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French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French. In most French immersion schools, children will learn to speak French and learn subjects such as history, geography and science in French.

Jurisdictions offering it

Canada

French Immersion is offered in most Anglophone public school districts. Most early French immersion students, starting in kindergarten or Grade 1, do all their work in French, except English language arts, which usually starts in between Grades 2 and 4. Late immersion generally begins in junior high (grade 6) or in late elementary school (grade 4), although these students are not usually in the same classes as early French Immersion students. Some schools do not offer French immersion until later grades. Extended French programs provide a variation on late immersion, where students take some courses in English and others in French. French immersion is also done in some private schools and preschools.

Several Canadian universities offer opportunities for students to continue to study subjects in either French or English, such as the Campus Saint-Jean at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, University of Ottawa, Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario and York University's Glendon College in Toronto. French Immersion schools in these cities tend to hire teachers trained at these institutions, due to the training having taken place in French.

Although the program earns support from most Canadians, largely because it promotes bilingualism. Others are concerned that Anglophone students in immersion programs will not learn to read and write well in English. However, statistics show that students in French immersion tend to outperform non-immersion students in reading, and that it doesn't have negative affects on the child's English language capabilities [1], although metaphorical understanding can prove difficult to them.

The program is available in all ten provinces, but its popularity differs by province and/or region. Currently, enrollment in French immersion is highest in the Maritimes and parts of Quebec and Ontario. Western Canada, which is predominantly Anglophone, is experiencing high population growth. This has resulted in increased enrollment in French Immersion programs, which can be attributed in part to the immigration of Francophones from Eastern Canada as well as other parts of the world, such as Haiti and Africa although some communities have a strong history of support for the program.

UK

Walker Road Primary School, Aberdeen, Scotland started an early partial immersion programme in 2000.¹ Also, Judgemeadow Community College, Evington, in Leicester, England, has been using a French Immersion course in one form group a year for the last four years. Pupils answer the register in French, and their French, IT and PHSE lessons are all in French.

Immersion teaching is now common in the UK from nursery (PK) to year 5 (ii year olds).

Australia

French immersion is also run in Australian schools such as Mansfield State High School; teaching mathematics, SOSE, science and French, entirely in French.

There is also a French immersion program running at Methodist Ladies' College and Benowa State High School teaching a variety of subjects over three years in French.

Telopea Park School in Canberra is a bilingual French-English school.

The program is also offered at The Glennie School in Toowoomba Queensland

USA

French immersion has been used since the 1980s only in South Louisiana, and in Edina and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Southern part of Louisiana has a strong French heritage extending back to colonial times. During the mid- to late twentieth century, however, the number of native French speakers in Louisiana plunged as the region became increasingly enveloped in mainstream American culture. As a result, French immersion was viewed by parents and educators as a way to save the French language in Louisiana. In 2006 the state boasted of more than twenty public schools with French immersion programs. As in Canada (which inspired Louisiana's program), students generally begin immersion in kindergarten or first grade. They receive instruction in French for sixty percent of the school day in subjects that may include math, science, and social studies.External link

French Immersion programs are also offered by the public schools in Milton, MA and Holliston, MA.

There is a French Immersion program at J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico County, Virginia.

See also

• Language immersion

References

External links

• Frequently asked questions about French immersion
• French Immersion statistics