Vol. VII No. 3
May 1995



Editorial

Immersion Education: Answering the critics

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Immersion Education: Answering the critics

Recently, certain criticisms of the Canadian immersion program have appeared in the media. In response to one particular critique of the effectiveness of this program by Hector Hammerly, André Obadia shares some research and thoughts in support of Canada's successful endeavors in immersion education. Since second language teachers may be forced from time to time to also answer critical questions related to the immersion program, we would like to share with some excerpts from Prof. Obadia's response to professor Hammerly's criticism of Immersion...

"My colleague, professor Hammerly started to become known as a very strong critic of immersion since the publication of an interview in SFU Week in 1982 where both of us were asked our opinions on French Immersion programs. We also had a debate in 1986 during the annual conference of B.C.... Language Coordinators Association. Before 1982, after 18 years of immersion in Canada and after the publication of many articles by various researchers on the subject of mistakes made by immersion students, nobody in the field of immersion had ever heard of Professor Hammerly. What triggered this sudden interest in immersion is a rather puzzling question. It is even more puzzling when one tries to understand why he keeps coming back to the same question, on and off, again and again...

Professor Hammerly has already received many rebuttals and criticisms from the scientific community; some of them from highly respected international researchers, some administrators, teachers, parents and even immersion graduates. His arguments, a certain number of them unfounded or weakly supported, were discussed in scientific journals, teachers' reviews and the media. My colleague however does not seem to be moved by criticism from his colleagues or by these testimonies. Those who criticize him, he says, are either hiding the truth from the public, are hostile because their entire research career is based on assumptions and conclusions that are being questioned, or as in the case of parents, they cannot understand the problem they do not speak French. How about the numerous French teachers who sent their children to immersion?

It is sad that my colleague has become a sort of expert in the dramatic and metaphoric use of the English language. Referring to children in immersion programs in other interviews, he talked about "little butchers of the French language" who go through "thousands of hours of torture", "terminal Frenglish", "dysfunctional bilinguals",... This may strike the imagination of uninformed parents, particularly those who don't have children in French immersion, but those who do, they are probably smiling to this kind of rhetoric, knowing that immersion is alive and well, not only in Canada but in many countries of the world.

Immersion is not new, it has been around since about year 3000 B.C.! That's a long time! I am presently conducting a research on immersion programs in the world. They are growing all over, particularly in Europe, and not just because Canadians are the leaders in the field but also because these programs existed in other countries long before Canada... They are quite aware of "the discovery of the century," that children make mistakes during the learning process. They are monitoring their immersion programs, regularly conduction research and very happy about the findings...

Maybe we should be seriously thinking of adding another language to our French immersion programs. For B. C., in fact for all of Canada, Japanese, Chinese and now Spanish are languages which should be considered. Immersion children would love adding one or more languages. Indeed research has shown that they are not afraid of learning another language. Learning French has been a positive experience for them. Parents who have gone through regular French classes know how difficult and frustrating it could be when they try to express themselves in French with or without mistakes. It is not the case for immersion students. Immersion teachers have succeeded for the first time in history of second language teaching in Canada in making English-speaking students able to communicate naturally in French with a wide range of vocabulary, yet to be tapped, in other subjects such as science, mathematics, social studies, etc.

Teaching techniques, curriculum materials have been improved and are continually improving. French radio and TV stations and the new technology (CD ROM, educational software, information highway) are increasing the opportunities for immersion students to interact among themselves with native speakers of French. The classroom teacher is not the only source of information or conversation in the French language any more. My colleague thinks, however, that even with interaction with French speakers, immersion students cannot improve their French. What a pessimistic and false view of what a young brain or even a human being can do. The damage done to their French, we are told, is "terminal." We are waiting for him to quote a research that says that in spite of interaction with native speakers their French cannot improve...

We all know that Canada has been a "language laboratory" for many years. Since 1964, we have tried various models of French teaching, from 20 minutes a day to a full day in French, from one subject to all subjects, from kindergarten to grad 12. Tons of research reports and studies have been written on these experiments. The best programs so far have been the immersion programs, with some differences whether they start in kindergarten, grade 4 or grade 7.

Every year, I visit immersion classes and every year I see immersion graduated in our faculty becoming regular French teachers or French immersion teachers. Quite often,... I meet immersion students. They speak to me in French when they recognize my French accent... Even if some of those I meet occasionally are not studying French any more, they still remember it and our conversation is carried at normal speed. They don't blush, get nervous or think twice to express their thoughts. Where they making mistakes? Of course, they were.

In our debate in 1986, I compared my colleague's way of looking at immersion to a vet who is examining a beautiful racing horse which has an excellent record of victories and superb performances. Using a magnifying glass, he finds to his horror a flea which looked, of course, bigger than in nature, with enormous and hairy legs and a threatening and pointed stylet. My question is this. Is the vet going g to kill the horse because of this annoying flea?

We should step back a little and look at the problem from a certain distance. Let's raise our eyes from the microscope, see the world around us and keep things in perspective. We should use our synthetic skills and not just use our analytical skills. More Canadians should be made aware of this wonderful opportunity to learn a world language. Immersion has been criticized sometimes as being elitist, because, among other reasons, children in those programs tend to come from high income and above-average educated parents. It is not exactly true in all cased but even if it were the case, shouldn't we promote immersion by making it know to parents from all walks of life? It is a program that offers a unique chance from Canadian children to become bilingual. It boosts their self-esteem and increased their chances form economic success, they become bilingual and perform very well in other subjects in English and French. It is one of Canada's best educational successes and it is admired by many countries.

There is room for improvement of course. Many people are constructively working to improve the immersion programs. Maybe my colleague should join in this effort. But, please, let's not kill the horse because of a flea."


André Obadia, Ph.D.
Professor of French Education
Simon Fraser University