Inquiry and French Immersion?

Type “inquiry” in any database and the search results seem to be never ending. Happily, inquiry-based learning has become a hot topic in Education over the last 5-10 years. However, I needed to be more selective when choosing material and I had three goals in mind.

One: find videos and articles about inquiry that were introductory in nature but served as a hook for the teachers to “buy into” trying this sort of teaching.

Two: find links and resources that teachers could implement right away without adding too much to their workload.

Three: find articles pertaining specifically to inquiry-based learning in the French Immersion classroom.

I was able to find numerous articles, links, websites for my first two goals. This is good news! Most of the resources I found were quite relevant when thinking of inquiry-based learning in general.

When learning about a new, hot topic in Education, the thoughts running through my head are often the following: How do I get Student X who shows very little enthusiasm for school engaged in the activity? What adaptations will I need for Student B for this assignment? What will I need to know before teaching this topic? Etc.

The great thing about inquiry-based learning is that it is designed to respond to students’ needs in an engaging way. Problem solved! Not quite when it comes to teaching in French Immersion.

Unfortunately, I found an absence of literature for my third goal: find articles pertaining specifically to inquiry in the French Immersion classroom.

How does inquiry look different in a French Immersion classroom? Inquiry-based learning, by its very nature, tends to be less structured than traditional teacher delivered content learning. This poses a bit of a problem for French Immersion teachers. Lessons in French Immersion are very structured. “It is important for teachers to create an environment that encourages language competencies and confidence to speak only in French develop at different rates. Continuous encouragement, modeling, and support help students at all levels make gains in language acquisition.” (Fortier & Hamon, 2014, 17).

When doing inquiry-based learning with my students, I am often worried that I am sacrificing building vocabulary in French. To respond to this concern, I have been more likely to continue to scaffold and model questioning and the thinking process. I have wondered, “If an educator chooses to use a balance of structured instruction and emergent curriculum, is it no longer an inquiry approach?” (Fortier & Hamon, 19).

My takeaway from reading this article is that the benefits of inquiry-based learning in French Immersion far outweigh the challenges. Fortier and Hamon emphasize the need for “accountable talk” as a strategy for inquiry-based thinking. “Teachers support accountable talk in French by paraphrasing and repeating student responses in order to provide students with appropriate, precise language, prompting when necessary, and giving feedback.” (Fortier and Hamon, 21).

Scaffolding, modeling, and explicit teaching are all at the core of a French Immersion classroom. This leads me to believe that the most effective approach for Inquiry-based learning in French-Immersion classroom is the following:

Start with Structured Inquiry, where students follow the lead of the teacher as the entire class engages in one inquiry together. Once the students have a good understanding of the accountable talk used in inquiry-based learning, the teacher can move on to Controlled Inquiry, where the teacher chooses and identifies the resources the students will use to answer questions. Finally, if the students are ready, the teacher can use Guided Inquiry, where the teacher chooses the topic(s) and the students design a product or solution. (Mackenzie, 2018, 37).

I believe that sites such as: SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environments), The Wonderment and youcubed are excellent ways of trying the Free Inquiry approach especially if the teachers sets aside some time for inquiry in English.