Ontario Teachers’ Perceptions of ELL Inclusion in Core French:

Regional Similarities and Differences

Jordana F. Garbati

The University of Western Ontario

Canadian Association of Applied LinguisticsJune 3, 2013Victoria, BC"

Linguistic Diversity in Canada"• 250,000 immigrants each year in Canada"

• 87.3% of immigrants had a mother tongue that was not French or English"

• Source countries:"

(Statistics Canada, 2012)"

Linguistic Diversity in Ontario"

Ontario"

•  highest immigration population (40%)"

•  24.9% of immigrants do not have knowledge of French or English"

(Canadian Heritage , 2013; CIC, 2012)"

Linguistic Diversity in Ontario"Immigration Settlement

(CIC, 2012)"

Linguistic Diversity in Ontario"

Allophone Population

(Statistics Canada, 2007)"

Linguistic Diversity in Ontario"

School Board Population

(School Board Websites)"

Influences on Teaching"

Teacher preparation ""(Calman & Daniel, 1998; Carr, 2007; Moughini, 2006; Rutledge, 2009; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2000)"

Teachers’ prior learning experiences "(Crandall, 2000)"

Teachers’ roles "(Yoon, 2008)"

Teachers’ Attitudes"Frustration "(Fu, 1995; Gersten, 1999; Youngs & Youngs, 2001)"

Difficult to create positive environment for ELLs (Youngs & Youngs, 2001)"

Teachers with foreign language more likely to have positive attitude "

(Youngs & Youngs, 2001)"

Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy"

Teachers’ beliefs about their sense of"efficacy has an influence on:"

•  teacher and student outcomes (Chacón, 2005)"•  the environment they create for their

students (Bandura, 1993, 1997)"•  their judgments about learning tasks (Bandura,

1993, 1997)"

What about French?"

FSL in Ontario"

(CPF, 2012)"

ELLs & FSL"Importance of:"

• linguistic duality"

• equitable & inclusive education "" "(Ontario’s Equity & Inclusive Education Strategy - Ministry of Education, 2009) "

BUT…"• ELLs are sometimes exempted from FSL"• Lack of guidelines about ELL inclusion in FSL"• Lack of policy ensuring ELL access to FSL"

" "(Duff, 2007; Mady, 2006; Taylor, 2006, 2009)"

ELLs & FSL"Motivation & Achievement (Mady, 2003, 2006, 2009)

Challenges (Alberton et al., 2009; Garbati, 2007; Lapkin, Mady, & Arnott, 2009)

Contexts (e.g., immersion, urban, province, secondary)

(Carr, 2007; Dagenais & Day, 1998; Mady, 2007; Mady & Turnbull, 2010; Taylor, 1992, 2006)

Theoretical Framework"

Theories of Multilingualism

•  Additive vs. subtractive (García, 2009)

•  Multiple repertoires (Cook, 1992, 2002)

•  Learning multiple languages (Cummins, 1996, 2000; Edwards, 2009, 2012; Jessner, 2006)

Positioning Theory (Harré and van Langenhove, 1999)

Research Question"

What are teachers’ perceptions of ELL"inclusion in core French?"

Methods"

Participant recruitment: "

•  school boards, conference, snowball"

Data collection:"

•  online survey: quantitative and qualitative (n=76)"

•  interviews (n=9)"

Data analysis:"

•  Excel, NVivo, open coding"

Participants (n=76)"Region"

•  Low-ELL: n=30"

•  High-ELL: n=39"

Category"

•  Low-ELL: n=37"

•  High-ELL: n=18"

Years of Experience:"

•  Novice: n=14"

•  Experience: n=54"

Findings: Positive Attitudes"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

Inclusion of ELLs in CF creates a positive educational atmosphere." 95

Findings: Positive Attitudes"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

I would welcome the inclusion of ELLs in my CF classes." 90

Findings: Positive Attitudes"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

ELLs can perform as well as other English-speaking students." 78

Findings: Positive Attitudes"

I think it probably consolidates their

understanding of a language and the

similarities and differences of a language.

(Megan, experienced, high region, low category)

Findings: Positive Attitudes"

He [the ELL] was great in the French class because he had to learn a language. He was learning English and he was grabbing at any strategy. And those strategies that were working for him in English were working for him in French. (…) He was learning faster than a lot of the Canadian kids. "

(Sara, experienced, low-ELL region)"

But...

there are challenges too...

Findings: Challenges"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

Inclusion of ELLs in CF increases my workload." 86

Findings: Challenges"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

ELLs require more of my time than do other students." 87

Findings: Challenges"

The greatest challenge is when the student comes in Grade 5 or 6 with no prior knowledge of French and is expected to take French at his/her Grade level. There is a learning gap due to the missed curriculum in the previous years and this becomes a challenge both for the student and teacher. The challenges are trying to get the student to learn the basics in French before being able to move him/her on to his/her grade level curriculum. In a Core French class of 27 students this becomes difficult trying to find the time to teach the ELL the basics of French while teaching the other students their Grade level curriculum. "

(Laura, experienced, high region, high category)"

Findings: Entry Level"

With no prior knowledge of French, ELLs should be included in…

Overall"Strongly Agree"

(%)"

Grade 4 core French. " 86

Grade 6 core French. " 84

Grade 8 core French. " 73

Findings: Training & Support"Overall"

Strongly Agree"(%)"

I have adequate training to work with ELLs." 70

Findings: Training & Support"

I think the biggest challenge is that there’s no support. (…) finding the materials to accommodate an ELL learning French for the first time when they’re in Grade 8. So it’s challenging to find materials and the fact that there’s no extra support. (…) I struggle with finding appropriate materials to use with [ELLs]. (…) I don’t have any specific resources for French and ELLs and that’s one of my problems."

(Melanie, novice, high region, low category)"

Findings: Training & Support"

the [resources] that come from the board are very minimal."(Laura, experienced, high region, high category)"

No. I don’t ever recall anything about ‘how to welcome your ESL students into your French classroom’. "

(Grace, experienced, low region, low category) "

Findings: Preparedness to Teach"FSL" ELLs in FSL"

Overall (n=76)" 8.61" 6.34"

Findings: Preparedness to Teach"

I am interested in receiving more training in working with ELLs."

Highlights"

Teachers’ perceptions of ELL inclusion in CF:

• Positive attitudes toward ELL inclusion (across regions, categories, novice & experienced)

• Numerous challenges - teacher, classroom, school level (e.g., resources, inclusion, use of L1, program structure, workload)

• Teachers’ sense of preparedness to teach ELLs in CF is low

• Teachers request professional development and appropriate resources

Implications"

Implications for teaching"•  Knowledge mobilization"•  Teacher training and support"•  Pre-service & in-service training"•  Resource development"•  CF program structure"

Implications"

Implications for research"•  Connecting theory to practice"•  Importance of conducting mixed

methods research with teachers"•  Survey design and implementation"

Thank you. "

Jordana Garbati"jgarbati@uwo.ca"