Life After French Immersion: Grade 12 Students’ Perceptions of Continuing to Use French After Graduation
Date
2013-09-25
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Abstract
Many French Immersion (FI) graduates risk losing their French after high school, as many do not find local places where they can use it. Their disengagement with the French language in the years after graduation can be for various reasons. They often lack confidence in their ability to speak French and can be unaware of how the French that they acquired and used during the program can be deemed inadequate. The very nature of the FI context can be reason that these students acquire what can be viewed as a different variety of French. Discourses within FI can suggest that students do not consider themselves fully bilingual. Research has shown that full bilingualism is a rarity. Francophones in Canada are reluctant to accept Anglophones as legitimate speakers of French for a variety of reasons. Many FI graduates may struggle to use their French in the real world. This study aimed to understand Grade 12 FI student perceptions of continuing to use French after graduation. Results suggest that FI students have limited experience using their French outside of school. This creates a situation where they have little engagement with local Francophone populations. Most students lack confidence in using their French with Francophones. Encouraging FI students to gain experience speaking with Francophones outside of school before they graduate may increase the likelihood they will continue using their French after graduation.
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Bilingual and Multicultural, Language and Literature, Linguistics
Citation
Schafer, P. (2013). Life After French Immersion: Grade 12 Students’ Perceptions of Continuing to Use French After Graduation (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26756