Roy, SylvieGuida, Rochelle2020-07-092020-07-092020-07-03Guida, R. (2020). Investigating the Ontario FSL High School Curriculum: An Exploratory Case Study of Non-Native French-Speaking Teachers’ Cultural Practices (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112265Following a qualitative social constructivist research paradigm, this exploratory case examined how Ontario non-native French-speaking teachers approached French cultures with beginner level French as a second language (FSL) students of the high school Grade 9 Core French (CF) program. Ontario FSL educators often teach CF and students typically pursue CF in lieu of other FSL programs (Canadian Parents for French, 2017; Masson, 2018). Grade 9 is the final FSL course required for high school graduation (Masson, 2018; OME, 2014). CF students lack confidence speaking and interacting in French (Rehner, 2014) despite many years of language exposure (Masson, 2018) and often abandon FSL studies after Grade 9 (LANG, 2014). This inquiry investigated the cultural practices of ten Ontario CF Grade 9 non-native French-speaking educators from autumn 2018 to January 2019. The teachers participated in an online questionnaire, two semi-structured interviews, an online focus group, and shared cultural resources. Based on a theoretical framework that I developed, thematic analysis revealed that the teachers who recently travelled to French-speaking communities, and who maintained their French linguistic and cultural proficiencies, reflected more of the social constructivist orientation to pedagogy (Cummins, 2001, 2009; Cummins et al., 2007). Participants also modelled some elements of the neurolinguistic approach (Netten & Germain, 2012) to help students retain and reuse cultural content with growing confidence in oral communication. The teachers introduced French cultures using cuisine, music, travel, and ICT resources through CEFR-inspired practices (Council of Europe, 2001) in day-to-day practices. The participants were ambitious cultural learners and pedagogues, which supported the positive characteristics of Ontario non-native French-speaking teachers. Participants also experienced various challenges, such as ICT access issues, lack of teacher-training, and lack of student interaction with native French speakers. Therefore, the findings raised important funding and teacher-training considerations for cultural learning and interaction in Grade 9 CF.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.French as a second languageCore Frenchnon-native teacher-speakerculturepluricultureteacher changeEducation--Bilingual and MulticulturalEducation--Curriculum and InstructionEducation--Language and LiteratureEducation--SecondaryEducation--Teacher Trainingdoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/37987