Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion Graduates

Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion

Graduates

Erin Goldberg, Kimberly A. Noels, & Kristie Saumure

University of Alberta

Outline Introduction

• French Immersion

• Faculté Saint-Jean

Motivation

• Self-Determination Theory

• Hypothesis, Method, Quantitative & Qualitative Results

Ethnic Identity & Language Use

• Situated Ethnic Identity Theory

• Hypothesis, Method, Quantitative & Qualitative Results

Conclusions

What is French Immersion?

• Program in which children are immersed in French language instruction so that they are functional in two languages upon completion of the program.

• In 1999, 7.9% of Canadian students (and 7.3% of Alberta’s high school students) were enrolled in a second language immersion program, 92% of these outside of Quebec (Statistics Canada, 2004).

• French immersion in Alberta

– early vs. late French immersion programs

– French immersion in high school: an iffy topic.

ALBERTA

QUEBEC

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Faculté Saint-Jean

• The only post-secondary institution west of Manitoba with an exclusively French curriculum.

• Offers degrees in education, arts and sciences, as well as business and engineering degrees in conjunction with University of Alberta.

• Approximately 500 students attend each year.

• Students come from diverse locations across Canada as well as other Francophone nations, particularly African countries.

Grand Design

The purpose of this research is to discover:

• What motivates students to continue to learn French?

• What types of identities do French immersion high school graduates have? Are these identities situation-specific?

• Is there a fundamental difference in the identities of French immersion students who continue in a French university and those who do not?

• How does identity relate to language use?

Motivation

Ethnic Identity Language Use

?

Motivation to Learn French

Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985)

EXTERNALREGULATION

INTROJECTEDREGULATION

IDENTIFIEDREGULATION

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

INTEGRATEDREGULATION

AMOTIVATIONINTRINSIC MOTIVATION



Intrinsic Motivation

The motivation to engage in an activity because it is enjoyable.

“I love speaking, understanding, and the ability to use French.”

AMOTIVATIONEXTERNAL

REGULATIONINTROJECTEDREGULATION







Integrated Regulation

Extrinsically-motivated behavior fits in with the rest of the person’s life goals.

“French is a part of my background and who I am.”

EXTERNALREGULATION








Identified Regulation

Performing an activity due because of personally-relevant reasons.

“Receiving a bilingual undergraduate degree will offer me so much in the future.”

EXTERNALREGULATION








Introjected Regulation

Performing an activity due to internal pressure (i.e., guilt).

“I figured as I already knew French, I’d best not lose it.”

EXTERNALREGULATION








External Regulation

Performing an activity to achieve some instrumental end (i.e., earning a reward, avoiding punishment).

“I got a lot of scholarships to continue French. Once they’re gone I will transfer to English.”

EXTERNALREGULATION








Amotivation

Having no reason, intrinsic or extrinsic, for performing an activity.

“I am not continuing French language training cause it is not the most important thing for me

right now.”

EXTERNALREGULATION







Gardner, 1985

Integrative Orientation

The desire to learn a second language in order to have contact and identify with members of the second language community.

“I am happy to be able to communicate with a segment of our population that comes from

another cultural tradition.”

INTEGRATIVE ORIENTATION

Hypothesis

1. Faculté Saint-Jean (FSJ) students are more motivated to learn French for self-determined intrinsic reasons (e.g., enjoyment), while University of Alberta (UofA) students are more motivated to learn French for external regulation reasons (e.g., course credit).

Method

Participants

– 47 University of Alberta students in introductory psychology classes.

– 25 Faculté Saint-Jean students in introductory classes.

– All participants speak English as a native language and were registered in a French immersion program in high school.

Materials

– Language Learning Orientation Scale (Noels et al., 2000)

• e.g., I would feel embarrassed or ashamed if I didn’t know French.

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Eureka! Figure 1: Motivational Orientations for Language Learning (full sample)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Amotivation External Introjected Identified Intrinsic Integrative

Orientation

Mea

n

• All students had a clear reason for learning French.

• French is important and personally relevant to both groups of students.

• No significant differences between the motivational orientations of the UofA and FSJ students in the quantitative analysis.

Qualitative Analysis

BUT…Qualitative analysis suggests that Faculté Saint-Jean students reported that they are learning French for identified regulation reasons more often than University of Alberta students.

Intrinsic Integrated Identified* Introjected External Integrative

UofA n 4 2 4 7 3 9

% 8.3 4.2 8.3 14.6 6.3 18.8

SR -0.8 0.0 -2.3 -0.1 -0.5 0.2

FSJ n 5 1 14 4 3 4

% 20.0 4.0 56.0 16.0 8.0 16.0

SR 1.1 0.0 3.2 0.1 1.0 -0.2

* x2= 23.173 , p < .05

Ethnic Identity

– Allegiance to a group with which one has shared experiences.

– Subtractive bilingualism

– Additive bilingualism

– Situated Ethnic Identity

• One’s ethnic identity may depend on the situation one is in (e.g., public vs. private).

Native Language &

Culture

New Language &

Culture

Native Language &

Culture

New Language &

Culture

Hypotheses

2. FSJ students have a higher Francophone identity than do UofA students, especially in the school domain.

3. Francophone identity is higher in situations involving school and friends, which parallels patterns of language use.

Method

Materials

– Situated Ethnic Identity Scale (Noels, 2003)

• e.g., I am discussing an assignment with a student in my class. I feel…

– Language Use Index

• e.g., How often do you speak French at home?

1Not at all

Anglophone

2

3Slightly

Anglophone

4 5Quite a bit

Anglophone

6 7Very strongly Anglophone

1Not at all

Francophone

2

3Slightly

Francophone

4 5Quite a bit

Francophone

6 7Very strongly Francophone

Never been in this situation

http://www.yourcareerquest.com/images/content/rn_questionnaire.jpg

Eureka!Figure 2: Identity as a function of group and situational domain.


1

2

3

4

5

6

7

family friend school publicDomain

Iden

tity

(m

ean)

Anglophone identityFrancophone identity

Faculté Saint-Jean

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

family friend school public

Domain

Iden

tity

(mea

n)

• Additive bilingualism is demonstrated in both groups.

• UofA students show a constant Anglophone identity and a variable Francophone identity.

• Compared to the UofA students, FSJ students have a higher Francophone identity at school and a higher Anglophone identity with family.

Eureka!Figure 2: Language Use Index Scores

1

2

3

4

5

Family Friends School Public

Domain

Mea

n


Faculté Saint-Jean• Patterns of language use parallel patterns of ethnic identity within and between the two groups of students.

• FSJ students speak French significantly more than UofA students at school and with friends.


Ethnic Identity Labels

Bilingual-

Canadian

English-Canadia

n

Canadian

Other (e.g., French-

Canadian, Chinese-

Canadian, etc.)


44.6% 27.6% 14.9% 12.9%

Faculté Saint-Jean

60.0% 12.0% 24.0% 4.0%


When asked about the link between language and their ethnic identity, participants responded with the following themes:

– French makes me feel proud.

– French makes me feel Canadian.

– French connects me to French Canadians and their culture.

– French is a character-building skill that will be advantageous in the future.

– French helps me understand my cultural and historical heritage.

– I’m just Canadian – knowing French does not change that.

– French does not affect my ethnic identity at all.

Therefore…

• FSJ students were not found to be more intrinsically motivated than UofA students…

but qualitative analysis suggests that they have a greater identified regulation.

• FSJ students have a higher Francophone identity than UofA students in the school and public domains, and a higher Anglophone identity in the family domain.

• Language use parallels the patterns of ethnic identity.

Questions?

Documents

Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion Graduates