Minority Populations in Canadian Second Language Education

Katy Arnett is Associate Professor, St Mary’s College of Maryland, USA, having worked in second language education for 12 years. Her research interests include inclusion in second language learning and newcomer learning, and she is the author of Languages for All: How to Support and Challenge Students in a Second Language Classroom (Pearson Education Canada, 2013).Callie Mady worked as a language teacher for 16 years and is presently an Associate Professor at Nipissing University, Canada. Her research interests include inclusion in second language education and additional language learning. She is currently the President of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics.

Teaching these languages poses its own set of problems: a lack of qualified teachers, few appropriate materials, and little knowledge of how best to approach these issues. This volume is an excellent starting point for research in these four areas. Each chapter has a copious bibliography and neatly describes the issues at hand. The writing is clear; it avoids overwhelming the reader with statistics and jargon but remains scholarly. Anyone interested in different language issues in Canada would be well advised to start here.

• Introduction: Broadening the Lens of Second Language Education in Canada: Minority Populations in Canadian Second Language Education: Katy Arnett and Callie MadySection 1: French as an Additional Language: Immigrants’ Learning of French in English-dominant Canada1. Adding Languages, Adding Benefits: Immigrant Students’ Attitudes Towards and Performance in FSOL Programs in Canada: Callie Mady2. Learning French in British Columbia: English as Additional Language Learner and Parent Perspectives: Wendy Carr3. French is Hard: An English Language Learner’s Experience in Core French: Jordana Garbati Section 2: Maintenance of their Heritage Languages and Cultures4. Fostering Heritage Languages and Diasporic Identities: The Role of Grassroots Initiatives in Alberta and British Colmbia: Martin Guardado and Ava Becker5. Self, Identity, and Motivation in the Development and Maintenance of German as a Heritage Language: Kimberley Noels6. Learning Chinese as a Heritage Language: Patsy Duff and Duanduan Li Section 3: Individuals with Disabilities and Second Language Study7. The Genesis and Perpetuation of Exemptions and Transfers from French Second Language Programs for Students with Diverse Learning Needs: A Preliminary Examination and Their Link to Inclusion: Katy Arnett8. Reading Without Borders: At Risk Students Transitioning from L1 to L2 in French Immersion: Renée Bourgoin and Joseph Dicks9. The Writing Processes of a Grade 7 French Immersion Student with Asperger Syndrome: Josée Le Bouthillier Section 4: The Revival, Maintenance, and Growth of Aboriginal Languages in Canada10. A Fair Country? Consideration of Canada’s Debt to Indigenous Language Renewal: Donna-Lee Smith, Josephine Peck, and Donald Taylor11. First Nations, Métis, and Inuit K-12 Language Programming: What Works?: Carmen Gillies and Marie Battiste12. How have Aboriginal North Americans Responded to Writing Systems in Their Own Languages: Barbara BurnabyConclusion: Additional Conceptions of Second Language Education in Canada: Callie Mady and Katy ArnettIndex