Possible Factors Influencing Student Performance in French Immersion
The ACIE Newsletter, May 2004, Vol. 7, No. 3
Reprinted with the permission of the Vancouver School Board
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
This document arose out of district wide concerns for students
who are experiencing difficulties in French Immersion. This
profile was therefore developed to facilitate discussion among the
classroom teacher(s), learning assistance teacher(s), and other
School-Based Team members. In addition, the profile could be
used when working with parents during educational planning for
their children.
Indicate factors pertinent to individual students and add comments when appropriate
| DOMAINS |
POSSIBLE
SUCCESS FACTORS |
POSSIBLE
RISK FACTORS |
|
|
USUALLY THE CHILD:
- Appears to be a risk taker
- Appears to get along with peers
- Appears to have positive self-esteem
- Appears to be confident
|
USUALLY THE CHILD:
- Does not appear to be a risk taker
- Appears to be immature and / or exhibit inappropriate social behavior
- Appears to have low self-esteem
- Appears to lack confidence
|
|
|
- Appears to be receptive to learning
French
- Attends school regularly (the significance being that the classroom provides
the major French language learning environment)
- Has well established work habits:
__ stays on task
__ completes assignments
__ listens well
__ participates actively
__ is organized
- Appears to have a positive attitude toward school
|
- Rarely or never attempts to communicate
in French
- Is frustrated by difficulty communicating in French
- Does not attend school regularly
- Does not have well established work habits:
__ has difficulty staying on task
__ has difficulty completing assignments
__ has weak listening skills
__ displays lack of involvement
__ is disorganized
|
|
|
THE FAMILY
(i.e. primary care givers):
- *Appears to be comfortable with choice of French immersion schooling
- Notes from parent interview(s):
|
THE FAMILY
(i.e. primary care givers):
- *Appears to have strong reservations about French immersion schooling
- Notes from parent interview(s):
|
|
FIRST
LANGUAGE
ACQUISITION |
USUALLY THE CHILD:
- Appears to have a well
established first language in terms of understanding,
oral expression, and vocabulary
- *Communicates well verbally
- *Appears to have at least average verbal reasoning skills (i.e., can describe,
make inferences, associate ideas, categorize, etc.)
|
USUALLY THE CHILD:
- Does not appear to have a well established
first language in terms of understanding, oral expression, and vocabulary
- Appears to have experienced significant developmental delays in
the first language:
__ semantic and / or syntactic development
__ receptive and / or expressive language skills
- *Does not communicate well verbally
- *Appears to have weak verbal reasoning skills
- Has articulation and / or phonological difficulties in
conjunction with other possible risk factors
|
|
|
- Appears to have adequate
auditory processing skills:
__ discrimination
__ memory
__ sequencing
- Appears to participate readily in new
learning situations
- Appears to readily retain information
presented both visually and
auditorily.
|
- Appears
to have auditory processing difficulties:
__ discrimination
__ memory
__ sequencing
- Appears to be hesitant when presented with new learning situations
- Appears to have difficulty retaining information presented visually
and / or auditorily
- Has family history of learning difficulty in reading, writing, spelling,
and / or math
|
|
|
- Is making adequate progress in French immersion according to Ministry
guidelines
- Is developing receptive and / or expressive language skills in
French
- Has made some transfer of reading and writing skills at the late
primary / early intermediate level without formal instruction
- Is acquiring reading skills according to Ministry guidelines
- Is acquiring written language skills according to Ministry guidelines
- Is developing visual-motor integration and fine motor skills
- Is acquiring math concepts, computation and / or problem solving
skills according to Ministry guidelines.
|
- Is making slower progress in French
immersion based on Ministry guidelines
- Has difficulty with receptive and / or expressive language skills in
French
- Appears to be experiencing undue stress and frustration related to curriculum
demands of the French immersion program
- Has difficulty handling the dual language curricula and work load at the
intermediate level
- Is having difficulty acquiring reading skills based on
Ministry guidelines
__ sight vocabulary
__ decoding (sound-symbol association)
__ comprehension
- Is having difficulty acquiring written language skills:
__ organizing thoughts on paper
__ sequencing
__ mechanics (i.e., punctuation, capitalization)
__ spelling
__ grammar
- Is having difficulty with visual-motor integration and / or acquiring
fine motor skills
- Is having difficulty acquiring math concepts, computation and / or
problem-solving skills based on Ministry guidelines
- Makes persistent reversals in reading and writing despite
remediation
|
*This information must come from objective data and / or interviews from parents
Note: Bold text lists possible success and risk factors which appear to particularly important in French Immersion. |
