Early Immersion in Minority Language Contexts: Canada and Finland

Abstract

This chapter discusses early immersion in a minority language in two bilingual countries, Canada and Finland. In Canada, immersion in the minority language, French, has been implemented since the mid-1960s and Finland introduced immersion in Swedish in the mid-1980s. As the core features of immersion education evolve in tandem with second language education theorizing (particularly as it relates to the interdependence and hybridity between and within languages), so too does the need to revisit the relevance of these core features across different contexts. In this vein, this chapter compares how changing socio-political realities in the two contexts have influenced program development in relation to three emergent areas: learner diversity, learning exceptionalities, and teacher training. It further highlights critical points of convergence and divergence in program development in the two contexts, showing that Finland and Canada have contributed to the field of early language education with complementary research findings related to a common guiding principle in both contexts -immersion for all. The two contexts, thus, have much to learn from one another in order to reach collective gains. The chapter ends with a call for ethnographic research to decipher how relevant policy statements are put into practice in early years classrooms, as well as continued empirical attention to the evolving reconceptualization of the prototypical immersion learner and teacher. Such consideration will work to optimize the universal access to immersion that is desired in Canada, Finland and other minority language immersion contexts.

Policy and Practice for Multilingual Educational Settings

“…Swedish immersion addresses mainly majority language (Finnish) children who do not have Swedish as their home language. Despite the growing number of immigrant-background students in Finland, the Swedish immersion population is still Finnish-dominated due to the enrolment criteria used (Mård-Miettinen et al, 2020). Swedish immersion is an optional programme that starts in early childhood education (ages 3-5 years) and continues throughout preschool and basic education (Grades 1-9, ages 6-16 years).…”

A language socialisation perspective on Swedish immersion in Finland

“…Regardless of the degree of regional bilingualism, education is arranged in separate Finnish-medium and Swedish-medium educational paths from early childhood education to higher education. The bilingual regions are concentrated in the west and south of Finland, where Swedish immersion has been attracting primarily Finnish-speaking families for decades (Mård-Miettinen et al, 2021). SI classes are predominantly situated in the Finnish-medium education path with Finnish as the administrative language of the schools.…”