that people come in batches: for instance, manics and depressives, schizophrenics and hysterics, and so on. They also know that there are engineers and actors.
A comparison of early and late second language learning FRED GENESEE McGill University
The comparative effectiveness of three types of French immersion programs was evaluated: (a) early total immersion, (b) one-year late immersion, and (c) two-year late immersion. Samples of students from grades 7, 8, and 9 of each program were included in the evaluations. Their proficiency in French was assessed using the following kinds of language tests: reading comprehension, writing, language arts, dictation, listening comprehension, and oral production. Statistical analyses of the results at each grade level revealed that the early immersion and two-year late immersion students had achieved generally higher levels of proficiency in French than the one-year late immersion students, whereas there were few differences in performance between the former two groups. There were also indications from the results that the differential between the one-year late group and the other two immersion groups was narrowing in the higher grades. The findings are discussed in terms of their practical educational significance, particularly with respect to the role of follow-up programs, and in terms of their theoretical implications with respect to the critical period hypothesis for second language learning.
A number of Canadian studies have demonstrated the general pedagogical effectiveness of French immersion school programs in which a second language is used as the sole or major medium of curriculum instruction for English-speaking children (Genesee, 1978a; Genesee, Polich, & Stanley, 1977; Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Swain, 1978). These studies indicate that students who participate in French immersion programs acquire competence in the second language that is far superior to that of comparable students in programs where French is taught as a separate subject for a limited part of the school day. At the same time, immersion students attain the same level of English language development and academic achievement as students educated solely in English. Findings indicate further that immersion programs are effective with students from lower as well as middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds (Bruck, Tucker, & Jakimik, 1975), with students with low levels of intellectual ability as well as those of average or above average ability (Genesee, 1976), and even with students who have disabilities in English (Bruck, 1978). A number of alternative forms of immersion have been developed, varying with respect to the proportion of curriculum instruction provided in the second language and the grade level(s) during which the second language is used extensively. Thus, This research was made possible by research grants to the Instructional Services Department of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal from le Ministers de l'£ducation du Qu6bec. I am grateful to La Commission des Ecoles Catholiques de Montreal for permission to use the Tests de rendement. I would also like to thank Drs M. Bruck, McGill-Montreal Children's Hospital Learning Centre, G.R. Tucker, Center for Applied Linguistics, and Jyotsna Vaid, McGill University, for helpful comments on a draft of this report. CANAD. J. BEHAV. SCI./REV. CANAD. Set. COMP. 13(2), 1981
116
GENESEE
in early total French immersion (Genesec, 1978a, for a full description), all curriculum instruction is presented via French during the primary grades (kindergarten, 1, 2, and sometimes even 3 or 4). Subsequently, a follow-up program is provided in which varying proportions of select course material continue to be taught via French at the same time that other subjects are taught via English. In contrast, so called late immersion programs delay use of the second language as the main medium of instruction until the end of elementary or the beginning of secondary school, i e., grades 7 or 8. At this time usually all courses, except English, are taught via the second language. A follow-up program, varying in intensity and consisting of instruction in a number of select courses via French, is provided in the higher grades (Genesec et al., 1977, for an evaluation of this type of program). The results of a number of evaluations indicate that early total immersion students usually acquire significantly higher levels of second language competence than do one-year late immersion students, and at the same time demonstrate equivalent English language development and academic achievement (Bruck, Lambert, & Tucker, 1976; Cziko, Holobow, & Lambert, Note 1; Genesee, Note 2; Swain, 1978; Troue, Note 3). The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the second language achievement of students in a two-year (grades 7 and 8) late immersion program in comparison with that of students in a one-year (grade 7) late immersion program and an early total immersion program. The two-year program consists of two years of immersion in grades 7 and 8 during which all curriculum