Monday, July 14, 2008

Is New Brunswick's unilingual past our future?

Telegraph-Journal, Monday July 14th, Janet Toole, Grandparents for EFI.

"...
Early French Immersion in Fredericton has developed over 34 years, and built a solid reputation for graduating bilingual young persons. There are imperfections, but they can be dealt with.

All children can succeed in EFI, with the proper encouragement.

Like the gift of another language, Measha Brueggergosman was assisted in her music, all the way through school, by Early French Immersion.
...
"Grandparents for EFI" laud this motto: "Language is the sound of music." "

Click here to link to full article

Also see:
FSL plan is without benefits of bilingualism & Lamrock has no interest in bilingualism, only inclusion--Letters--The Daily Gleaner

1 comment:

Skinny Dipper said...

Based on my experience teaching in the Toronto area, groups of students can learn well so long as schools are provided with financial resources and teachers use good instructional practices with their students. It does not matter if the students are all white, South-Asian, Chinese, Black, Muslim, Jewish, or a mix of these and others. Black students do not learn better if there are white students present. They learn well when provided with school resources such as books, computers, and teachers who are interested in their students.

One complaint I hear of EFI is that there are too many special needs students in the non-EFI classes--that EFI needs to be eliminated so that the special needs students will learn better with regular students around. Trust me. They learn better when teachers use instructional techniques to get the special needs students to want to learn. Adding a few smart students in the classroom will not help students who require extra assistance with their education.