Shades, Decenther 28. 1986

Nortt Sitags vate.

Mailbox... _.

NV SCHOOL DISTRICT

Reader promotes
French ‘exposure’

Dear Fditor:

Over the last few years the
leaching of breneh ino our BoC,
public school system has became it
prominent subject tor Parents,
educators and school board ad-
minstrators,

Three sepitrate programs have
evolved: the teaching of French as
a traditional second language af
the high school level: French ian.
mersior --— a) program) where
Freuch is the operational language
for most of the communication in
school; and French exposure — a
program which “exposes” children
from a very early age to regular
periods of the French language and
culture,

Most of the schocl boards in
B.C. have been faiden with the
problem of French immersion. The
school boards are faced with it-
creasing parental demands for
French immersion,

Thus the teachers seek retrain-
ing, so that the present teaching
force can brush-up on their French
o7 be faced with the bleak dilemma
of job loss, as new French-speak-
ing teachers are hired. New fun-
ding demands are also imposed as
libraries, word processors, com-
puters and other equipment need
to be changed from English to
French.

The burden has been se large
that some school districts in B.C.
have refused to offer French im-
mersion for the present time. Our
North Vancouver School District
was responsible cnough to set up a
task force, whose recommenda-
tions are now available from the
school board.

Presently about [7 per cent of
our children in North Vancouver
are enroled in French immersion.
The B.C. average is less than 10
per cent. Increased demands are
expected as more children opt for
French immersion and as the
children now in elementary schools
move through the system, and de-
minand the continuation of French
immersion through their secondary
years.

In my experience parents choose
French immersion because of the
opportunity to experience the
French language and = culture
and/or the anticipated advantage
of having an improved job advan-
tage in the future.

A latent advantage is the fact
that parents of children in French
immersion program are those who
have shown an active particiation
in their child's education. It has
been demonstrated elsewhere that
parental participation and en-
thusiasm are major factors in im-
proved student performance.

What is there for the 83 per cent
of us who have chosen (or by
default) the English stream for our
children, and believe in a_ basic
foundation in English and opt for
French as a strong second fan-
guage?

The option is French ‘‘ex-
posure.’’ French exposure is an
excellent concept in that it meets
many of the goals of the various
parties involved.

For the children, -it provides a
good foundation in the French
language and culture; the non-
French-speaking parents can also
continue to fully participate in
their children’s education; and the
school board is not faced with ma-
jor personnel or funding demands.

Vintortunatiey French exposure
has heen overshadowed by french
wumerston. Et has heen poorls
advertised and) documented and
has received no similar task force
sttcus or funding. Areal choice of
programs is a function of equitable
emphasis and téscurces: “y

French exposure is a task that
awaits further attention of the
school board and parents.

Salim Kaderali
North Vancouver

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