The Special Needs French Immersion Student

Can French immersion offer an appropriate quality education for a student with special needs?

French immersion is a program open to all students. Therefore, as students in the regular English program, French immersion students display a wide range of abilities and needs. French immersion students may be gifted or have behavioural, emotional, physical or learning challenges.

The School Act mandates that a school board “may determine that a student is, by virtue of the student’s behavioural, communicational, intellectual, learning or physical characteristics, or a combination of those characteristics, a student in need of a special education program.” Students with special needs are entitled to appropriate quality education that will allow them to develop to their full potential and be self-reliant, responsible, caring and contributing members of society. The French immersion program can provide this quality education to special needs students when instruction is tailored to meet individual needs.

Professionals are often asked to counsel the parents of a special needs child as they decide which educational program would be appropriate for their child. Once it is understood which adaptations need to be made, these professionals (psychologist, speech pathologist, reading clinician, etc.) specify which adjustments should be made to meet the French immersion student’s special needs.

In Alberta, over 90% of students with special needs are placed in regular classrooms. Successful placement depends on factors such as teacher training, learning resources and guidance and support by administrators. A French immersion student with special needs can be accommodated in a regular French immersion class if these same factors are present. Research and experience demonstrate that very few students cannot benefit from learning in a French immersion program. (Edwards, 1989; Keep, 1989; Wiss 1989; Ali Khan, 1993; Rousseau, 1998).