The Immersion Centre and the Dual-Track School: A Study of the Relationship between School Environment and Achievement in a French Immersion Program

Abstract

Now that the early French-immersion program is a well-established educational alternative for English-speaking students in the Carleton Board of Education in Ontario, it has become important to examine factors which may influence the achievement of immersion students. In this study two different school settings for the program are compared: immersion centres housing only the immersion program, and dual-track schools in which both the immersion and regular English programs operate. Earlier program evaluation results had led to the hypothesis that the immersion centre environment might be more conducive to achievement in a French immersion program than the dual-track school environment. A battery of achievement tests of French, English, and other subjects was administered to classes of Grade 5 students in both school settings, and questionnaires were developed to gather relevant information from students, teachers, and principals. The test results indicate superior achievement on the part of immersion centre students in several aspects of French and English skills. The questionnaire data provide information on the possible reasons for these differences. The overall implication of the study for planning immersion programs is to provide a school environment which encourages the maximum use of French.