Early French immersion programs, designed for students who don’t speak French as a first language, are offered in every province and territory in Canada, except Nunavut..
The starting point, anywhere from pre-kindergarten to Grade 2, may vary between regions. Programs highlight the importance of oral language development, particularly in the first few years.
I conducted a recent pan-Canadian study of French immersion kindergarten curricula for the Association canadienne des professionnels de l’immersion (the Canadian Association of Immersion Professionals). In the study, teachers identified vocabulary and oral language development as top learning priorities for their students.
Given this finding, it’s important for educators and families to understand what oral language development looks like in early French immersion, and how to effectively support this during students’ earliest years of French-language exposure.
Many kindergarten curricula (for example, Ontario, Québec as well as Newfoundland and Labrador) mandate a play-based approach to learning.
Particularly in these contexts, teachers should capitalize on opportunities for oral language development through play in French immersion instruction.
What does the curriculum say?
Early French immersion curricula across the country include sections related to oral language development. While French immersion teachers report focusing on vocabulary development in the early years, specific words are not typically listed as learning targets.
Instead, the focus is on skills or competencies related to oral language development. Because curricula mandate learning skills (rather than vocabulary), teachers have autonomy in determining the specific words that are targeted in their classroom.
As a result, they can identify and select the vocabulary to prioritize based on their students’ interests and their own learning goals for their class and class activities.
Learning new vocabulary in French immersion
Various strategies exist for supporting oral language development in the early years beyond a family’s home language. Research in the field highlights the importance of both explicit vocabulary instruction and naturally occurring opportunities for students to interact with one another to practise their newly acquired language.
While play-based learning is central to most early learning contexts, research has shown that if children do not have a basic French vocabulary, the opportunities to develop their oral French language skills through play may be lost.
Opportunities for targeted vocabulary instruction occur naturally throughout various parts of the school day. For example, many early childhood classrooms have a circle time routine, where there is a ritual involving repeated use of language such as days of the week, weather and counting activities.
Often, circle time is also used to introduce or reinforce targeted vocabulary related to a theme, which students can then practise on their own during other more independent activities.
Expanding opportunities to speak
Once vocabulary has been introduced through direct instruction, teachers can support and expand opportunities for practice by ensuring that materials available for play in the classroom reflect the targeted vocabulary.
For example, if the vocabulary is focused on the theme of light and shadows, materials available during play could include a shadow theatre (with flashlights and puppets), a light table, mirrors, items with different levels of transparency (such as wood, cellophane, wax paper, clear plastic, fabric), prisms, kaleidoscopes and so on.
After they learn the French words for these items, students could have the chance to practise them in a relaxed way while at play with their peers rather than front of the whole class.
In these moments, teachers use opportunities to scaffold or extend and bolster students’ learning by fostering language interaction. Students’ language begins to extend beyond one-word utterances to constructing full sentences. In this way, student confidence is supported as they play with the vocabulary in a low-stakes situation.
Complex themes with limited vocabulary?
The importance of identifying themes and related vocabulary that are meaningful and relevant to students cannot be underestimated. Concern has been raised that students in French immersion won’t be able to explore complex themes or delve as deeply into them as students learning in their first language.
However, research has shown that when the use of French vocabulary is experienced in an authentic situation, and in a context that reflects their interests, students are more capable of remembering and using the vocabulary correctly.
This finding supports the use of inquiry-based learning in French immersion — meaning that educators identify children’s interests and questions, and propose related themes and contexts to elaborate learning.
When students are genuinely interested in the themes being explored, they will be motivated to learn and use related vocabulary. Targeted vocabulary should be curated based on student interests. This means that in any given school or school board, classes may focus on different sets of vocabulary, through which they can develop the oral language competencies outlined in the curriculum.
Language-rich environments
Beyond students’ explicit learning and practice of new vocabulary, there are other opportunities for oral language development that educators and families could use.
Classrooms can be enhanced by providing a language-rich environment through décor and music, as well as through interactions between teachers. While students may not have the vocabulary to hold entire conversations in French, teachers can model this among themselves, allowing students to hear the French vocabulary they have learned in context.
Finally, children are often eager to speak about themselves, so engaging them in discussions about their own lives will give them a sense of ownership around the language and a motivation to use it to communicate their ideas and experiences.
Beyond the classroom, research has shown that the home literacy environment plays an important role on the development of children’s literacy skills, including vocabulary.
Even if parents don’t speak French, they can support their child’s French language development by showing enthusiasm for the French language, asking their child what they are learning in French and playing French songs and videos.
In addition, engaging in deep and meaningful conversations and reading aloud in their home language will also allow the child to develop skills in that language, which will transfer to their learning in French.
Comments are closed.