Hello.
I'm going to start and then Nicole will take over.
Thank you for the invitation to speak today.
l am John Erskine, president of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers, also known as CASLT. In my regular work l am the French and languages consultant with the Winnipeg School Division and a sessional instructor in initial teacher education for the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface.
CASLT was established by volunteers in 1970. It has grown into a multi-level organization primarily supporting second language teachers, professors preparing future teachers, and second language researchers.
These second languages encompass both official and international languages. We represent over 4,000 members in all provinces and territories. The vast majority of our members are teachers of basic or core French, followed by teachers of French immersion, and then English as a second language in Quebec and New Brunswick.
It is important to note that over 85% of Canadian students learning French learn French as a second language through the basic or core French program in Canada right now. Currently, of those FSL students, a mere 16.5% complete their French high school graduation requirements. Only about 300,000 students are enrolled in French immersion programs.
Our main focus tends to be on supporting teachers and revitalizing core programs, French and English--in French for most of the country and in English for Quebec and New Brunswick.
Changing demographics have affected who and how CASLT supports teachers. We consider the variety of urban and rural contexts--for example, areas with declining enrollments and with a shortage of qualified specialists. It also affects the makeup of the student population within the classroom. We consider the teachers who work with learners who experience their schooling in languages additional to their home language or the dominant language of their community.
CASLT supports the importance of Canada's ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity. Based on its organizational and financial capability, our association recognizes and promotes excellence in second-language teaching in Canada. The Canadian Association of Second-Language Teachers works in the K-16 school system, that is from kindergarten to the end of high school, and then we are concerned with two components of postsecondary education.
First we'll consider what happens to our second language learners immediately following high school graduation and their ability to access programs and opportunities supporting their interest to utilize and to study in their second official language, whether this occurs at community colleges or within university studies. Next we'll look at what happens within the faculties of education at universities across Canada with the preparation of our future second language teachers.
We will present initiatives spanning the K to 16 spectrum that can be considered by post-secondary institutions and could receive support of the federal government.
Major challenges for the success of second-language teaching and learning have been identified in consultations on linguistic duality and noted in a number of research projects. They include the lack of prestige of second-language programs in the schools, particularly in competition with certain other subjects; a lack of uniformity of language skills levels possible for each type of program and from one field of application to another; as well as a lack of policies for the inclusion and participation of allophones in varied second-language programs.
We have also noted a high referral rate for second-language courses at the secondary level. If students drop their second-language courses before the end of high school, few will be motivated to continue those studies at the postsecondary level.
Actions to be taken could include: explore how school systems value or devalue French within their administration, their policies, and their practices, and identify barriers and potential solutions; explore bilingual identities and the socialization process of second language learners, including new Canadians, in order to bring forward the advantages and usefulness of second language learning, provide arguments, and promote why it matters to be bilingual; and explore how Canada can have a common framework of reference for languages so that there is a common approach to language learning expectations and skills evaluation to be used across the provinces and territories from K to 16 and by employers.
This last suggestion is based on a project that CASLT has facilitated over the last few years. We have supported the adoption of a common framework of reference for languages for Canada, a tool for setting clear standards to be attained at successive stages of language learning and for evaluating outcomes or student proficiency in an internationally comparable manner. We support this idea because currently provincial-territorial FSL programs all have similar achievement goals, but these goals have not been tied to recognized proficiency standards. Moreover, there is no standardized assessment tool to measure to what extent FSL graduates become bilingual. Thus, it has been difficult to report whether our second language programs are achieving the desired results. CASLT also supports the use of a tracking tool or portfolio for students to set goals for their language learning and document their language proficiency or achievement.
Since 2004, CASLT has coordinated interprovincial-territorial dialogue among education authorities at the Council of Ministers of Education, ministries of education, and departments responsible for assessment and evaluation to support this common framework. We are pleased that the CMEC has now accepted the framework for implementation in all the provinces. For example, the Edmonton public school board has incorporated the use of the framework and portfolio in all of its language programs. It has also piloted the use of internationally recognized assessments with its students.
At CASLT, we believe that using an internationally recognized framework will increase the status of the second language programs within the schools, provide credibility to the language programs offered, and increase motivation and retention of students in language studies.
I think I'll pass
to Ms. Thibault.