second language learning – Educational Sociolinguistics

MI2: Learning French in Quebec in 6 months – where does the policy highway lead?

Sam Lyn

In my previous blog entry, I offered some details about the process of enrolment into Quebec’s government-sponsored francisation programs. In this sequel entry, I’ll talk a bit more about the actual study process and the types of “opportunities” that open up for the majority of immigrants who enrol into these programs in terms of their career choices. I shall keep the location of my phenomenological study anonymous in order to maintain the privacy of the people and organizations involved (a recommendation for unspecific autoethnographies, cf. Ellis et al. 2011). The school I attended would be referred to as Centre X.

Centre X

Centre X is a MIFI partner school within a 20 min. commute from where I live. The classes start at 8:15 and last until 12:45, the lunch break. Part-time students finish their day at that time. Full-timers like me continue after lunch for two more hours 13:25-15:30.

My first observation was that there are many more students in lower levels than there are at the upper levels. The school has 8 levels, but most students are allocated to Level 1, 2, and 3. After Level 3 there are smaller and smaller classes. One of the teachers intimated the reason for such a disparity saying that most students find work after several months of study and therefore they quit. I took this idea seriously and did some research. The billboards around the school are filled with job offers from factories, cafes, and similar forms of manual labor-intensive types of work. To be honest, even with 900$ a month for taking full-time courses you are way below the poverty line if this is your only income. Full-time courses are intensive and tiring. Five hours of deliberate practice a day seems to be the psychological upper limit for an individual in any domain of study (Ericsson et al. 1993). Not surprisingly, I often find myself falling asleep in the later periods. But to return to the main point, after the full day at school I barely have any energy to conduct my daily chores, even an idea of a part-time job seems much less plausible. Therefore, most people quit after several months of schooling – not because they feel competent enough about their French, but because 3-4 months of learning the language is enough for the types of jobs that are readily available for people with that level of French – the types found on the school’s billboards. I even think that this supports the inequality and the status quo in Quebec vis-à-vis its immigrants. The province needs new people. Its population is growing old. Especially, there is a need for people who would do the types of jobs young Quebecois do not want for themselves: factory work, garbage collecting, cleaning and maintenance jobs. Some government job programs even partner up with the language schools to offer the students a chance to continue francisation up to level 5 (the level required by Immigration Quebec for permanent residence eligibility) in addition to a professional training program. The one that was advertised the most recently in my class was a program for elderly home maintenance staff. This way the government keeps people employed while bringing their language to a minimum needed for day-to-day communication (Level 5).

In terms of the program itself, all the four basic language skills are taught at all the levels: reading, writing, speaking and listening. S and L are mostly emphasized at Levels 1-4, while Level 5 has all four skills in equal proportion. From Level 6 on, more and more emphasis is put on reading and writing, but as I mentioned above, very few people continue at the higher levels. To be fair, the school billboards also have information on CEGEP programs, but those are virtually inaccessible for students below Levels 7 and 8 (up to 2 years of full-time study). The classes are taught using the traditional methods of grammar drilling and vocabulary memorization accompanied by more communicative-oriented practice sessions in the afternoons.

As I have already mentioned, however, it is both mentally as well as physically difficult to keep one’s concentration for such long hours of often monotonous study.

In light of the above observations, it becomes clear what kind of an effect Bill 96 implementation would have on new immigrants: 3-4 months of French studies at best followed by an array of blue-collar job openings Quebecois themselves do not want to do, is what the province currently has to offer to its newcomers. This is the “best” scenario an immigrant without the knowledge of French would “hope” for under the newest language policy.

For more voices from Montreal about Bill 96, check the following video:

References

Allen, D. (2006). Who’s in and who’s out? Language and the integration of new immigrant youth in Quebec. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10(2-3), 251–263.
https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/425548504

Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1). http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101108

Ericsson, K, Krampe, R. & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, pp393-394.

