FI as a Contextual Modifier

Despite five decades of research and recommendations, neurodivergent students continue to struggle disproportionately in French Immersion (Bruck, 1978/79, 1985; Swain & Lapkin, 1982, 2005; Cummins, 1983, 1984, 2007, 2014; Genesee, 1992, 2007;  Muhling & Mady, 2017; Arnett & Bourgoin, 2017; Garett & Mady 2024). 

French immersion (FI) is, and has been since its inception, a stratified space; its origins trace back to the days of Quebec’s Quiet Revolution, during which it emerged as a model of public education at the behest of Anglophone parents in St. Lambert, QC in 1965 (Lambert & Tucker, 1972). 

Historically, it has been at least semi-selective about its participants (Kunnas, 2023), and subject to linguistic ideologies (Roy, 2020) and monolingual bias (Genesee, 2022), and the retention of students and recruitment of teachers has been challenging (PGF Consultants, 2025). 

The literature has substantiated that FI programs are appropriate for ND learners because of the diverse modalities used in second language (L2) acquisition, as well as the explicit instruction and code-switching required in L2 programs (Genesee, 2007; Bourgoin 2014, 2016). Some research has suggested that the ‘levelling effect’ that an immersive environment has on all learners may make FI a better learning environment for (Poliquin & Moussa, 2025; Antoniou, 2019; Genesee & Jared, 2008).

FI is also a space of social sorting, and one that often results in systemic exclusion. Many students leave FI because they aren’t being supported to stay, perpetuating the mistaken belief that these learners ‘don’t belong’ in FI. Unfortunately, in many BC schools, Learning Assistance (in English or French) is often not available to FI students (Muhling & Mady, 2017). 

A FI education confers social and linguistic capital. Unfortunately, if the support needs of FI students are not accurately documented, staffing ratios will continue to be understated, classroom teachers will continue to be overwhelmed, ND students will continue to be underrepresented in FI, English track classrooms will continue to become disproportionately more complex in need, and the 'elitist' reputation of FI will prevail.

For Further Reading

Antoniou, M. (2019). The Advantages of Bilingualism Debate. Annual Review of Linguistics, 5. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011718-011820

Arnett, K., & Bourgoin, R. (2017). Acces Au Succes. Pearson Education Canada.

Ballinger, S., Lyster, R., Sterzuk, A., & Genesee, F. (2017). Context-appropriate crosslinguistic pedagogy: Considering the role of language status in immersion education. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 5(1), 30–57. https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.5.1.02bal

Barrett DeWiele, C. E., & Edgerton, J. D. (2024). Opportunity or inequality? The paradox of French immersion education in Canada. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(2), 114–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1865988

Bourgoin, R. C. (2014). Inclusionary Practices in French Immersion: A Need to Link Research to Practice. Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education/ Revue Canadienne Des Jeunes Chercheures et Chercheurs En Éducation, 5(1). https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/30545

Bourgoin, R. C. (2016). French Immersion “So Why Would You do Something Like That to a Child?”: Issues of Advocacy, Accessibility, and Inclusion. International Journal of Bias, Identity and Diversities in Education (IJBIDE), 1(1), 42–58. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJBIDE.2016010104

Bruck, M. (1978/79). Switching out of French immersion. Interchange, 9 (4), 86-94.

Bruck, M. (1985). Predictors of transfer out of early French immersion programs. Applied Psycholinguistucs, 6, 39-61.

Cummins, J. (1983). Language proficiency, biliteracy and French immersion. Canadian Journal of Education. 8 (20), 117-138.

Cummins, J. (1984). Bilingualism and Special Education. Clevedon, Eng. Multilingual Matters.

Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 221–240.

Cummins, J. (2014). To what extent are Canadian second language policies evidence-based? Reflections on the intersections of research and policy. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00358

Fronsman-Cecil, T. (2022). Halte au capacitisme! A Toolkit for Creating Accessible French Language Classrooms for Neurodiverse Students and Students with Disabilities. In S. Bouamer & L. Bourdeau (Eds.), Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies: New Approaches to Teaching (pp. 117–135). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95357-7_8

Garrett, M. D., & Mady, C. (2024). Teaching in a French Immersion Setting: A Review of the Who, the What and the How. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 14(1), 64–84. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2024.141004

Genesee, F. (1992). Second/foreign language immersion and at-risk English-speaking children. Foreign Language Annals, 25 (3), 199-213.

Genesee, F. (2007). French Immersion and At-Risk Students: A Review of Research Evidence. The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue Canadienne Des Langues Vivantes, 63(5), 654–687.

Genesee, F. (2022). The monolingual bias: A critical analysis. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 10(2), 153–181. https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.21016.gen

Genesee, F., & Jared, D. (2008). Literacy Development in Early French Immersion Programs. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, 49, 140–147. https://doi.org/10.1037/0708-5591.49.2.140

Kunnas, M. (2023). Who Is Immersion for?: A Critical Analysis of French Immersion Policies. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26(1), 46–68. https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2023.32817

Lambert, W. E., & Tucker, G. R. (with Internet Archive). (1972). Bilingual education of children; the St. Lambert experiment. [Rowley, Mass.] Newbury House Publishers. http://archive.org/details/bilingualeducati00lamb

Masson, M., Knouzi, I., Arnott, S., & Lapkin, S. (2021). A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Post-Millennial Canadian French as a Second Language Research across Stakeholders and Programs. The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue Canadienne Des Langues Vivantes, 77(2), 154–187.

Muhling, S., & Mady, C. (2017). Inclusion of Students with Special Education Needs in French as a Second Language Programs: A Review of Canadian Policy and Resource Documents. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Inclusion-of-Students-with-Special-Education-Needs-Muhling-Mady/24fe3d557eb478dddb3b2b15463291db817ff2aa

Meir, N., & Novogrodsky, R. (2025). Multilingualism in Autism. In J. Schaeffer, R. Novogrodsky, A. Perovic, P. Prévost, & L. Tuller, Language in Autism. (Original work published John Wiley & Sons)

Paradis, J., Genesee, F., & Crago, M. (2021). Dual Language Development & Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning. Brookes Publishing.

PGF Consultants. (2025). Investigation of French Immersion Student Attrition, Retention, and Enrolment Trends in B.C. Canadian Parents for French - BC & Yukon. https://cpf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CPF_Investigation-of-FI-student-attrition-retention-and-enrolment-trends-in-BC_v2-1.pdf

Poliquin, L., & Moussa, N. A. (2025). French Immersion as a Neurological Scaffold:Occupational Participation of Children with ASD and Learning Disabilities. European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 7(4), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejmed.2025.7.4.2352

Roy, S. (2020). French Immersion Ideologies in Canada. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

Sanchez-Lopez, C., Genesee, F., & Young, T. (n.d.). Welcoming Bilingual Learners with Disabilities into Dual Language Programs: Research-informed implications for inclusive Programs and practice.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1982). Evaluating Bilingual Education: A Canadian Case Study. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

VanPatten, B., & Simonsen, R. (2022). Language Acquisition in a Nutshell: A Primer for Teachers. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).