Gaining Access to Late French-Immersion Programs: Class-Based Perspectives of Canadian Students in an Ottawa High School

Abstract The question of access to French-immersion programs has become a timely subject in Canada as a result of shifting political priorities, cutbacks, and growing concern around finding the most efficient way to teach French as a second language (FSL). While drawing on social selection and identity perspectives on school choice, this article presents the results of a study with a group of Canadian students in an Ottawa high school who had followed a Late French-Immersion (FLI) program in grades seven–eight (ages 11–14). Findings indicate that Canadian-born middle-class parents played an active role in the school choices of their preteens and that students from immigrant and working-class backgrounds were able to compensate for class and cultural disadvantages by playing a leading role in the family decision to accept a LFI placement. Results also showed that students from middle-class families primarily began LFI programs for communication-related purposes; whereas students from working-class backgrounds were more concerned with employability-related issues. This article also stresses the importance of providing bilingual educational options to older students and discusses some of the benefits of conducting comparative research on Canadian and American bilingual educational programs. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author extends her thanks to the comments of the two anonymous reviewers. As this article is based on the results of her doctoral study, the author acknowledges the contribution of the following people: Monica Heller (thesis supervisor), Normand Labrie (thesis committee member), André Tremblay (thesis committee member), and Diane Dagenais (external assessor). The author also extends thanks to Fred Dufresne for his input in the doctoral research and a preliminary version of this article.