Editor: Viv Edwards (University of Reading, UK)
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Volume: 16 Number: 2 Page: 112–127
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Children from Diverse Backgrounds in an Immersion Programme
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Michèle de Courcy, Jane Warren and Monique Burston
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Immersion or content-based language programmes are sometimes promoted as the best way of achieving high levels of proficiency in languages other than English. Evaluations of such programmes indicate that
the cohort of students achieve higher levels of proficiency than students in traditional programmes. However, a recent survey of all teachers in a French early partial immersion programme revealed concerns
for those who teach in English as to whether an immersion programme is suitable for all children. They felt that the problems of children who were learning English and French as second languages were compounded
by the programme. There were also concerns for children who struggle with maths, the main content area delivered in the second-language programme. The same concerns are not expressed by those who teach
in French. This paper will consider whether the teachers' concerns are grounded, or whether, in fact, the nature of the immersion classroom may make it a more suitable environment for fostering the learning
of a diversity of children.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
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