Sociolinguistic Competence of Immersion Students

Raymond Mougeon received a PhD in linguistics from McGill University. He received numerous research grants from Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the Ontario Ministry of Education. He has written extensively on topics such as the diachrony of variation in European French, variation in the spoken French of Franco-Ontarian students and immersion students and aspects of the ethno-linguistic vitality of Ontario’s francophone community. He is current director of the Centre for Research on Language Contact on the Glendon campus of York University.Terry Nadasdi obtained a PhD in French linguistics from the University of Toronto. His research focuses on grammatical variation in French-English language contact situations, e.g.: minority language speakers and learners of French as a second language. His research also involves the creation of online grammar checkers for English and French (e.g.: www.bonpatron.com). He is currently a Full Professor in the University of Alberta’s Linguistics Department.Katherine Rehner received a PhD in Second Language Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Her research and publications centre on the development of sociolinguistic competence by first and second language speakers of French and on the role of educational input in the development of such competence. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Linguistics and the Teaching and Learning programs in the Department of Language Studies at the University of Toronto, Mississauga.

In previous studies, the team of Mougeon, Nadasdi, and Rehner has contributed greatly to our understanding of variation in second language learners' speech. The Sociolinguistic Competence of Immersion Students sets a new standard for researchers in the sociolinguistics of L2 speech and represents a major contribution to both second language acquisition and sociolinguistics.

• Ch. 1 IntroductionCh. 2 MethodologyCh. 3 Findings of L1 StudiesCh. 4 ResultsCh. 5 The Potential Benefits of Increased Fl1 Input in an Educational ContextCh. 6 ConclusionAppendix A: Semi-directed taped interview schedule—including reading passagesAppendix B: Student questionnaire surveyAppendix C: Objectives of the Ontario Ministry of Education concerning the development of sociolinguistic competence by secondary school French immersion studentsAppendix D: Results of the GoldVarb analyses of the sociolinguistic variables focused upon in the current research