Learning approaches of early French-language partial immersion students

Twenty-five French language immersion students and 29 core language students were compared on two measures of approach to learning: "deep" and "surface." Academic performance was used as a covariate. A parent questionnaire solicited reasons for families' choices of language program. It was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between educational paradigm and approach to learning for the "deep" approach, but not for the "surface" approach. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed an overall lack of significant relationship between educational paradigm and approach to learning. A two-factor MANCOVA (instructional type by gender) also revealed an overall lack of significant relationship between educational paradigm and approach to learning. Qualitative data from parents' questionnaires revealed internal reasons for studying immersion French and external reasons for studying core French. This apparent disparity between qualitative and quantitative results is discussed, as well as limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research.