Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1984-02-29, Page 3nEw RA MOM)" FORTIARY20,. PAC.43 ex a That the propsect of implementing a its beneits the 1vote wps a ice. ous•" - French immersionin programHuron Th �n ench Annaersis o ,.,. progr will County has become a much talked about -• tially be. offered in four,elementary issue Ls an understatement. SC fool : .I nbtoncounty but tbat41,90014 Subsequent to a meeting of the Committee on registration, which ends Ap t Opportunities, in which the questionarises fon ,Leai'(�g OPP ►�� is a major � � e lcornunittee outlined the program and its when interest in the program sparks a intention to pursue its implementation, Parents of school age and pre-school children have had to consider a rather within its extra fending of $210 per child in delicate issue. addition to the per pupil education grant. Do, they want their children to be taught in That additional grant . is based on a French exclusively for three years? Do they formula that would result in a grant of $170 want their children to be bilingual? What for each Huron County student enrolled in a are the costs involved for textbooks and will French Immersion program. It will be a it mean the loss of some teaching jobs? Will tough grind, Allen admits, adding that the education costs rise significantly and will it benefits will outweight the negative aspects. be accessible to all children? "It will be tough for 10 years and we have The issue raises a lot of pertinent found that it will cost about eight per cent questions, apprehensions and, in some will be teaching," achi he elsewhereaid. a pras ogram fears. Parents are asking if bilingualism bears allows.- The only way•teaching jobs_cauldbe any -direct benefits for ...ch+ldren..nf.Huron _. remomed is. .if.the PFogratA,was demanded County: -There _are_pros and cons to every throughout the county.". issue but certain facts remaih.it is a ufliqu a Comprom'ise ayW--be--one---the key---- educational opportunity; children can easily ingredients to the success of the program absorb more than one language at an early and Lambton has injected a measure of age; the costs are not necessarily compromise into its approach. prohibitive in urban areas and parents have "The $210 grant for each child is not the option of choosing the program they enough to cover busing," he said. "Some desire for their children.boards do it but it costs $15,000 for a bus. We By his own admission; the— tainbton_. encourage people to -set up car pools and County Board of Education was historically take turns driving the kids. Parents don't anti -French when the matter of French mind driving a distance for the opportunity. Immersion was raised there director of "I think that one of the most important education Allen Wells said. things we'll ever do in education is to ''A trustee raised the matter last May and produce a bilingual generation." we formed a committee to study the Another component of initial costs is the matter," he said. "Our board has been anti- .use of a survey to guage public attitude and French but after they saw the program and perceptions. Educations claim it is a vital demand, Allen claims costs could lodeed be prohibitive but Lambton will try to live These students are reading books printed in English, but how many next year's students will be doing the same? Supporters of the French immersion program feel it is a unique opportunity for children. (photo by Anne Narejko) tool in establishing public awareness about the program while providing feedback. The Lambton survey indicated most people -66 per cent- were in favor of implementing the program. While every parent will recognize and isolate different positive and negative aspects of the French Immersion program, Allen said it has major selling points; (1) ' French has to be taught anyway and the program is the most effective way to teach it; (2) it is the cheapest way to teach it and (3) research indicates it is the best way for children to learn other subjects. •learningZt for children ars ion o ortunIm�.� French immersion education is a new' themselves in French. performance of early partial immersion unique learning opportunity. concept for Huron County, .but immersion One of the major conerns expressed by students resembled that of Grade 7 early Parents who support the program believe programs were first introduced in Canada inin bilingual education and feel that this type parents and educators about immersion total immersion students on French tests 1965.. . programs was that, because subjects like ,given in common. of program helps to make children better In the past two decades, school boards mathematics and science would be taught in In later school years, the amount Of tine aware of other cultures, thus broadening have seen a dramatic increase , in. the French, students would not learn as much as spent in each language varies with different - their education. enrolment of those classes. Total enrolment if they were taught in their first language, school systems. Researchers report, "They (immersion of .children in immersion programs