The linguistic competencies of early French immersion graduates: an investigation of parental expectations

This study was an attempt to determine the expectations of parents of students' linguistic competence upon graduation from the Early French Immersion program. The purpose of the study was to determine the French language performance characteristics as expected by parents in the domains of Oral Production, Reading Comprehension, and writing Ability. The variables of parental level of French skills, parents of EFI students in grade 3 versus those in grade 9, and previous experience with EFI were also examined in relation to performance expectations. The study was a census of parents of EFI students in grades 3 and 9 under the Avalon East School Board undertaken in the spring of 1997. A two-part questionnaire was sent to all parents seeking firstly, background information on the parents, and secondly, asking parents to indicate their expectations among explicit descriptions of second language performance levels adapted from current federal government hiring guidelines. Open ended questions were also provided at the end. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)