
the territorial component.
- Unanimous in seeing the
French school as a way of consolidating values
common to Francophones.
- None accepted the idea that
it is important to imitate the majority's ways of
doing things, except that it is necessary to know
their language.
ENGLISH AND MOBILITY
- English is essential to
success in the workplace and bilingualism merely
useful.
- French schools teach French
to the detriment of English, while the immersion
offers a more appropriate balance.
- English schools facilitate
mobility, but this was not a factor since few
expected to move in the short term.
- Not just English that is
essential to success, but bilingualism. French
schools better at teaching both languages.
- Some critical of immersion
programs.
- English is essential to
mobility, but bilingualism is a better
guarantee.
OTHER FACTORS
- French is more difficult to
learn than English.
- Some had children who were
unable to learn French or to cope with two
languages.
- Difficulty of French was a
justification for choosing the French shcool, since
English " is not learned, it is picked
up ".
- In Sudbury, the
Collège Boréal is important in
convincing children to remain in the French
secondary system.
Overall, the quality of instruction did not stand out as a factor influencing their choice. Psychological factors do not seem to be pre-eminent and political factors were of little importance. The concept of prestige associated with a language (English) was foreign to most. Where the number and percentage of Francophones meant that a genuinely Francophone social environment exists, the choice was between the French school and immersion classes-and not between the English and French system. The study noted that a number of parents who send their children to French schools would have serious reservations if increased access to the French school resulted in attracting children who do not have a command of French when they arrive at the school (Tables 20.1 and 20.2 contain more detailed findings from this study).
2. The 1996 Census shows that of the 230,470 children with minority language education rights outside Quebec, 81,560 come from families where both parents are Francophone, and the remainder from families where only one parent is Francophone. In 1998-99, 155,873 children where enrolled in French first-language schools.
![]() ![]() ![]()
![]() Table of Contents 2000 © The Department of Canadian Heritage - Le ministère du Patrimoine canadien |