across English. The - Ontario Ministry of Education students) feel themselves to be English - Canada has almost doubled in the last five Researchers, commissioned by the recognizes the need for boards to }provide Canadians, but tend to develop less rigid years, from 37,881 students in 237 schools in ministry of education, reported, "Although adequate follow-up programs. beyond Grade stereotypes than their English -educated 1977-78 to 68,325 students in ,428 schools in parents wanted their children to learn 8 so that French immersion students can counterparts. Immersion students favor 1982-83... French, they did not want this to happen at maintain and increase their proficiency m increased contact with Francophones, a French immersion support is steadily the . expense of their academic French. The ministry recommends that step which is likely to prove beneficial not increasing and in Huron County, the board achievement." boards offer these- Students the subject bonly for developing more positive attitudes,f but also for enhancing French language of education . will study the possible im- • Parents were concerned that students French plus at least three other subjects ekills." plementation of the program. wouldn't learn as 'much -as their English- taught in French in each year of high school. What is immersion? educated peers and having acquired the The ministry will also give a special grant to Supporters say that immersion is the most knowledge through French, they wouldn't boards initiating these souses. -•-----•effective--•€analhod—known—for teaching __.be-a,hie to.-tcansf e.L tfiat knowledge for use in • .Fifty-one Ontario school boards now offer second language. The aim of early im- English contexts.. French. imanecs i pec r riTS: -This--" mersion is functional bilingualism. The report noted, "Thus it was not enough Graduates are able to communicate com- to test the immersion students' achievement fortably in the second language. Meanwhile in, for example, mathematics and science their English skills will be excellent.. ' by using tests written in the language of French irnmerate begins in kin- instruction (French). Rather,•1the,<testsof dergarten. French is the medium of 'in- subject achievement were usually given in struction and the teacheraddresses the. English, even though the language 6f in- class only in French, although the children may continue to use English especially among themselves. . . By the end of the year, children are able to recognize a large vocabulary and are at- tempting to use single words and a few short sentences. They are able to follow the during the first year that the subject is in- location does not appear to confer any ad - teacher's instructions and to understand troduced. By the end of the elementary vantage is that for the most part children in simple' stories. grades; immersion students perform better immersion programs use little or no French In Grade 1 all instruction, including than children in the regular program on outside of school....however studies have reading, writing and arithmetic, is- given in several aspects. of measured English skills. shown that although children in immersion French. Immersion students study basically By Grade 6, total immersion students near programs tend not to actively seek out the same curriculum content as their peers native proficiency in listening and reading opportunities to use French outside of in the regular English program. Curriculum comprehension.•school, they feel relatively comfortable in must follow the guidelines of the provincial Researchers found that early partial situtations where they are required to use ministry of education. immersion produces less dramatic results French. Speaking skills receive greater emphasis in French. By Grade 8, however, based on Why immersion • and the .children get better at expressing limited data from an Eli?in County class, the Immersion education is viewed as an represents about 40 per cent of the boards. Across .Canada. Bilingual programs are in operation in most major Canadian cities. Mosta use cFrenchtnand:'.English ' but 7lit .. Edmonton, :Ukranian',, German, Hebrew and creb programs are offered. struction for that subject was French.", James Cummins, from the Ofltario Beginning in Grade 3, one period each day Institute for Studies in Education, reported is devoted to English language arts. that immersion programs can be highly Although there are certain lags in English , successful anywhere in Canada, not only in language arts for the first years of the bilingual areas. program, these are almost all made up He noted, , "The reason why bilingual Looking Por A New Spring Style Come to Julia's Nair Design 82 Richmond St. South, Hensall Phone 262=2402 Perm Special $ 20.00 until end of March A free double protein pack included 17 er)o) DD EST. 1975 GOLDSMITH SILVERSMITH a JEWELLERY DESIGNER, REPAIRS ALSO ,CERAMICS, WEAVING, WOOD, ART, GLASS - CANADIAN AWARD WINNING DESIGNER 524©4509 ss W(ST ST., GODERICH, a�I1Te uronCo.ty se ools "And the tact that We optional is a big selling point," Alien added:' one