Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:53:05.392Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Consequences of transfer out of early French immersion programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Margaret Bruck*
Affiliation:
McGill-Montreal Children's Hospital Learning Centre
*
Margaret Bruck, McGill-Montreal Children's Hospital Learning Centre, 3640 rue de la Montagne, Montréal, Québec, CanadaH3G 2A8

Abstract

Former French immersion students who had transferred to an English program because of academic difficulty and poor adjustment were assessed after their first year of total English education. Their cognitive, academic, linguistic, and social psychological status was compared to that of children who had remained in the immersion program despite academic difficulty. Academically, both groups showed similar improvement. Behaviorally, the transfer children continued to be deviant and to show poor attitudes and motivations. After one year out of French immersion, the transfer children maintained previously acquired second language skills. The data suggest that the child's basic cognitive and affective characteristics rather than factors associated with language of education influence academic achievement as well as school- and language-related attitudes and motivations.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bruck, M.The suitability of early French immersion programs for the language disabled child. Canadian Journal of Education, 1978, 5172.Google Scholar
Bruck, M.Switching out of French immersion. Interchange, 1979, 9, 8694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruck, M.Consequences of switching children out of French immersion: A pilot study. Report submitted to the Quebec Ministry of Education, 1980.Google Scholar
Bruck, M.Language disabled children's performance in an additive bilingual education program. Applied Psycholinguistcs, 1982, 3, 4560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruck, M. Feasibility of an additive bilingual program for the language impaired child. In Lebrun, Y. & Paradis, M. (Eds.), Early bilingualism and child development. Amsterdam: Swets and Zeitlinger, 1984.Google Scholar
Bruck, M.Predictors of transfer out of early French immersion programs. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1985, 6, 3951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clement, R., Gardner, R. C., & Smythe, P. C.Inter-ethnic contact: Attitudinal consequences. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 1977, 9, 205–15.Google Scholar
Cohen, A., & Swain, M.Bilingual education: The immersion model in the North American context. TESOL Quarterly, 1976, 10, 4553.Google Scholar
Cummins, J.Should the child who is experiencing difficulties in early immersion be switched to the regular English program? A reinterpretation of Trites' data. The Canadian Modern Langnage Review. 1979a, 36, 139–43.Google Scholar
Cummins, J.Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. Review of Educational Research, 1979b, 49, 222–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desrochers, A., & Gardner, R. C.Cross cultural contact: Correlates and consequences. Research Bulletin No. 455, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, 1978.Google Scholar
Engle, P. The use of vernacular languages in education. Papers in Applied Linguislics, Bilingual Education Series #3. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics, 1975.Google Scholar
Gardner, R. C., & Smythe, P. C.Second language acquisition: A social psychological approach. Research Bulletin No. 332, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, 1975.Google Scholar
Genesee, F.The role of intelligence in second language learning. Language Learning, 1976, 26, 267–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genesee, F.Bilingual education of majority-language children: The immersion experiments in review. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1983, 4, 146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Genesee, F., & Hamayan, E.Individual differences in second language learning. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1980, 1, 95110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, R. D., & Freed, B. F.The loss of language skills. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1982.Google Scholar
Lambert, W. E. Culture and language as factors in learning and education. In Wolfgang, A. (Ed.), Education of immigrant students. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1975.Google Scholar
Trites, R. L., & Price, M. A.Learning disabilities found in association with French immersion programming. Toronto: Ministry of Education, 1976.Google Scholar
Trites, R. L., & Price, M. A.Learning disabilities found in association with French immersion programming: A cross validation study. Toronto: Ministry of Education, 1977.Google Scholar