Metamorphosis Or Metamorphosis, choose. In Ontario and Quebec, teachers have their students read bilingual books to better teach French. This type of exercise, perceived by some as a threat to the “sustainability of French”, promotes learning the language, according to experts.
“I want my students to start from the background they already have,” explains Leilah Mbida, who teaches French in a high school in Brampton, a suburb of Toronto.
For “several decades”, studies “show that there are transfers that take place between languages”, and that mastery of the mother tongue “helps in learning a second language”, indicates assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Translation at Laval University, Catherine Maynard. Developing the languages spoken by a student from an immigrant background, for example, allows them to “learn French better”.
The students of the M classme Mbida, who are newcomers and English-speaking Canadians, between them speak or understand a total of 13 languages. Reading bilingual books, comparing onomatopoeia and syntax, writing a biography in the language of her choice: every day, the teacher draws on these languages “mastered” by the students to create grammar and vocabulary exercises. .
A way to teach them French more easily, but also to “enhance” them, indicates Joël Thibeault, associate professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, who has co-written several studies on the subject of plurilingual approaches with Mme Maynard. The students’ “repertoire” is “taken advantage of, and the idea is that they feel recognized and appreciated in the classroom, and that they are, on an emotional level, open to new learning. »
Not all students want to participate, concedes Mme Mbida, but she notices that those “who did not speak tend to talk more, to communicate”. Parents are also more involved, because they translate their children’s homework when it is written in their mother tongue, in order to allow the teacher to correct it according to the evaluation grid.
“We ask parents a lot, because we are not experts in these languages,” emphasizes the doctoral student at the University of Ottawa. This year, she would like to invite parents to read texts in the classrooms. “In terms of planning, it takes a lot of time, but I find it pays off. »
Value diversity
Beyond learning French, the plurilingual approach also makes it possible to “valorize the varieties” of the language, indicates Mr. Thibeault, because the Francophonie “is defined by plurality”, particularly in Ontario, because of “ migration “. In the province, “the French spoken by students is not necessarily the French that is promoted at school,” adds M.me Maynard, indicating that this diversity of French also exists in Quebec.
During the 12 months preceding 1er July 2023, “Ontario welcomed 42.5% of all immigrants to Canada,” according to the province’s latest demographic report.
Symbol of institutionalization, the Ontario Ministry of Education funded in 2021 the writing of an Initiation Guide to Plurilingual Approaches. The new French framework program, unveiled in 2023, directly evokes multilingual approaches and recognizes their benefits. The latter, “in addition to supporting the learning of French, prepare students to live in a linguistically and culturally heterogeneous society while allowing them to assert their identity throughout their lives,” it is written.
But for the moment, the practice is not yet widespread, indicates Mr. Thibeault. “I would say more that it demonstrates a certain momentum”, based in particular on the initiatives of teachers.
Same story in Quebec, where multilingual approaches remain “marginal”, according to Mme Maynard, despite an “openness” and “institutional recognition”, which manifested itself in 2013 through the financing of the ÉLODiL site, aimed at “supporting teachers who work in multi-ethnic and multi-lingual environments”.
“Not a threat”
Leilah Mbida has already been confronted with teachers who believe that it is contradictory to use other languages in French class.
“There is insecurity regarding the sustainability of the French fact […] which can make teachers reluctant to let other languages into their classrooms,” explains Mme Maynard. A reservation which is not due to ill will, but rather to a lack of understanding of the benefits of the approach, according to her.
“For me, multilingual approaches are not a threat,” comments Mme Mbida.
Mr. Thibeault emphasizes that this “fear regarding the sustainability of French […] is legitimate”, because “Francophones fought to avoid assimilation”, but he hopes that institutional recognition of the benefits of plurilingual approaches will make it possible to popularize them.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.