Rethinking Pedagogical Options for Teaching Explicit Grammar in French Immersion
Date
2015-02-04
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Abstract
Canada’s French Immersion program, introduced in the mid-1960s, is widely recognized as a successful classroom model for developing language competence. The accuracy of the written production of French Immersion students has been problematic (Genesee 1987; Harley 1989; Cummins 2000; Lyster 2007; Burger et al 2011) and is a particular challenge for those students in high school who intend to use French for post-secondary education or to seek employment opportunities. In this study, R. Lyster’s 2007 Noticing-Awareness-Practice model is used for the delivery of explicit grammar instruction about the direct and indirect object pronouns in a Grade 12 French Immersion language class. The cognitive maturity of Grade 12 students and their implicitly-built knowledge and understanding of French could provide an advantage in the learning context provided by the model. Following L.S. Vygotsky’s (1978) view of the value of peer work in the classroom, peer collaboration is included in the model in order to encourage metatalk and languaging, identified by M. Swain (2001; 2010) as a way to encourage students to reflect on language use and to enhance their metalinguistic awareness. The goal of the study was to explore the effects of explicit instruction about the targeted structure on students’ written production and the effects of such instruction on their metalinguistic awareness. Following a mixed method study design, quantitative data were collected from a treatment class and a control class at three times, and supporting qualitative data were provided by student and teacher interviews and audio recordings of peer work groups in the treatment class. The results from this study show that providing explicit and proactive grammar instruction within the framework of Lyster’s model, supplemented by opportunities for peer interaction, can enhance students’ metalinguistic awareness, and have a positive impact on the accuracy and frequency of use of the targeted structure in their written production. These results support the creation of curriculum materials that will assist French Immersion teachers in implementing such a model in their classroom in order to improve the accuracy of students’ written production and to enhance their metalinguistic awareness; a sample document inspired by the study is included.
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Keywords
Education--Bilingual and Multicultural, Education--Curriculum and Instruction, Education--Teacher Training
Citation
Mueller, K. (2015). Rethinking Pedagogical Options for Teaching Explicit Grammar in French Immersion (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27659