Marchand, L. (2022, May 21). What’s in Quebec’s new law to protect the French Language. CBC
News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bill-96-explained-1.6460764

The use of the L1 in the ESL classroom

Marina Koutsis

Before I started teaching I often wondered about the benefits of using the L1 in an L2 classroom. As a speaker of 5 languages, I was curious about how language learning could be made easier by doing so. I was eager to try this in my classes, but I remained aware that maintaining a balance between L1-use and practising the target language is necessary, otherwise there can be no progress. When I studied Italian at McGill, the professor would often use French and Spanish to explain Italian grammar and concepts that were similar across these languages. This idea fits with plurilingualism, a theory which promotes comparison between languages as well as the use of and the sharing of culture in foreign language courses.

When I started teaching, I applied the same methods where students were encouraged to use the target language without being forbidden from using the L1. However, my perspective was questioned when I taught a 6-week ESL course to immigrant students. Though they were all beginners, some were stronger than others as they already had a knowledge of English. As I was a fervent believer of plurilingualism, I made it clear from the start that any language was welcomed in this class and that I was looking forward to learning more about my students’ cultures. The majority of the class consisted of South American students who would mainly interact in Spanish with each other. It was a good tactic at first as the weaker students could ask the stronger students for assistance in their Spanish L1. Just as the International Teacher Training Organization suggests in an ESL classroom, one should “use English when possible and L1 when necessary” (https://www.tefl-online.com/tefl-jobs/online-tefl-articles/l1-in-the-classroom/). As stated in the article, finding the right balance is essential, and one must resist the temptation of translating rather than learning the language.

However, it wasn’t long before I noticed how heavily some students relied on their L1 and how little they practised during class discussions. In group activities, certain students would only speak Spanish whilst filling in their activity sheets. Though they had the right answer on paper, they would have trouble reading out what they had written, and their pronunciation barely improved. At the end of the course, students had to pass both an oral and a written exam. Speaking is one of the hardest parts of learning a language, as there is much more quick thinking involved as opposed to reading or writing. The students that had relied too much on their L1 did well on the written test, but for the oral exam, I noticed how little their speaking skills had improved since the first day of class.

This experience did not waver my opinion on the benefits of plurilingualism and will not make me forbid L1s in the future. It will, however, make me more mindful of the implications and perhaps even share this story with my future students to remind them of the importance of practising their target language orally.

Has anyone experienced this when teaching a second language? What were your solutions?

International Teacher Training Organization. (n.d.). Using L1 in the TEFL classroom. ITTO. https://www.tefl-online.com/tefl-jobs/online-tefl-articles/l1-in-the-classroom/

When I want to be polite/ impolite…

Mengting Hu

I am Chinese, and I speak English quite fluently as a second language. I have been studying and working in English-speaking environments for several years. However, after all those experiences, when I want to be polite, or sometimes, to be impolite, it is still relatively difficult! Anglophone friends sometimes tell me I am not polite when I think I am very polite. Occasionally, I get disappointed in myself for being too polite when I should not.

“You cannot teach me English because you are Asian!”

By Xiaoke Sun

Hey, everyone!

This post is a real story happened lately about myself being Asian and becoming an English teacher in Montreal Chinese heritage school. It happens to correspond with the topic of ethnicity and language learning that we have talked previously. I would like to share the story, and you are more than welcomed to help me to figure out my current puzzle.

For quite a long time, I have questioned what is the fundamental criteria to be an English teacher. There is no doubt that having an advanced language proficiency is necessary. Besides, English pronunciation, as mentioned by Yerim in the previous post, is also commonly judged by people as it demonstrates one’s capacity to express themselves and to be understood. Despite of other factors, such as the ability of curriculum design, assessment, and so on, can it be concluded that one’s ability to exercise a language equals to one’s qualification for being an English teacher? If not, what other factors could influence the way of learning and teaching?

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What do you see in “Snow Black”?

Cocoa Puffs

As I was reading the two articles concerning the notion of race, I related the articles with my English learning experience. Now I would like to share with you the issue and images of race I identified in Disney films, and how those images shaped my view on race.

I grew up learning English with a variety of Disney films. I fell in love with the films since the images were well portrayed. Because of that, I learned English in a fun way. As I was learning English, I wish that I would be as charming as those beautiful princesses. The beautiful princesses, namely Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, all fall into the same category: They are all white, with big eyes, tall nose and (most of them), with blond hair (Snow White has black hair).

Continue reading “What do you see in “Snow Black”?”