Early immersion helps literacy: experts
Language experts at the University of New Brunswick are wading into a controversy over French immersion in Moncton by asserting that decades of research shows early immersion helps kids become bilingual and improves their ability to communicate in English.
Moncton prides itself on being Canada's only officially bilingual city, which is one of the reasons a dispute over French immersion has caused an uproar.
From Jan. 15, 2003 'French group questions delayed immersion'
From Jan. 14, 2003 'Parents confused by immersion plan'
The local English school district is considering cancelling all immersion programs in early grades, and sent a survey to parents asking for their support.
But many parents think their kids will need to be bilingual to have better career opportunities down the road and worry they aren't getting enough information from the council to make a reasonable decision.
Some members of the District Education Council are worried early immersion interferes with the development of English literacy skills.
Presently, children can enter French immersion in Grade 1 and Grade 6. Council members say Grade 4 would be a better option, so children can have a good grounding in English before learning in another language.
They say French immersion students perform poorly on reading and writing standardized tests in English.
But UNB education professor Sally Rehorick says decades of research shows the opposite.
"To say that French immersion is going to negatively affect English language literacy is absolutley wrong."
Joseph Dicks teaches second language education at UNB, and says the school district may be responding to fears from some parents that the immersion program has created a two-tiered education system one for high-achieving French language students and one for the rest.
But he says that inequity won't be solved by delaying French immersion the program should be expanded to accept more students instead.
"This is an option for everybody if they want it. And we need to put the resources there to support it," he says.
The district is expected to announce the results of its parent survey in the next couple of days.
New Brunswick Department of Education information about French immersion
Canadian Parents for French frequently asked questions about French immersion