Programs for English and French Language Education for

1 Programs for English and French Language Education for Adults in Canada Alister Cumming, CERLL, OISE English or French language courses for adults in Canada fulfill purposes either of initial settlement or preparation for employment or for entry to academic or vocational programs at a university or college. Programs for adult language education follow from the status of English and French as Canada’s two official languages, but their funding and administration derive either from: federal responsibilities for immigration and citizenship; provincial, institutional, or community responsibilities for education and settlement; and/or complicated, variable combinations of each (Burnaby, 2008). For immigrants settling in English‐dominant Canada, the federally‐sponsored Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) has since 1992 provided free, basic English and cultural orientation classes to about 60,000 adult immigrants annually, delivered through community organizations or certain colleges (Burnaby, 2008; Cumming, 1997; Fleming, 2007). At higher levels of English proficiency, newer, more specialized programs include Occupation‐specific Language Training (OSLT), Enhanced Language Training (ELT), and Bridge Training for certain skilled professions (Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade, 2014). Parallel services and courses are offered in French in Québec (Immigration, Diversité et Inclusion Québec, 2014). Most language curricula and assessments have been referenced since 1996 to the 12 proficiency standards of the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB, 2012) in English or to the parallel document, Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2012; Cumming, Lam & Lang, 2008), or to unique standards developed for Québec (Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés Culturelles, 2011a, 2011b). Courses may be intensive, full‐time, or part‐time and are provided, usually on a fee‐paying basis (except for LINC) without academic credit, by public educational institutions, community agencies, workplaces, or private language schools, 216 of which are accredited through Languages Canada (http://www.languagescanada.ca/). Most universities and colleges in Canada offer intensive and part‐time courses, organized on a cost‐recovery basis, for recent immigrants and international students preparing for academic or vocational programs in the medium of either English or French and for students from outside of Canada studying abroad for several months. A few English/French bilingual universities and colleges offer full academic programs in both official languages, and various bilingual options for higher education appear throughout the country (Canadian Parents for French, 2014; Wesche, 2001). References Burnaby, B. (2008). Language policy and education in Canada. In S. May & N. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed.), Vol. 1: Language policy and political issues in education (pp. 331‐341). New York: Springer. Canadian Parents for French. (2014). Where to go and what to do: A guide for bilingual youth. Retrieved October 28, 2014 from http://cpf.ca/en/files/CPF‐GuideForBilingualYouth.pdf 2 Citizenship and Immigration Canada. (2012). Canadian language benchmarks: English as a second language for adults. Ottawa: Authors. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/language‐benchmarks.pdf Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada (2012). Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens: Français langues seconde pour adultes. Ottawa: Authors. http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/pdf/pub/competence‐
linguistique.pdf Cumming, A. (1997). English language‐in‐education policies in Canada. In W. Eggington & H. Wren (Eds.), Language policy: Dominant English, pluralist challenges (pp. 91‐105). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Cumming, A., Lam, T., & Lang, D. (2008). Reflections on an evaluation study of the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. In D. Murray (Ed.), Planning change, changing plans: Innovations in second language teaching (pp. 174‐193). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Duff, P., & Li, D. (2009). Indigenous, minority, and heritage language education in Canada: Policies, contexts, and issues. Canadian Modern Language Review, 66 (1), 1‐8. Fleming, D. (2007). Adult immigrant ESL programs in Canada. In J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International handbook of English language teaching, Vol. 1 (pp. 185‐198). New York: Springer. Immigration, Diversité et Inclusion Québec. (2014). Immigrating to Quebec: French Language. Retrieved October 24, 2014 from http://www.immigration‐quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/french‐language/index.html Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés Culturelles. (2011a). L’Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes. Montréal: Gouvernement du Québec. Retrieved October 24, 2014 from http://www.immigration‐quebec.gouv.qc.ca/publications/fr/langue‐
francaise/Echelle‐niveaux‐competences.pdf Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés Culturelles. (2011b). Programme‐cadre de français pour les personnes immigrantes adultes au Québec. Montréal: Gouvernement du Québec. Retrieved October 24, 2014 from http://www.immigration‐quebec.gouv.qc.ca/publications/fr/langue‐
francaise/Programme‐cadre‐francais.pdf Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade. (2014). Newcomers. Retrieved October 24, 2014 from http://www.citizenship.gov.on.ca/english/newcomers.shtml Wesche, M. (Ed.) (2001). French Immersion and content‐based language teaching in Canada. Special issue of The Canadian Modern Language Review 58, 1.