[oread]

French-immersion students outperform non-immersion students: StatsCan


Canadian Press


Monday, March 22, 2004
OTTAWA -- Students in French-immersion programs generally had higher literacy skills than those in non-immersion programs in the year 2000, two studies have found.

In a study that looked at reading skills of 15-year-olds in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, only in Manitoba were results for immersion and non-immersion students the same, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

"While students in French-immersion programs were more likely to come from better socio-economic backgrounds in terms of parents' occupations and education levels, these differences in family background alone do not explain the difference in reading performance," the agency said.

"On average, students in French minority-language school systems performed at lower levels in reading than their counterparts in English school systems."

Mary Allen, author of the report, said in an interview that the studies looked at "reading skills as opposed to language skills," or in other words they measured literacy.

One study shows "that the average reading performance for students in French school systems in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba was significantly lower than students in English-language school systems in those provinces. In Quebec, there was little difference in the results for French and English school systems."

In each province, different factors distinguished students in French and English schools, including adequacy of school resources, language spoken at home, socio-economic background of students, and the nature and availability of jobs in the community.

However, when gender, socio-economic background and parents' education were taken into account, French-immersion students still outperformed their counterparts in non-immersion programs.

The studies also found that:

-In French school systems in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Manitoba, about 60 per cent of students did not speak French most often at home.

-In New Brunswick and Quebec, students in English schools were socio-economically better off than students in French schools. However, students in French schools in Manitoba came from families with significantly higher socio-economic status than the students in English schools.

-In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, students in English schools tended to be in communities where the socio-economic conditions were generally more favourable. In Ontario and Manitoba, there were fewer differences at the community level.

-With the exception of Manitoba, students were more likely to be hindered by inadequate instructional resources.

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawac...e-edd5c50d6475

[有去无回]

[yidie]

My son is four and he is going to start in Early French Immersion SK (senior kindergarten) since this September. He now speaks English at school (JK) and most often Chinese at home. According to his teacher, he is a very vocalized kid. So we decided to put him in this program to see how it goes.

其实我们只想让他在一个more challenging的环境中试一下，况且能够比较轻松的掌握第二门外语同时提高学习能力对一生都应该是有益的。担心还是有的。不知道对母语不是英语的小朋友来说，英语能力最终会不会受到影响。不知这里有没有朋友有类似的经历或经验。

[有去无回]

Melody家的MM好像有类似的经历，问问她吧。

[longer]

小孩子对语言有较快的学习与适应力，尤其是女孩子，我认识好几位小孩对语言的学习力很强，这代表是普遍的现象。
举例来说，一位年龄五岁的小女孩，在加拿大出生，父亲是日本人，母亲是华侨，她的英法语当然没有问题，跟同年龄一样的水平，但他对日文的听说读也很好，在家和母亲说客家话，和母亲朋友说广东话，现在上中文学校的听说读写也和同年龄层小孩一样水准。
或许小孩学语言还是有困难的地方，但只要给他那种环境，一般小孩的适应及学习力可能超乎大人想象。

[oread]

语言是会互相促进的。不存在影响的问题，尤其是对孩子而言。

[oread]

Would you stop your kids from playing hockey even if you can't skate?

[oread]

The fact of matter is: kids learn on their own, and if they struggled to resolve a problem, even better, they learned a method rather than just a solution. And the school would offer all the services needed to prepare your kids succeeding in the real world.

[yidie]

thanks JJ for your comments. they are encouraging. it worths trying.

[oread]

Glad I could help.

Many Europeans learn as many as 5 or 6 different languages in their life time, why should we even be concerned with learning one extra language? Besides where else would you be offered such opportunity to learn French in North America? If circumstances permit, I think it's a no-brainer.