Literacy among Canadian students in minority language contexts : National strategy for early literacy

National Strategy for Early Literacy Literacy among Canadian Students in Minority Language Contexts Canadian Council on Learning 2. National Strategy for Early Literacy Literacy among Canadian Students in Minority Language Contexts A Report Prepared by the Canadian Council on Learning February 2, 2009 The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Canadian Language and Literacy Rese [...] Three different groups of students in minority language contexts can be identified in Canada: students in language immersion programs, Anglophone students in Quebec and Francophone students outside of Quebec. [...] National Strategy for Early Literacy Factors Linked to Literacy Performance among Students in Minority Language Contexts In an analysis of student performance in the first and second cycles of SAIP, a number of factors were identified as potential contributors to the literacy gap between minority Francophone students and their majority language counterparts (CMEC, 2004). [...] The vitality of minority Francophone communities (e.g., the number and density of French speakers, the degree of institutional completeness, the extent to which French is used in a variety of contexts) is a key determinant of the extent to which minority Francophone children are exposed to French in the larger community outside of their homes. [...] Literacy Among Canadian Students in Minority Language Contexts 21 Schools in Minority Language Contexts French-language schools in minority settings have been described as “a tool of survival, identity-building and reproduction of social models in Francophone minority communities” (Gilbert et al., 2004, p.7), but these schools also face a number of challenges specific to the minority language cont