Canadian high school students often discard second language study from their timetable to make room for courses in mathematics or computer science. This decision can come back to haunt them later, according to Larry Vandergrift, who has encountered some of these students later in their academic careers, wishing they had become more bilingual when they had the chance.
For this associate professor in the Second Language Institute, the problem highlights the need to improve the way in which second languages are taught to ensure young people appreciate the value of developing this skill. Now, thanks to a grant from SSHRC, Vandergrift has been given an unrivalled opportunity to help develop such a strategy.
He has been named a Virtual-Scholar-in-Residence, a distinction that frees him from his normal teaching responsibilities for a year and provides him with $50,000 in support. Working closely with Canadian Heritage, Vandergrift is looking forward to taking stock of second language programs across Canada to assess what changes are needed.
In 2003, the federal government set a goal of doubling the number of graduates who are functionally proficient in a second official language by the year 2013.
“If we’re going to reach that target, we’re going to have to do something about core French,” says Vandergrift, “because that’s where the majority of students are learning the language. There’s a lot of unhappiness with students within the program, and they demonstrate their unhappiness with their feet.”
What such students lack, adds Vandergrift, is the necessary enthusiasm and confidence to keep on studying the language. His ongoing work at the Second Language Institute, which is currently also being supported by SSHRC, is examining ways of reinforcing those qualities in a conventional classroom setting.
