The impact of social contexts and educational policy/practice on biliteracy development: Ethnolinguistic minority children in English primary schools in Ottawa and Montreal
Year:
1996
Authors and Collaborators :
Volume and number:
, 18
Collection:
, 2
Journal:
, Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée
Abstract
Dans cette étude, nous analysons comment les politiques éducatives du Québec et de l'Ontario affectent la bilittératie et le succès scolaire des enfants de la minorité ethnolinguistique (MEL) qui étudient dans une deuxième ou une troisième langue. Au cours de cette étude longitudinale d'une durée de trois ans menée dans quatre écoles anglophones d'Ottawa et de Montréal qui ont servi de contexte à l'analyse, nous avons suivi le développement de la littératie, en anglais et en français, d'un petit groupe d'enfants appartenant à la minorité ethnolinguistique. La mise en oeuvre de la politique provinciale dans les écoles et les salles de classe a été inégale, souvent affectée par de considérations financières. Par ailleurs, la culture des écoles et les attitudes des enseignants et enseignantes favorisaient en général le succès scolaire. Même si les enfants de la minorité ethnolinguistique ont progressé normalement dans la mesure où leur année scolaire convenait à leur âge, leur bilittératie a souvent subi des contraintes à cause des faiblesses théoriques de la pédagogie de la langue écrite.
Educational policy in Ontario and Quebec for second and third language education of ethnolinguistic minority (ELM) children is analyzed as an element in their biliteracy development and, in turn, their school success. The context of the analysis was a three-year longitudinal study in four English-medium schools in Ottawa and Montreal during which biliteracy development of a small group of ELM children was tracked. Translation of provincial policy to the local level was uneven, often depending on financial considerations. School culture and teacher attitudes, however, were mostly congenial to school achievement. Although the ELM children progressed normally, in terms of age-appropriate promotion through the primary grades, their biliteracy was constrained by instruction which often lacked a theorized pedagogy of writing.
Educational policy in Ontario and Quebec for second and third language education of ethnolinguistic minority (ELM) children is analyzed as an element in their biliteracy development and, in turn, their school success. The context of the analysis was a three-year longitudinal study in four English-medium schools in Ottawa and Montreal during which biliteracy development of a small group of ELM children was tracked. Translation of provincial policy to the local level was uneven, often depending on financial considerations. School culture and teacher attitudes, however, were mostly congenial to school achievement. Although the ELM children progressed normally, in terms of age-appropriate promotion through the primary grades, their biliteracy was constrained by instruction which often lacked a theorized pedagogy of writing.
Theme :
Quebec AnglophonesEducationLiteracyLinguistic minoritiesOntario
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