instruction, except English language arts, is in French. Students who take this option have already had 7 years (K to 6) of regular French-as-a-second language. The two years of immersion are followed in grades 9 to 11 by a follow-up program consisting of one intensive course in French language arts and one other subject taught in French each year. This option is a recent innovation irrthe use of immersion and, in fact, it had not been evaluated at the time that this research was begun. Thus, this study is of some pedagogical significance in contributing to our knowledge of the relative effectiveness of alternative second language programs. In view of previous comparisons of early and late alternatives, one would expect early immersion students to outperform two year late immersion students. In addition to their educational significance, the results of this study also lend themselves to an evaluation of the so-called critical period or optimal age hypothesis for second language learning. A number of theoretical perspectives, including the notion of language learning as an innate ability that dissipates with age (Chomsky, 1972; McNeill, 1970), and that of neural plasticity which also decreases with age and concomitantly reduces one's language learning ability (Lennebcrg, 1967; Penfield & Roberts, 1959), have advocated early instruction in a second language. While both arguments are ostensibly presented in terms of first language acquisition, they apply equally to second language learning. Thus, according to a simple version of the hypothesis, one would expect second language
EARLY AND LATE SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
117
teaming to be more rapid and complete if learning occurs prior to a certain critical age, usually argued to occur around puberty (Lenneberg, 1967), than if learning occurs after the critical age. In accord with the hypothesis, a small number of empirical studies which have examined second language achievement over the long term in natural contexts suggest that individuals who begin learning a second language during childhood ultimately attain higher levels of proficiency than those who begin learning in adolescence or adulthood (Asher & Garcia, 1969; Oyama, 1976, 1978; Seliger, Krashen, & Ladefoged, 1975). However, contrary to the hypothesis, a number of other studies report that older learners attain higher levels of second language achievement than younger learners given equivalent short term exposure. These latter studies have examined language learning both in natural contexts (Ervin-Tripp, 1974; Fathman, 1975; Snow & Hoefnagel-Hohle, 1978) and in formal or school settings which involved relatively traditional instructional techniques, such as drills or audiolingual methods that emphasized acquisition of language structure (Asher & Price, 1967; Burstall, 1974; Grinder, Otomo, & Toyota, 1962; Olson & Samuels, 1973). In contrast with other school settings in which this issue has been examined, the early immersion program provides extended, naturalistic second language exposure. Consequently, one might expect greater second language achievement among students who begin immersion in kindergarten than among those who begin in secondary school. Comparison of early immersion students with two-year late immersion students is particularly pertinent here since the latter alternative provides an approximately equivalent exposure to total immersion, namely two years, as does the former alternative. Thus, discussion of the critical period hypothesis will focus on the results of this specific comparison. METHOD The Samples The following groups of students participated in the evaluations (see Table 1 for sample sizes): 1. Early immersion. These students had been in an early immersion program since kindergarten and were following a 40% follow-up program in French in grades 7, 8, and 9. 2. One-year late immersion. These students had followed a regular English curriculum with French-as-a-second language (FSL) instruction for 20 to 30 minutes/day from kindergarten to grade 6, and had been in a one-year late immersion program in grade 7. In grades 8 and 9, they followed a 40% follow-up program in French; the follow-up options available to these students were not the same as those for the early immersion students. The one-year late immersion students were divided into two subgroups, depending upon whether the immersion program they attended was in a centre that offered only grade 7 immersion (the Centre group) or in a wing of a regular English school that also offered FSL instruction (the Wing group). This contrast was included initially to evaluate the effectiveness of these two models, the expectation being that the Centre students might achieve higher levels of proficiency in French than the Wing students owing to the greater "Frenchncss" of the centres where all communication within the school and between the school and home was in French. This distinction was dropped in the grade 9 evaluation in order to streamline testing somewhat. The grade 9 one-year late immersion sample included an equal number of Wing and Centre students.
