The evolving sociopolitical context of immersion education in Canada: some implications for program development¹

In 1997 Swain and Johnson defined immersion as one category within bilingual education, providing examples and discussion from multiple international perspectives. In this article, we review the core features of immersion program design identified by Swain and Johnson and discuss how current sociopolitical realities and new research on second language learning serve to update and refresh the discussion of these features. One feature identified by Swain and Johnson is that “the classroom culture is that of the local L1 community”. The dramatic increase in ethnic diversity in Canada's urban centres calls into question the notion of a monolithic culture in the school community. A second example concerns the use of the L1 in the classroom: while a central feature of immersion education is the use of the L2 as medium of instruction, new research suggests that allowing a judicious use of the L1 on the part of learners may be warranted. The article concludes with suggestions for building on multiple L1s in the immersion classroom.