Showcase meeting 1 – Thursday October 8, 2026

How can we encourage participants to stay in programs, continue their learning, and keep using French from early childhood through adulthood?

PRESENTATIONS

1. Laurent Cammarata, Ph.D., Full Professor and Researcher at the Faculté Saint-Jean, University of Alberta, and Sarah Fedoration, Ed.D., Language Program Manager at Edmonton Catholic Schools

Attrition happens, but does it have to?

Despite the growing popularity of French immersion (FI) programs, many students leave before completing high school. In some cases, student attrition can reach 73% between kindergarten and grade 12. Laurent Cammarata and Sarah Fedoration will present data on French immersion enrollment as well as findings from a Canada-wide study on the reasons why parents sometimes withdraw their children from these programs. To better address the challenges, it is necessary to collect more precise data in order to understand the causes of attrition and find appropriate solutions.

2. Catherine Levasseur, PhD, associate professor and director of graduate studies at the Institute for Official Languages and Bilingualism (ILOB) at the University of Ottawa.

Supporting the inclusion of youth from French immersion programs within the Canadian Francophone community to promote sustainable French language learning.

Although eager to maintain their French skills beyond the school setting, youth from French immersion programs struggle to find their place in the Canadian Francophone community. Drawing on key findings and major insights from her most recent sociolinguistic research, Ms. Levasseur will address the issue of these young people’s participation in local community activities in French as a means of supporting their long-term language learning. She will discuss the barriers to this participation and present potential solutions and courses of action to overcome them.

PRESENTATION DOCUMENTS

(to come)

PLEASE NOTE : THIS VIRTUAL SHOWCASE MEETING WILL BE ON TEAMS (not Zoom).