Attention difficulties and/or hyperactivity
French immersion students suffering from attention difficulties and/or hyperactivity need help in managing their behaviours in much the same way as if they were in the English program. The teacher needs to understand the student’s difficulties and not take them personally. Students with attention difficulties need help with organizational issues whether they are learning in English or in French. They need to be guided through the moment of difficulty rather than punished when it is too late. When material is presented in class, the teacher should establish eye contact with the student, alert the student’s attention with a phrase, a word or a pre-established code such as tapping on the desk. Long directions and assignments should be broken down into chunks. Allowing the students who often need to move around to hand out and pick up papers is one way of respecting their particular needs.
Most Albertans agree that students with special needs must be full participants in school and society. Many jobs and professions in Canada increasingly require bilingual oral proficiency. Professionals should support the student with special needs become functionally bilingual in Canada’s official languages when it is the student’s and/or his parents’ wish. “The school’s responsibility is to help children learn as much as they can and for almost all, that includes a second language” (Manitoba Education, 2002).
When assessing whether or not to transfer a student from the French immersion program to the English program, careful consideration must be given to the student’s motivation and the support available. Each child with special needs should be assessed individually and decisions about interventions should be made in the best interests of the child rather than in the best interests of an educational program, the parents, or the teachers. Success for the French immersion student with special needs is achieved with early and correct diagnosis of the problem and the development of an appropriate plan that builds on the strengths of the child, addresses the difficulties and supports the student in a respectful learning environment which is conducive to second language learning.
