PROBLEMS OF FRENCH AND FOREIGN-BORN LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

Abstract

After certain incidents that marked the recent visit of a rather prominent figure to "la belle province," it may be surprising to learn that English continues to be taught in our French-language schools. Nevertheless, it continues to be a compulsory subject on the program of studies for all French-speaking students in Grades VI through XI, and a large number of our students receive initial instruction in English in Grade V. To the 1,700,000 students following courses in English as a second language in the French-language schools must be added the thousands of immigrant children whose parents have elected to assimilate with or even be absorbed by the English-language community. All this is to indicate the extent to which the teaching of English as a second language is one of the more important tasks facing educators in the Province of Quebec today.