The purpose of this article is to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of such key stakeholders as students, parents, and teachers in Ontario's FSL program, and what potential impacts such attitudes could have on future participation in FSL learning in secondary schools in the province. It also examines some prevailing teaching and learning…

This article concerns the contribution that feedback makes to valid classroom assessment of the writing of young learners (YLs), defined here as approximately 9-13 years old. It shows that a scale of descriptors adapted from the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) can play a central role…

Changing economic realities in Canada are likely to result in increased employment opportunities for immigrant professionals. In Alberta, where these changes have already begun, issues of language in the workplace have surfaced, some relating to oral skills. In this investigation of Canadian-born employees' preferences for 40 L2 accented voices,…

Describes project designed to enhance the elementary core French program through presentations of history, culture, and life-style of French-speaking peoples by noncertified Francophones from the vicinity. Project has been successful and has produced a more tolerant outlook among students for other cultures. Uses foods of France and early life in…

In Canada, education in French as a second language (FSL) offers students the opportunity to learn a second official language. Is such an opportunity appropriate for allophone students who are still in the process of learning English? This literature review provides a fourfold consideration of the issue. Section 1 examines the political response…

Represents a comparative analysis of the instructional policies for heritage language programs in Ontario and Quebec. It is concluded that the differences in the programs reflect a distinct difference between the two provinces with relation to interethnic relations. (VWL)

Reviews the history of the "pilot scheme" for introducing French into the curriculum of British primary schools, highlighting the project's limitations and the negative findings of the National Foundation for Educational Research report, and assesses the prospects for the future of the project. (AM)

Reviews conditions and practices found in effective core French programs, which are potentially useful to teachers. The review includes elements related to provincial curricula, organization for instruction, instructional planning, instructional strategies, and student evaluation. (MSE)

Compares programs for teaching Welsh to children in Wales with those teaching French in Canada. Describes Welsh medium schools, Welsh as a second language programs and the recent Schools Council Bilingual Project, in which Welsh is used as medium of instruction for part of the school day. (Author/BK)

Proposes that second language instruction should give priority to the receptive skills of listening and reading and describes a project conducted in Sweden which sought to realize the development of these skills in a short course. (AM)

Discusses recent changes in objectives of second language education including development of a more comprehensive theory, a set of communicative teaching strategies, and an increasing interest in the needs of the learner in the context of English as a second language project underway in the Modern Language Center of the Ontario Institute for…

A March 1988 survey concerning the textual materials used and liaisons existing between secondary schools and universities is reported. The university survey focused on a variety of first-year programs, how language departments accommodate students with varying accumulated hours of French instruction, and faculty familiarity with provincial…

A review of the literature concerning second language program evaluation looks at definitions of program evaluation, approaches taken to it, and the purposes that evaluation has fulfilled. Use of program evaluation to educate those working in or with second-language programs is recommended. (MSE)

The development of core French programs is traced for each Canadian province and territory, and the extent of current offerings and program support is described, with special attention given to some programs. National program coordination to avoid duplication and effect improvements is advocated. (MSE)

Traces the reasons for development, the characteristics of the new French programs, the premises underlying their development, organization of the resulting curriculum guides, and implications of the revised curriculum. Summarizes program offerings across Canada, program costs and anticipated outcomes. (Author/MES)