Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion Graduates

1. Attitudes, Motivation and Ethnic Identity in French Immersion Graduates Erin Goldberg, Kimberly A. Noels, & Kristie Saumure University of Alberta

2. 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

3. 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 Alberta’s 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

4. 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.

5. Grand Design Motivation ? Ethnic Identity Language Use • 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?

6. Motivation to Learn French EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL REGULATION • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985)

7. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL REGULATION • Intrinsic Motivation • The motivation to engage in an activity because it is enjoyable. • “I love speaking, understanding, and the ability to use French.”

8. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL REGULATION • Integrated Regulation • Extrinsically-motivated behavior fits in with the rest of the person’s life goals. • “French is a part of my background and who I am.”

9. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL 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.”

10. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL REGULATION • Introjected Regulation • Performing an activity due to internal pressure (i.e., guilt). • “I figured as I already knew French, I’d best not lose it.”

11. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL 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 they’re gone I will transfer to English.”

12. Motivation to Learn French • Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION INTRINSIC MOTIVATION AMOTIVATION INTEGRATED REGULATION IDENTIFIED REGULATION INTROJECTED REGULATION EXTERNAL 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.”

13. 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.”

14. Hypothesis • 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).

15. 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 didn’t know French.

16. 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.

17. 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. * x2= 23.173 , p < .05

18. Ethnic Identity • Allegiance to a group with which one has shared experiences. • Subtractive bilingualism • Additive bilingualism • Situated Ethnic Identity • One’s 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

19. 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.

20. Method Never been in this situation 1 Not at all Anglophone 2 3 Slightly Anglophone 4 5 Quite a bit Anglophone 6 7 Very strongly Anglophone 1 Not at all Francophone 2 3 Slightly Francophone 4 5 Quite a bit Francophone 6 7 Very strongly Francophone • 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?

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Qualitative Analysis • Ethnic Identity Labels

24. 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. • I’m just Canadian – knowing French does not change that. • French does not affect my ethnic identity at all.

25. 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.

26. Questions?