Invisible experiences, muted voices, and the language socialization of Québec, migrant-background students

ABSTRACT

This case study examines the second language socialization of migrant-background (MB) students (n = 8) enrolled in a Greater Montréal public primary school, where the language of instruction is French. This examination includes MB students’ experiences learning French and learning through French, and the impact of their knowledge of other languages on their academic experiences. Teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, and experiences working with MB students were also investigated to outline participants’ needs and challenges in this school context. Data collection included classroom observations (approx. 13 hours), observations of students’ in-class peer interactions, six teacher interviews, two focal group interviews with students, and two individual interviews with parents. Findings reveal that learners were socialized to be French speakers, but as non-native speakers, they are also socialized as deficient French speakers. Students’ other languages were not valued or viewed as a resource, although findings include signs that students secretly used these resources to support their learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Plurilingualism
• multilinguals
• language socialization
• migrant students
• mainstream classrooms

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 All names used for participants are pseudonyms.

2 ‘Services’ include whether students received francisation or resource teacher support at the time of the study or in the past. Francisation refers to students having gone through welcome classes or having receive L2-support.

3 ‘N/A’ indicates that this student had formerly been enrolled in a different school board, and information about the services they received was not transferred to the NSPS.

4 ‘No’ indicates that it was confirmed in NSPS documents that this student had not received francization or resource teacher support in the past.

5 ‘Resource teacher’ indicates that the student was receiving or had received French support from a resource teacher in the past.