French Immersion A Set of Unnecessary Requirements

Dear French Immersion board,

Must I quit the French program? I am a grade 10 student in French Extended and I aspire to continue with my French studies. However, when my family moved from the TDSB region to the YRDSB region, I was faced with a dilemma. The YRDSB did not offer French Extended and to enter French Immersion, more hours of french education was needed.

In Canada, we offer many French programs such as Core French, French Extended and French Immersion. These programs cater to different people's needs and situations, encouraging them to develop take up French studies.

Admittedly, it is crucial and necessary to put in a certain number of hours in French education as the level of one's linguistics and the hours of practice have a direct correlation. While this is an effective and ingenious method to ensure the success of a student in the program, the main objective of French Immersion is not to achieve a specific number of hours. We have misunderstood the usage of this minimal hour required strategy. Instead, the program stands to provide a higher education in French.

I have a friend who had moved to Toronto from Montreal in grade 10. She had come from a solely French-speaking school. However, she could not join the French Immersion program as she did not have an official report stating how many hours of French education she had. Did she not have enough hours?

There are many polyglots in this world who posses a prowess in languages. Siad Fazah is a polylingual person is noted to be able to read and write 58 different languages and was in the Guinness Book of World Records up to the 1998 edition for speaking the most languages. Sir John Bowring claimed to know an astounding 200 different languages and was able to speak 100. If these people must adhere to the minimum numbers of hours constraint, how many years would they have had to dedicate into learning these languages?

French is an official language in Canada. Shouldn't we embolden our students to continue learning french? By putting up a superfluous confinement, this barricades many paths instead of providing opportunities for those who are dedicated to learning french.

A simple solution to this problem is creating a literacy test. Literacy tests are not uncommon. Students in Grade 10 in Ontario must all take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) to graduate, ESL learners must also take assessments such as the Canadian Language Benchmarks Assessment (CLBA). Prospective immigrants to Canada must either take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) or Test d'évaluation du français (TEF) the latter itself even being a french literacy test. If these literacy tests proves to be such a practical method, should we not adopt them into our school program?

Although we have implemented many rational rules to ensure a student's success, a further look into them is necessary. Students who admire and long to understand the French language deserve a chance to continue in their studies. Instead of barricading the French Immersion program, it should open new doors and built more paths.