additional. school has the program in place Grades 1 and 2, Apprp nately 30 children participated in the lead class, Graham, a consultant with the board, suggests the advantages of theprogram are obvious in Grey County. "The program • can't . be faulted educationally. Its a real phenomenon and it works," he said. "It is incredible to see children in Grade 2 babbling on in French. "The implementation problems detracted from the -success of the program initially and there was • some displacement of staff but now there's no doubt about the success of the program." Grey has established an extensive upgrading program and thereby, encouraged core French teachers to upgrade • their qualifications and take immersion jobs. It will not always worktlaat OW: 0.1.11 g is certain; the ,costs of French .. hou eraiai are not de .nithfe . and Allen commented that they could: even be infinite. But, at the same time, while educators bemoan any"dditlonal costs of the program, they enthusiastically laud the educational benefits of French Immersion, In Huron County's case, Allen said costs will have to be looked at carefully and the board and parents will have to carefully examine the ramifications of bilingualism for Huron. "My guess is that attrition would take place at a rate quick enough to replace those teachers with French Immersion teachers. Staff shouldn't feel threatened by the program," he said. "The cost of resource material might be a big question. All transportation may be provided by a board but it is not a right, it is a privilege. • "A pilot program would be easy to set up somewhere in the county but parents and and trustees have to carefully consider easily; • but -there.. -has some-s�access_W Graham.claims.... Fri the ramifications of iichi iatriuction in The additional.grants available hi"lp oi<fset Huron County."' ' - wane c®s s+Gr"tta am `sbiditiltt'.ai Ided--that_ The-admiaaistration las-preparecL _lir=ieL_ on the French Immersion program that will be presented at the board's March 5 meeting in Clinton. French Immersion programs exist because there is a recognized and demonstrated value in knowing a second language, Canada's second -official language. The time to teach that language is when the children are entering school. Boards have encountered problems in implementing French Immersion programs and those problems will likely persist, There are certain costs involved too. It would appear that decisions have to be made on several levels. The program has obvious advantages and provides school children with a un ique and exciting learning books and resource materials tend to be expensive for the program. Certainly if a community wishes to offer its children a bilingual education there will be problems to overcome. A study paper by the Canadian Education Association said that over half the board experienced problems and that some of the biggest challenges related to community reaction and perception of the program, program development, staffing, teacher opposition, transportation and location of initial programs. The study suggests that while there may be a willingness on the part of parents and the board to initiate a program, geography, population size of board social climate and finances pare major factors. Dorothy oPPortumtY• Wallace of the Huron County Board ofd Boards must decide .if the program, based Education said those very factors will have on geography, transportation, population, to be taken into consideration by the board. Finding qualified staff, she said, could also be a problem. - Immersion does tend to take pupils from already marginal student population at some schools and that could be a determinant Huron County Director of Education Bob Allen said. "It's hard to be definitive about costs of the program because they could vary but it is obviously easier to carry out immersion in a heavily populated area," he said. "The population at some of our schools is marginal now and withdrawal of some students would be a threat." • social climate and financing, is a viable one for their county. Parents must make that personal decision as well. The program is optional. Smile A woman was mailing the old family Bible to her brother in a distant city. The postal clerk examined the heavy package carefully and inquired if -it contained anything breakable. "Nothing but Hie Ten Commandments," was the quick reply. We are planning:IRS$O Micro Computer Seminars. in Exeter in the near future Subject: How can a Micro Computer help your business? Possible Topics of Interest: • Farm Acounting • Herd Management • Feed Management • Crop Management • Accounts Receivable • Accounts Payable • General Ledger • Payroll • Inventory Control • Word Proccessing For further information call Gary MacLean or Mary Thompson 235-0800 AIIHome Hardware rs Champs Runners -Up Finalisis C� WorkedNan! 11,1 Nadagool time. -- Then .rip You Jarmo the best in �custom Team Jackals and trophies from Maclean's 4 Going South? come in and see the lalesi in spring 84 fashions by *Adidas *Penmanns and 4.4id *Osaga AUTHORIZED RADIO SHACK SALES CENTRE MAIN CORNER CLINTON ' 4823030