Promoting Success in French Immersion: Early French Immersion Teachers' Identification of and Intervention in At-Risk Reading

The purpose of this research paper was to explore the experiences of Ontario Early French Immersion teachers with regards to reading assessment and intervention for at-risk reading in the French Immersion context. In order to accomplish this, I completed a qualitative research study using semi-structured interviews with three grade one French Immersion teachers. Some of the findings which came from these interviews included that teachers perceive various reasons as to why a child may not be well suited for French Immersion, that parent involvement can be a double-edged sword, and that even if teachers use best-practices, as suggested by research, for reading assessment and intervention, they may continue to experience difficulty. From these findings, I have suggested several implications for the educational community including that teachers do not perceive that they have adequate reading assessment or intervention materials available for their French Immersion learners, and that these teachers do not perceive there is adequate special education support. Based on this, recommendations can be made including for school boards to allocate more funding and resources to special education in French Immersion, and that curriculum resource developers should create new reading materials which are specific to the Early French Immersion learning context