Want students fluent in French? Get them to debate the ethics of zoos
Anglophone schools increasing conversational element of classes to improve French skills
At times, the students in Nicolas LeBlanc's class stumble through phrases or must search for the right words, but they are motivated to get their opinions out — in French.
In a debate over the ethics of zoos, the viewpoints in the high school course are beginning to contrast.
LeBlanc, a French immersion teacher, scans the class list on his clipboard to make sure each student actively participates.
"Often I do what we call penses, parles, partages," he said. "Which is when they start by just thinking what they want to say, they do it in a small group, and then we do a larger group."
The class at J.M.A. Armstrong High School in Salisbury, N.B., about 30 kilometres west of Moncton, is part of a pilot project to improve French-second language learning.
The initiative is one of 13 new programs at anglophone schools and early-learning centres across New Brunswick. It's part of a push by the province to improve conversational proficiency after concerns over the success of graduates of immersion and intensive French programs.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy has raised concerns about "unacceptable" poor achievement rates among French immersion students.
Less than half of New Brunswick high school graduates are able to speak French at a conversational level, according to the province.
For those enrolled in French immersion programs, most students graduate below the target of advanced level.
Rethinking immersion
The sign on the floor to Hannah Davidson's classroom reminds students at the doorway that it's time to switch to French.
After teaching immersion for more than two decades, she said the recent shift to focus on conversation is noticeable — and likely should have happened earlier. Students are speaking more in their second language and need fewer reminders.
"The number one thing they can do in order to improve their French is to speak it. And it's something that immersion teachers have always struggled with sometimes," Davidson said.
The initiative in Salisbury is called Culture By/Par Conversation and is backed by provincial funding. That support has allowed for a dedicated resource teacher, guest speakers, and field trips to connect with francophones outside the school.
Each school with a pilot project is also using an online platform to track student progress throughout their course of the program. At J.M.A. Armstrong, that means recording videos of a student speaking to see how their conversation skills are improving.
The school has grouped all of its immersion classes together in the same part of the building to create a "French zone."
Chloe Colpitts, a Grade 12 immersion student, said her aspiration to pursue a bilingual career as a lawyer has compelled her to take full advantage of the program. Unlike most of her peers, her mother is francophone, giving her extra exposure and practice.
"I speak a lot more French when I'm not in school, because a lot of students — they try to avoid it. Because a lot of students were forced into it, their parents forced them into the program," she said.
Nick Landry, a Grade 10 student, is also motivated by his Acadian roots to learn more French. His father and extended family occasionally speak French at home.
"I can't speak fluent French," he said. "But I could definitely go up to someone if I went somewhere like Quebec and have a fairly structured conversation."
Limited language exposure
Tammy Constantine, the principal at Armstrong High and Salisbury Middle School, only speaks English. But she put her two children through French immersion and said she sees the value in it.
"Because we're a bilingual province, we think it's important that all of our students have an opportunity to increase their French speaking and oral proficiency," she said.
Constantine said the performance of students at their oral exam at the end of Grade 12 varies year to year. Sometimes they hit the target, while in other years many students fall short.
School staff have brainstormed to find new and creative ways to improve exposure to French and increase the number of minutes students spend speaking and listening. Those ideas include offering language training to unilingual parents and school staff.
Lyne Allain, a French immersion math and science teacher, said immersion has evolved in her more than a decade of teaching.
"When I first started teaching, I was hired because I spoke French, and in the past couple of years we've had training in both teaching French immersion and teaching in the content area," she said.
Some students from Salisbury have found success through the immersion model, pursuing bilingual careers and even pursuing post-secondary education in French at the University of Moncton.
"I think students who do some French outside of what they're getting in school are definitely more successful," Allain said. "What we are able to do in school has gotten better with the amount of minutes that have gone up."
Only 10 per cent of of the 1,624 students who entered early immersion in 2005 achieved advanced proficiency by the end of Grade 12 in 2017.
However, three quarters of those students left French immersion before graduating. Out of those who stuck with it until graduation, 40 per cent had reached the advanced level or higher.
Once students reach high school, fewer classes are offered in French. Some take a single course in a semester and have limited opportunities to practice outside in the overwhelmingly anglophone community.
Colpitts, who is preparing for her proficiency exam this spring, said that's the one thing she'd change: offer more minutes of instruction in her second language.
"If you take it seriously enough, there's enough practice you can easily go out of high school and get a good job based on your French diploma," she said.
"A dream of mine has always been to be bilingual."
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