Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion Graduates

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Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in
French Immersion Graduates

• Erin Goldberg, Kimberly A. Noels, Kristie
  Saumure
• University of Alberta

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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

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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
  Albertas 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.

QUEBEC
ALBERTA
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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.

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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?

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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
Intrinsic Motivation The motivation to engage in
an activity because it is enjoyable.
I love speaking, understanding, and the ability
to use French.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
Integrated Regulation Extrinsically-motivated
behavior fits in with the rest of the persons
life goals.
French is a part of my background and who I am.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
Identified Regulation Performing an activity due
because of personally-relevant reasons.
Receiving a bilingual undergraduate degree will
offer me so much in the future.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
Introjected Regulation Performing an activity
due to internal pressure (i.e., guilt).
I figured as I already knew French, Id best not
lose it.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
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 theyre gone I will transfer to English.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Self-Determination Theory (Deci Ryan, 1985)

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
AMOTIVATION
EXTERNAL REGULATION
INTROJECTED REGULATION
IDENTIFIED REGULATION
INTEGRATED REGULATION
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.
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Motivation to Learn French

• Gardner, 1985

INTEGRATIVE ORIENTATION
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.
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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).

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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
  didnt know French.

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Eureka!

• 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.

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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
UofA 8.3 4.2 8.3 14.6 6.3 18.8
UofA SR -0.8 0.0 -2.3 -0.1 -0.5 0.2
FSJ n 5 1 14 4 3 4
FSJ 20.0 4.0 56.0 16.0 8.0 16.0
FSJ SR 1.1 0.0 3.2 0.1 1.0 -0.2
x2 23.173 , p lt .05
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Ethnic Identity

• Allegiance to a group with which one has shared
  experiences.
• Subtractive bilingualism
• Additive bilingualism
• Situated Ethnic Identity
• Ones 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
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Hypotheses

• FSJ students have a higher Francophone identity
  than do UofA students, especially in the school
  domain.
• Francophone identity is higher in situations
  involving school and friends, which parallels
  patterns of language use.

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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?

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Eureka!

• 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.

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Eureka!

• 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.

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Qualitative Analysis

• Ethnic Identity Labels

Bilingual-Canadian English-Canadian Canadian Other (e.g., French-Canadian, Chinese-Canadian, etc.)
University of Alberta 44.6 27.6 14.9 12.9
Faculté Saint-Jean 60.0 12.0 24.0 4.0
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Qualitative Analysis

• 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.
• Im just Canadian knowing French does not
  change that.
• French does not affect my ethnic identity at all.

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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.

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Questions?