Profile of a Group of “Successful” Bilingual Senior High School Students

Student enrollment in French immersion programs in Canada is declining (Commissioner of Official Languages, 1997). This article addresses the issue of attrition and retention in secondary school bilingual programs through the presentation of a descriptive profile of a group of "successful" French immersion high school students. The construction of this profile is supported by the major findings of a qualitative study that investigated reasons why a group of Anglophone students of varying abilities made the decision to continue and complete their high school studies in French immersion (Foster, 1992). By offering this perspective of "success," the contention here is congruent with what other researchers have claimed (Johnson & Swain, 1997; Tardif & Weber, 1987); consideration must be given to factors other than academic achievement and program limitations when probing the issue of participation levels in this bilingual alternative in high school programming.