Three Elementary School Alternatives for Learning through a Second Language

Abstract

IN 1965, A GROUP OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING PARents, educators, and researchers from a suburb of Montreal instituted a new approach to second language teaching in the public school system (Lambert & Tucker).' This approach, called immersion, entailed the use of the second language (French in this case) as the medium of regular curriculum instruction. The students, none of whom spoke French upon entry to school, received instruction in their core subjects (e.g., math, science) from teachers who were native French speakers. The rationale was that the second language would be acquired incidentally as part of the students' general cognitive, academic, and social development in school. In other words, the students would acquire the target language in order to get on with their education. This approach was consistent with theories of first language development which argue that children acquire their first language, without direct or systematic tuition, in the context of significant and meaningful communication with mature speakers of the language (Genesee: 11). The immersion approach differs from traditional second language teaching alternatives in that the latter focus on direct language instruction so that classroom activities are taken up with learning vocabulary lists, verb forms, and grammar rules (Richards & Rodgers). There is an emphasis on correct language usage in the absence of real communication and, in fact, such courses often leave students with knowledge of the grammar of the language but with little ability to communicate in it. Their children's inability to communicate in French outside the classroom prompted the Montreal parents to seek alternative strategies to teach French (Lambert & Tucker). Interestingly, recent trends in second and foreign language teaching emphasize integrated or contentbased second language approaches which reflect the same underlying rationale as immersion although on a more limited scale (see Snow, Met & Genesee). Since its inception in Quebec some twentyfive years ago, a variety of immersion programs have been developed (Genesee: 13). They vary primarily in terms of the starting point; that is, the grades in which the target language is used as the principal medium of communication (early, delayed, and late alternatives) and in terms of the amount of time devoted to the