Marystown is a community of approximately 7000 people, a large town by Newfoundland standards, geographically situated on the ìachilles tendonî of the Burin Peninsula. The sea plays a major role in the everyday life of the community. There is a shipyard which, since itís opening 35 years ago, has struggled to survive in the global economy. The other main employer is the fish processing plant. Since the cod moratorium in 1993, it has been shut down for extended periods of time. The provincial and regional populations have declined these past few years due to an out-migration of people, a large proportion of whom are well-educated and young.

Sacred Heart Elementary School is a Kindergarten to Grade Six, dual track school offering two streams, French Immersion and a regular English program, to the families of the area. It has a student population of approximately 600 students. The staff consists of a principal, vice-principal, guidance counselor, half time librarian and 35 teachers. There is a primary section which houses students up to Grade Three and an elementary wing for Grades Four to Six. The school contains a computer laboratory, a cafeteria, a science room, a shared school/public library, a gymnasium and a resource room. Primary and elementary students have separate recess and lunch periods. Because the town is spread out along the inlet to Mortier Bay, 95% of students are bused to school.

The targeted subjects for the study were thirteen Grade Four, French Immersion students, seven boys and six girls. All the students were 9 years of age in 1999, the year the study took place. From Kindergarten to Grade Two, they had 100% instruction in the second language. In Grades Three and Four, 80% of the instruction was in the second language, English being taught formally 40 minutes a day. By the end of Grade Three, ten students were able to read independently and comfortably at grade level in both French and English. Three students had been remediated in Language Arts by the classroom teacher since Grade one. Remediation was in the form of small group and individual instruction, after school, for two 40 minute periods per week. During the instructional day in Grade Four, a remedial teacher used the ìpull-out modelî to offer small group and individual instruction for one period every other day of an 8 day cycle.

These children are in the concrete/operational stage of learning. They are sociable. They like to interact with other children and love art, physical education and role playing activities. While some are becoming more independent, many still are hesitant about taking risks. They like to share things, they want to be accepted by their peers, they are sensitive to the needs of others and they are eager to please.

The Program of Studies Guide (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1999) states that
ìThe elementary school must provide a stimulating and challenging environment ... that emphasizes the child as a thinking, doing, and feeling learner.î (p.53)
It also recommends a wide variety of resources to enrich learning experiences, to accommodate various learning styles and to encourage a variety of instructional approaches.

At the Grade Four French Immersion level, the Department of Education authorizes the use of 25% of available instructional time for French Language Arts and 10% for English Language Arts. Reading skill development, along with listening, speaking and writing, comprises one of the four Language Arts components. The guide recommends that literature be used as a tool for ensuring that students become readers and not just people who can read. Theories of teaching and learning in the L2 classroom are based upon a Whole Language, Communicative Approach. Meskill (1991) defined communicative language teaching as open-ended, student shaped and controlled and focused on contextualized, authentic language.

With a focus towards support services, Pathways to Programming and Graduation (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1998) recently has been implemented which provides for the individual needs of students. Another document, A Curriculum Framework for Technology Education: Living in a Technological Society (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1996) though not yet fully integrated within the curriculum, has spurred the piloting of a number of related projects throughout the province. Common elements identified by the Department of Education include strategies for choosing and using suitable technology and evaluating the appropriateness of a technology.
 

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