International School• Social Context:• Canada is a relatively young

nation, founded in 1867 with a population of approx. 25 million citizens.

• Political power is highly decentralised.

• Canadians of British and French origin form the largest ethnic groups in Canada;

• 40 % British and French 27%. French and British Canadians are unequally distributed across the country.

St Lambert School

• The St. Lambert Experiment

• With the growing importance of French as the main working language of Quebec and increasing dissatisfaction with the linguistic barriers between English and French Canadians, a concerned group of English-speaking parents in St Lambert, outside Montreal, began to meet informally in the early 1960’s to discuss the situation (Lambert & Tucker, 1972).

• After meeting for 2 years, they succeeded in getting the school district to set up an experimental kindergarten immersion class in September 1965.

Aims of the St Lambert Experiment

The children should:

• become competent in speaking, reading and writing French;

• reach normal achievement levels throughout the curriculum including the English language;

• appreciate the traditions and culture of French speaking Canadians as well as English speaking Canadians.

• In short, the aims were for children to become bilingual and bicultural without loss of achievement.

Teachers and Students role• Teachers role:

• Guide

• Facilitator

• Students role:

• Independent

• Autonomus

• Student-centred