The best possible start: A bilingual education
Kindergarten registration is upon us. A quick trip to the neighbourhood school is all that’s required for parents to put their little one on a path for academic success. Or is it?
Many parents enroll their child in a monolingual education program, unaware of the advantages of a bilingual education. While learning any second language yields the same benefits, Sudbury’s English-speaking children have a tremendous opportunity for French-language education.
The French immersion programs that are offered in Sudbury are created for the children of monolingual parents. This means that parents don’t have to worry if they can’t speak French; second-language homework is assigned with the understanding that a caregiver will not necessarily be able to help. As a child who participated in a French immersion program from grades one to thirteen, I can personally attest to the advantages of this option.
This ability to think outside the box is a highly valued skill in today and tomorrow’s work force.
Firstly, according to Peal and Lambert’s 1962 study of Canadian children, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals in fifteen out of eighteen IQ tests. Further, Peal and Lambert stated that bilingualism resulted in: “the ability to think more abstractly, more independently of words, providing superiority in concept formation; that a more enriched bilingual and bicultural environment benefits the development of IQ; and that there is a positive transfer between a bilingual’s two languages, facilitating the development of verbal IQ” (Baker). People who speak only one language tend to think in terms of words; people who speak more languages, tend to think in terms of concepts and ideas, since thoughts are not tied to one language of expression. This ability to think outside the box is a highly valued skill in today and tomorrow’s work force.
Secondly, since many Canadians are monolingual, we tend to forget that we are the exception, not the rule. Sixty to seventy-five percent of the world’s population is bilingual (Zelasko). In the global village of the 21st century, knowing only one language is not enough to ensure future employment success. As a bilingual country, Canada reserves many desirable job opportunities for people who speak both official languages. Further, learning second languages can lead to greater tolerance of other cultures (Gasser).
Finally, bilingualism can add quality years to your child’s life. ScienceDaily reported a study done by the Baycrest Research Centre for Aging and the Brain, which concluded that “bilingualism enhances attention and cognitive control in both children and older adults.” Memory loss is a significant fear for many of us; bilingualism offers a delay for the onset of dementia. “The researchers determined that the mean age of onset of dementia symptoms in the monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the bilingual group was 75.5 years. This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender as influencers in the results.”
Many parents are aware of the importance of physical activity for their children, and so enroll them in sports associations, or other extra-curricular activities. Bilingualism is like gymnastics for the brain; learning a second language leads to greater mental flexibility, strength and longevity. Choosing a bilingual education program for your child may be the best decision you will ever make.
Amanda McLachlan Darling currently teaches at Laurentian University, and previously worked at a private Toronto school. She welcomes comments, questions or suggestions for future topics at adarling@laurentian.ca.
References
Baker, Colin. Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Toronto: Multilingual Matters, Ltd., 2006, pp 148-149.
“Bilingualism Has Protective Effect In Delaying Onset Of Dementia By Four Years, Canadian Study Shows.” ScienceDaily, 12 January 2007. 5 February 2010.
Gasser, Michael. “Why study language.” How Language Works. 25 August 2006. 5 February 2010.
Zelasko, Nancy F. “Bilingual Education – Need for Bilingual Education, Benefits of Bilingualism and Theoretical Foundations of Bilingual Education.” Education Encyclopedia. 5 February 2010.
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The jury is still out on whether or not enrolling a child in “French Immersion” increases the intellectual ability of children or whether the students who enrol in “French Immersion” have a higher level of intellectual ability to begin with than those who enrol in unilingual programs. Children with a higher I.Q. have a much easier time learning a second language, therefore they tend to perform much better in the first few years of school. Success breeds success.
I think the “promise” of opportunities for bilingual people with respect to employment and careers is enticing a lot of parents to enrol their children in Immersion programs to the detriment of their children. The fact that Canada reserves many of the desirable job opportunities for people who speak both official languages is also adding to the problem.
The main reason many unilingual parents enrol their children in French Immersion programs is often because they want their children to have better job opportunities in the future because they will be able to speak French. This is forcing many children into a situation where they may not be successful in their early years, thus negatively impacting their self-esteem and their attitudes toward learning. This stays with them for the rest of their life.
For example, as a hockey coach, I often told parents that if their child was only skilled enough to make the 3rd line on the Travelling Team, then it might be best if he remained in the House League where he would be on the 1st line of his team and be one of the better players. The confidence he would build up as a “star” would be much better for the child as a person. Being a “weak” player on a strong team does not build up confidence. The same goes with education.
Ultimately, by the time children reach Grade 3 they have come to the point where they have to use their “reading” skills to “learn”. It is often at this grade level where the decision is made as to whether a child should drop out of the Immersion program and go back to a straight English program. Those who have been successful at learning French continue on with classmates of similar ability levels and attiduces. Thus, the French Immersion program has effectively become a “streaming” qualifier and you now have the “brighter academic” children in the French Immersion class with the rest of the children in the English classes.
As children move through the Junior grades into Grades 7 and 8, you continue to see those who are struggling being forced to “drop out” and enter English classes. The difference in class dynamics is very noticable in the intermediate grade levels.
The fact that bilingual children perform better on I.Q. tests is no surprise. They should perform better because they are the intellectually advanced children who have made it through the Immersion program.
There are all kinds of problems that are being addressed by my tutors as they take on placements with children who were enrolled in French Immersion programs by well-meaning parents. I also have children who are being tutored who are “border-line” when it comes to the French Language, however, the strategy here is to keep them in the French Immersion class until the end of Grade 8 if possible so that they remain in the “elite” classes durng the challenging intermediate years. The ‘Learning” environment is so much different in French Immersion classes because you only have the students who have been able to cope with the challenges of learning a second language.
I have also advised many parents of French speaking children to enrol their children in a French Immersion program at an English language school instead of into a French Language school setting. In these cases their children are already bilingual when they enter school, not because of any schooling or instruction, but because this is how they were brought up. However, by enrolling in a French Immersion class, the children will immediately rise to the top of the class and find tremendous success in the early years. They will be the stars of the class because they already undestand the language. This will help them develop a very positive attidude towards learning and they will thrive on it a they go through higher grades.
I think we would do our children a big favour by teaching them both English and French (50% each) at the same time in the early years and then allowing them to become fully “immersed” once they are in Grade 7 and 8 into high school. That way, if it is felt that a child would learn better in english or french, but not both, then the child would not be up to three years behind the others in the class when the decision is made.
Obviously, this is a debate that will go on for a while and at the end of the day, society will be the determining factor as to what is acceptable.
Thank you for the thought-provoking article.