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This study examined the oral language skills of grade-two anglophone children enrolled in French Immersion and English-stream programs. The study had two objectives: (1) to compare performance between the groups on measures of receptive vocabulary, narrative comprehension, and narrative production (i.e., structure and language) in English; and (2) to explore the applicability of the Canadian Language Benchmarks/"Niveaux de compétences linguistiques canadiens" (CLB/NCLC) to assessment of their conversational competency. All children (English-stream n = 27, French Immersion n = 33, aged 7-8 years) were tested in English. In addition, the French Immersion students were tested using equivalent measures in French. The results comparing performance in English revealed no differences between the groups on receptive vocabulary, narrative comprehension and narrative structure. However, the English-stream children outperformed their French Immersion peers in narrative language. Furthermore, CLB/NCLC listening and speaking criteria were applied to conversational samples yielding level scores in English (both groups) and French (French Immersion only). The range of benchmarks that are appropriate for this population is discussed in detail.

Transcription is an important component of the writing process that affects the quality of children's compositions. However, little is known about how transcription mode influences productivity or spelling accuracy, two word-level markers of compositional quality, among children learning to write in an additional language. To address this issue, we compared the effects of handwriting and keyboarding on text length and spelling in the compositions of L2 French learners. Grade 2 to 4 students (n = 48) in French Immersion were given two writing prompts and asked to produce one text on paper and one using a keyboard. The prompts were counterbalanced across the two writing conditions. The total number of words, total number of words spelled correctly, and proportion of correctly spelled words were calculated. A series of repeated measures ANOVAs revealed an advantage in both the average number of correctly spelled words and the proportion of correctly spelled words in the students' compositions favouring the keyboarding condition. Conversely, the total number of words across conditions was not significantly different. Our findings suggest that keyboarding may offer an advantage over handwriting with respect to spelling accuracy in the context of L2 composition in the elementary years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated access to and outcomes of Early French Immersion (EFI) for students with special education needs (SEN) attending a large school board in Canada. Data analysis was carried out on: provincially mandated achievement test scores for all Grade 3 students with SEN participating over a three-year period (n = 705) who attended either EFI or English programs; standardized French and English language and reading scores for a small subset of students (n = 20); and interviews with parents of Grade 4 students in EFI (n = 9). Results revealed lower participation but higher English academic and language performance for students with SEN in the EFI program as well as development of French language and reading skills. Interviewed parents often believed children with SEN 'could not handle' EFI and that withdrawal should be an option in response to learning difficulties. Implications for inclusive practices in EFI are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]