What is your stance? Or what are your thoughts and reflections about French Immersion education within the context of multicultural education in minority settings?What are the similarities and differences between ESL, FSL, and other bilingual education programs in Canada (i.e. German, Mandarin, Spanish, Hebrew or Arabic bilingual or immersion) in Canada? How might some of the theories and approaches we have discussed in class so far (i.e. plurilingualism, translanguaging, sociocultural theory, identity, language socialization) be understood differently depending on the type of program a student might be enrolled in?100 words- a reply to my classmate discussion;This article engrossed me as I’ve witnessed many problems with our French programs. My elementary school didn’t offer French Immersion and other elementary schools only offered it after grade 3. I also witnessed the need for more French teachers in high school. My high school was predominantly English, so more students were enrolled in French Core than French Immersion. However, the French Core program needed more teachers and available classes to satisfy the student body. As a result, I dropped out of French after grade 9. Reading this article, I was pleased to learn that enrollment has dramatically improved. Even though I was never in French Immersion, students should have the opportunity to take it as early as possible and remain enrolled in it until graduation. Schools should also offer a broader range of classes in French in math, science, history, etc. (my high school did not offer this). A significant problem I had growing up was a lack of motivation. If schools provided more opportunities for French learning, students would be more likely to enroll and stay enrolled in their French classes. Moreover, our class has been discussing Canada’s quickly growing diversity. We’ve also been discussing the importance of identity in the classroom. What I found the most intriguing about this article was its final point: schools should prioritize other languages besides French. Identity is essential in language learning, and language is a core part of a person. Valuing only French and English could hinder that identity. Thus, we should embrace our diverse culture to establish belonging and increase student engagement. Based on this article, students tend to enroll most in the language classes society considers most ‘valuable,’ like French in Canada. However, as people with different languages immigrate and enrich our communities, a need to value other languages grows. Every student and language has something to offer, not only in the classroom but in future careers, as students with a wide range of languages also have a wide range of knowledge. There was an increased interest in most of the Bilingual programs, but if we created more opportunities for language learning, there would be more interest, motivation, and enrollment. By incorporating a variety of language classes into our schools, theories like identity and language socialization would be accentuated and, thus, understood and appreciated more. Ostensibly, these theories arise the most in popular programs, like ESL and FSL, garnering interest from various people with differing backgrounds. However, if we promoted other Bilingual programs more, these ideas might appear more vividly as contrasting backgrounds interact.
