Moving into the 21st Century with Second-Language Learning

Researchers: Dana Sanders and Tina Anderson
July 2015

The goal of the French immersion program is to educate students so they are able to be bilingual learners. French immersion programs aim to be successful in the creation of functionally bilingual students. These students should be able to continue their education in French or pursue careers in which bilingualism is necessary. We are proud to be educators in the French immersion program. 

Although we see many benefits from the French immersion program, we were concerned about the quality of spoken French in our classrooms. Young French immersion learners make errors in their oral language because of the influence of their first language which is most often English. Fossilization in the oral speech of our students occurs. Eliminating these errors is a great challenge that for some students is never corrected. 

After reflecting upon our students’ progress, we believed that the use of technology in our classrooms would be an effective tool to motivate and increase practice time. Our ultimate goal was that our students enjoy the art of speaking French. Apple® iPads are easily available and portable; students are very familiar with the technology. An application (app) allowed students to record themselves which provided a bank of data per child while at the same time eliminating the need for intensive one-on-one instruction.