FRENCH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: TEACHER CERTIFICATION IN CANADA (IMMERSION, FSL, CORE FRENCH).

Abstract

This study explores the policies and requirements governing French immersion teacher certification at the secondary level as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and the universities in each of Canada's ten provinces. Four components are examined: (1) certification procedures, (2) professional training, (3) course credit and competency requirements, and (4) provisions for certified teachers. An analysis of responses to a mailed questionnaire revealed that: (1) Quebec and Ontario are the only two provinces that have specific requirements for FSL certification, (2) there is little agreement among respondents regarding existing reciprocity agreements, (3) there is little consistency in the FSL components of teacher-training programs across Canada, (4) the approved program approach is the most common procedure used for certification, (5) all proposed changes address the need to separate French Immersion training programs from the generic FSL education, (6) none of the provinces currently offer a bonafide Bilingual Education training program, (7) no additional teacher-training is presently required to certify an Anglophone for FSL teaching, and (8) the responsibility of defining the criteria for the selection of FSL teachers is at times assumed by a school board, a denominational education committee, a university, a Ministry of Education, or by supply and demand. Three recommendations were made to the Council of Ministers of Canada: (1) that national assessment centers be established to determine competencies of FSL teacher candidates; (2) that three specific bases of information be established: (a) a national pool of competency-based and criterion referenced performance items, (b) a clearinghouse to assist in evaluating assessment procedures, (c) four regional information exchanges; (3) that research be conducted to determine the feasibility and effective methods of utilizing French native speakers in FSL teaching.