Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Given that immersion teachers work for anglophone school boards, professional development in French for immersion teachers is rarely available. There is a need for professional development opportunities tailored to the needs of immersion teachers so that they can keep abreast of new educational practices.
Here are a few possible courses of action: improve language and cultural skills during studies by offering intensive language courses, exchanges and extended stays in a second-language environment; encourage education faculties to enhance their basic training programs for second-language teachers; provide teachers and other teaching staff with varied professional development and ongoing training opportunities; provide support and mentoring services to new teachers; provide a professional development program on managing second-language programs for school administrators; encourage the production of educational resources specific to immersion and that are not translations.
I will briefly talk about the fact that there are no common tools in Canada to assess bilingualism levels, whether in the education system or by employers in both the public sector and the private sector. This means there is no common language to describe the various levels of bilingualism.
What does it mean to be bilingual? Without common tools to define bilingualism, students can, and often do, underestimate their linguistic abilities and believe that they are not qualified for a bilingual position. The reverse is also true. Adopting a common framework for second languages for Canada would help establish a common system for assessing the language skills of students in second-language programs.
Young people would have the benefit of knowing how bilingual they are on an internationally recognized scale. They could then gauge their learning in a real-world context, take a greater interest in learning their second language, increase their confidence in their abilities, and better promote themselves to potential employers in Canada and around the world.
There is an assessment tool that is very well made and increasingly popular among parents, students and teachers in Canada. It is the DELF, a diploma consistent with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the CEFR. It is used to assess language skills in four areas. Recognized internationally, the DELF is valid for life. Nearly 300,000 people earn it every year, including more than 5,000 from Canada, and that number is rising fast.
Moreover, the DELF for schools is completely consistent with the language skills targeted by the various FSL programs across Canada. Some jurisdictions have even based their curriculum on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. However, the provinces and territories do not have a common approach that would allow them to exchange expertise on language skills assessments and use the CEFR to that end.
The Canadian Association of Immersion Teachers believes it's time to initiate steps towards the establishment of the national language assessment tool for French as a second language for schools, universities, and professionals. Our association would be more than happy to lead this national project with the participation of ministries of education. No doubt we have the expertise in Canada. We simply need to work together to create this new Canadian tool.
Educating young Canadians through French immersion helps guarantee a bilingual future for our country, a future where recognizing the value of English and French also makes us value the other languages spoken in Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.