118
GENESEE
TABLE 1 Summary of sample sizes
Grade
Early immersion
Grade 7 immersion Centre
(a) Excluding oral production evaluation Grade 7 31 38 Grade 8 33 40 Grade 9 38 54 (b) For oral production evaluations Grade 7 31 38 GradeS 33 40 Grade 9 22 31
Grade 7/8 immersion
French control
English control
37 40
a 36 62
15 14 24
37 35 47
37 40
a 36 29
15 14 16
37 35 30
Wing
a Same as Grade 7 immersion. 3. Two-year late immersion. These students had been in a two-year grade 7-8 late immersion program preceded by FSI. instruction from kindergarten to grade 6. The grade 9 students were taking one intensive French language arts course and one subject in French, i.e., 40% of their course load. Grade 7 students from this program were not evaluated since this year of the program is identical to grade 7 of the one-year late immersion program. 4. English control. These students had been following the regular English curriculum with FSL. None of the students in the immersion or English Control groups spoke French as a native language, nor did they have close relatives who spoke French. Furthermore, the results of surveys carried out with similar early immersion, one-year late immersion and FSL students suggest that none of these groups has appreciably greater exposure to French outside school than the others (Genesee, 1978b), indicating that extra-curricular exposure to French is not likely to play a major role in test performance. 5. French control. These students all spoke French as a native language and were attending regular all-French schools. All samples were drawn from schools in predominantly middle class neighborhoods by selecting intact class groups. Selection of the English samples was based on the students' IQ as measured by the Canadian Lorge Thomdikc Test of Intelligence. Although 10 information was not available for all of the grade 7 and 8 students, the information that was available indicated that they were comparable and included average to above average students. Information on ig was available for the entire grade 9 anglophone group. Analyses of variance of their io scores, using language program as the main variable, failed to reveal statistically significant differences between the groups, TO, 189) = .81, p > .05. Test Battery With the exception of the Tests de rendement, identical tests were administered to the grade 7 and S samples. Alternative forms of the same types of tests were administered to the grade 9 samples. 1. Test de rendement en francais. This test assesses a variety of French language arts skills, including spelling, parts of speech, word knowledge, logical sequencing, and comprehension of prose. Appropriate levels of the test were administered to each grade level. Statistical analyses were performed on stanine scores which are based on the performance of native French-speaking students attending French schools in Montreal. 2. Reading: Test de lecture. The grade 7 and 8 reading test consisted of two cloze passages from which every seventh word had been deleted and replaced by a dash. The students had to fill in the spaces by supplying the missing words. The total acceptable response method was used to score the tests.
EARLY AND LATE SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
119
The grade 9 students were administered the Test de comprehension de l'ccrit (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1977a) which consists of 10 separate items (e.g., newspaper articles, a brief story, arecipe)followed by a number of multiple-choice questions. Total correct scores were analyzed 3. Dictation: La dictie. The students were asked to transcribe a text presented orally by the examiner. The text wasreadthree times - first without interruption, while the students listened; a second time, in short segments, as the students transcribed it; and a final time, again without interruption, to allow the students to make corrections. Each student's score comprised the total number of words that were misspelled, added, or omitted. 4. Writing: Composition. The grade 8 and 9 students were asked to write a composition of 75 to 100 words based on one of several topics provided by the examiner. The compositions were written in one 45-minute class period. Each composition was subsequently assigned a global rating based on the independent judgments of two raters, both native French-speakers. The ratings ranged from 5 (superior) to 1 (very poor) and took into account the ideas expressed in the composition, the form and quality of presentation, richness of vocabulary, and complexity of sentence structure. Detailed error analyses of sub-samples of the compositions were also carried out but are not reported here (see Genesee & Morcos, Note 4). 5. Listening comprehension: Test de comprehension auditive. The grade 7 and 8 students werereada story extracted from a secondary school reader and then answered multiple-choice questionsrelatedto it. The story wasreadtwice with the relevant questions following the second reading. The grade 9 listening comprehension test (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1977b) consisted of a series of items excerpted from French radio broadcasts, e.g., news items, a weather forecast, and an interview, followed by a number of multiple-choice questions. Both tests were administered by means of recl-to-reel tape recorders. Total correct scores were analyzed statistically. 6. Speaking: Production orale. A sub-sample of each student group (see Table 1) was interviewed individually for 5-10 minutes by one of two native French-speaking interviewers. The interviews, which were initiated by having each student describe a cartoon picture and were continued by engaging the student in a short conversation on matters of interest to him/her, were tape recorded for later analyses. The interviewers were "blind" as to the school group of each student. Each student's interview was later rated blind by two native French-speaking evaluating, working independently, on five different dimensions: comprehension, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and communicativeness. The communicativeness dimension was intended to assess the student's willingness to speak French and his/herfluencywhile doing so. The ratings ranged from a maximum of 5, indicating excellent or nativelike skill, to a minimum of /, indicating very poor skill. The ratings of both evaluators were combined to form an average score for each dimension. The French Control students' interviews were included during the evaluation of the speech samples to provide a basis of comparison for the other groups, but they were not included in the statistical analyses because of their small numbers.
