The Depreciated Status of FSL Instruction in Canada

Abstract

An analysis was conducted of relevant documents published by federal and provincial governments and other French as a Second Language (FSL) stakeholders to examine whether governmental and school board policies are contributing to the general decline in status of FSL instruction in Canada. Federal documents published by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Canadian Heritage, and other branches of the Government of Canada were included in the analysis, as were provincial documents produced by Ministries of Education. Published documents by several FSL stakeholders such as Canadian Parents for French were also included in the analysis, as were conversations held between the researcher and school board officials. The analysis demonstrated that drastic cuts to federal funding of FSL programs, inconsistencies in programming within and amongst provinces, and a general lack of respect for FSL studies at the school board level have all contributed to the message that French is a subject of lesser importance in Canada.