Sociopolitical analysis of French immersion developments in Canada

This thesis is a pioneer investigation into the historical development of sociopolitical factors conditioning French immersion developments in Canada. The conceptual framework and methodology were especially designed for the creation and interpretation of the literature database of the study. Research conclusions presented in the four analysis sections of the study point out that power dynamics manifested between members of both official language groups in Canada had a crucial impact on the evolution of the immersion phenomenon. The sociopolitical transformations taking place in Quebec during the Quiet Revolution triggered interest in the immersion concept as it provided anglophone parents the opportunity to give their children access to bilingual resources. The response of the Federal Government to the nationalist movement in Quebec in the seventies also favoured the expansion of French immersion programs through the creation of funding programs to enforce its policy of bilingualism in government and educational sectors. The limitations of immersion however became more visible in the mid to late eighties as research showed in greater scope evidence of immersion social class bias, the plateau of immersion proficiency in French, and secondary immersion attrition trends. The analysis of the literature database suggested that conditions for minority francophones began to improve at this time as francophone lobby groups took legal actions to obtain services equal to those enjoyed by the English majority and later, began working toward the establishment of autonomous structures. Recent trends also revealed that federal authorities modified their politicaI response to Quebec nationalism in the nineties by shifting their funding priority from official second-language programs toward official language minority education.