RESULTS
Test results have been analyzed by means of analysis of variance using language program (early immersion, one-year late immersion, divided into centre and wing subgroups in the grade 7 and 8 analyses, two-year late immersion, English Control, and French Control) as the basis of classification. Newman-Keuls Tests of Multiple Comparisons were carried out whenever the analyses of variance revealed significant main effects. The test results and statistical analyses are summarized in Tables 2 to 4.
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GENESEE
TABLE 2 Summary of Grade 7 test results
Tests
French control
1. Test de rendement en francais (9)
N.A.*
4.80
3.70
3.55
1.90
39.74*
2. Test de lecture (29)
25.95
23.88
19.92
18.54
9.88
57.37*
5.24
4.75
10.40
11.02
27.72
70.58*
4. Test de comprehension auditive (20)
15.02
13.50
11.08
10.02
N.A."
31.51*
5. Production oraleb (a) Comprehension (5)
5.00
4.48
4.02
3.88
2.90
34.41*
(b) Pronunciation (5)
4.86
3.78
3.67
3.52
2.72
22.45*
(c) Grammar (5)
4.05
3.75
3.56
3.44
2.72
26.04*
2.54
22.70*
2.46
22.28*
3. Ladictec
Early immersion
Centre
Wing
(d) Vocabulary (5)
4.95
3.76
3.45
3.34
(e) Communicativeness (S)
4.81
3.63
3.30
3.26
English control
F ratio
Note. Maximum test scores are presented in parentheses. Means joined by a solid line do not differ significantly from one another according to the Newman-Keuls Multiple Comparison procedure. *N.A. Not administered. 'Trench control results were not analyzed statistically. *p< .001.
Grade7 The Early Immersion students scored significantly higher than the one-year late immersion students, both Centre and Wing, on all of the tests except the pronunciation and grammar scales of the oral production evaluation, in which cases there were no significant differences. There were no significant differences between the Centre and Wing students on any of the tests. Comparisons between the immersion and English Control groups revealed that the latter scored significantly lower than the former on all of the tests. Comparisons with the French Control group revealed that they scored significantly higher than all three immersion groups, except in the case of reading comprehension and dictation, where the Early Immersion students scored at the same level as the French Controls. The English Control students scored significantly lower than the French Control students on all of the tests. The Early Immersion students scored in the average stanine range (4-5-6) for francophone students on the Test de rendement en francais; the Centre and Wing students scored somewhat below average; and the English Control group scored well below average.
TABLE 3 Summary of Grade 8 test results
Tests
French control
1. Test de rendement en franc, ais (9)
N.A. a
5.27
5.57
4.29
3.61
2.85
2. Test de lecture (29)
26.69
24.50
24.60
20.63
18.77
17.78
34.01*
2.51
7.05
4.00
11.07
11.18
18.54
41.44*
15.40
12.63
13.15
10.86
9.59
10.13
27,99*
S. Composition (5)
3.30
2.49
2.56
2.00
1.81
1.66
40.04*
6. Production oraleb (a) Comprehension (5)
5.00
4.69
4.55
4.49
4.04
3.35
13.07*
(b) Pronunciation (5)
4.79
3.57
3,60
3.15
2.79
2.18
17.89*
(c) Grammar (5)
4.71
3.34
3.35
3.02
2,72
2.02
15.86*
