Challenges in Conducting Research on French Literacy: French Immersion

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Challenges in Conducting Research on French
Literacy French Immersion

• Debra Jared
• University of Western Ontario

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Challenges

• French Immersion is a special program whose
  existence is subject to a variety of influences

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Challenges

• French Immersion is a special program whose
  existence is subject to a variety of influences
• Programs vary in of day taught in French

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Challenges

• French Immersion is a special program whose
  existence is subject to a variety of influences
• Programs vary in of day taught in French
• Some children switch to English programs

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Challenges

• French Immersion is a special program whose
  existence is subject to a variety of influences
• Programs vary in of day taught in French
• Some children switch to English programs
• Finding testers who can speak French well enough
  to administer tests in French

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Challenges

• French Immersion is a special program whose
  existence is subject to a variety of influences
• Programs vary in of day taught in French
• Some children switch to English programs
• Finding testers who can speak French well enough
  to administer tests in French
• Measurement of French language skills

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Measurement

• To publish in top journals, measures need to have
  excellent psychometric properties
• Internal consistency
• Test-retest reliability
• Validity

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Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP)

• Concerns
• The EVIP is based on the PPVTII but there is now
  a PPVTIII
• In English, use outdated but parallel version or
  latest?

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Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP)

• Concerns
• The EVIP is based on the PPVTII but there is now
  a PPVTIII
• In English, use outdated but parallel version or
  latest?
• Problem of cognates

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Échelle de vocabulaire en images Peabody (EVIP)

• 2. Automobile
• 15. Branche
• 16. Kangarou
• 17. Ambulance
• 20. Cercle
• 28. Dentiste
• 33. Liquide

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Reading Assessment

• Woodcock is frequently used test to measure
  English decoding ability, word recognition, and
  reading comprehension

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Reading Assessment

• Woodcock is frequently used test to measure
  English decoding ability, word recognition, and
  reading comprehension
• No French equivalent (yet)

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Reading Assessment

• Woodcock is frequently used test to measure
  English decoding ability, word recognition, and
  reading comprehension
• No French equivalent (yet)
• French Immersion Achievement Test

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Reading Comprehension CLOZE Tasks

• Woodcock
• The cat is playing with a _____. (picture)

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Reading Comprehension CLOZE Tasks

• Woodcock
• The cat is playing with a _____. (picture)
• FIAT
• Il fait très clair ce soir. On peut voir la ____
  dans la ciel.

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Il vente fort.
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One solution when a test exists in English is to
translate it into French

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One solution when a test exists in English is to
translate it into French

• Psychometric properties now unknown

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One solution when a test exists in English is to
translate it into French

• Psychometric properties now unknown
• Items easy in English may be difficult in French
  and vice versa
• PICK vs CUEILLER

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One solution when a test exists in English is to
translate it into French

• Psychometric properties now unknown
• Items easy in English may be difficult in French
  and vice versa
• PICK vs CUEILLER
• Developmental sequence not necessarily the same
  in English and French

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One solution when a test exists in English is to
translate it into French

• Psychometric properties now unknown
• Items easy in English may be difficult in French
  and vice versa
• PICK vs CUEILLER
• Developmental sequence not necessarily the same
  in English and French
• Some structures are language specific
• gender

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Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG)

• Plurals
• They are sitting on a table.
• 2 girls sitting on a table
• 1 boy sitting on a table

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Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG)

• Plurals
• They are sitting on a table.
• 2 girls sitting on a table
• 1 boy sitting on a table
• They Elles/Ils
• -if same picture choices there are two clues,
  number and gender

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Gray Oral Reading Test

• We accept the terms movie, film, and cinema as
  synonymous, assuming that their usage simply
  connotes the critics level of pretentiousness.
  The term movie, however suggests.. The
  terminology film and cinema, on the other hand
  .. The point in distinguishing among these
  terms.

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• Translations need to be done not only from
  English to French but back again from French to
  English

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• Translations need to be done not only from
  English to French but back again from French to
  English
• Permission of test publisher needs to be obtained
  to alter a test

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• A second solution when a French test does not
  exist is to create your own and then carry out
  analyses to examine its psychometric properties

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Test construction Issues

• Often needs several passes

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Test construction Issues

• Often needs several passes
• All items need to be administered

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Test construction Issues

• Often needs several passes
• All items need to be administered
• Items should be not be answerable using knowledge
  of English
• Cognates should be avoided
• Word attack tests should use pseudowords that
  would be pronounced differently in English and
  French e.g. CHAIT

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• Test development is very time consuming
• Choice of items not easily turned over to an RA

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• Test development is very time consuming
• Choice of items not easily turned over to an RA
• To get psychometric information the responses of
  each child on every item need to be entered into
  a computer file

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Advantages

• There seems to be an increasing interest in the
  academic community in literacy research on
  bilinguals

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Advantages

• There seems to be an increasing interest in the
  academic community in literacy research on
  bilinguals
• CLLRnet needs projects with populations other
  than unilingual anglophones

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Advantages

• There seems to be an increasing interest in the
  academic community in literacy research on
  bilinguals
• CLLRnet needs projects with populations other
  than unilingual anglophones
• Less demand on these populations from other
  researchers

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Advantages

• There seems to be an increasing interest in the
  academic community in literacy research on
  bilinguals
• CLLRnet needs projects with populations other
  than unilingual anglophones
• Less demand on these populations from other
  researchers
• French Immersion parents typically appreciate the
  need for research