French Second Language Education in Canada: Empirical Studies

Ronald Henry is director of the School of Translators and Interpreters
at Laurentian University.

This volume is the result of a course on themes in French as a second
language education taught by the editor. It offers something for
everyone involved in core, extended, and especially immersion French:
teachers, researchers, policymakers, and trainers of teachers.

The book is divided into four parts—outcomes, classroom studies,
professional development, social and administrative aspects—and the
editor provides introductory remarks on the research trends followed by
several of the contributors (e.g., the nature of learning, qualitative
and quantitative methodologies, use of technology, and teachers as
researchers). The individual chapters address a broad range of issues,
including design of programs, time given to learning, measuring
preparedness for work, correspondence between proficiency and
comprehension, difference between writing and speaking, teaching gender,
social and geographic language variations, teachers’ knowledge of
culture, networking among student teachers, teachers’ grasp of the
communicative approach, speaking tests, cultural content of curriculum,
and socioeconomic differences among immersion students. The book
includes a glossary, but, unfortunately, no index.