The Project
Over the past few years, CASLT and other like-minded associations and stakeholders have conducted research and consultations to better understand Canada’s FSL teacher shortage. In spring 2021, CASLT and ACPI (Association canadienne des professionnels de l’immersion) undertook a study to measure the shortage of FSL teachers across Canada, which revealed a projected shortfall of up to 8000 Core French teachers.
CASLT’s recent pan-Canadian research project, Identifying Gaps and Challenges in FSL Teacher Education: Recommendation and Guidelines, also identified wide inconsistencies in the linguistic training and assessment and the second-language–specific pedagogy pre-service teachers receive in FSL teacher education programs. The findings also revealed that while many students feel well-equipped to teach French when they graduate, they soon discover that their training has significant gaps related to the realities of being a French language teacher. These realities include minimal support, a lack of community, and little to no opportunities for ongoing professional growth.
CASLT’s recent publication, Second Language Teacher Attrition, Retention, and Recruitment: A Literature Review on Issues, Challenges, and Strategies for French as a Second Language Teachers, also highlighted key factors that contribute to FSL teacher attrition, including the following:
- Pedagogical content knowledge (i.e., knowledge and skill in teaching a second/additional language)
- Target language proficiency (i.e., knowledge of and ability in the target language, as well as opportunities to practice)
- Isolation (i.e., lack of community and support from colleagues and administrators and a lack of opportunities to connect and collaborate with other FSL teachers)
The FSL Fundamentals project aims to address these challenges head-on by:
- Providing a series of self-paced online courses on the CASLT CoLab
- Offering multi-week online courses for teachers on FSL pedagogy and French language proficiency
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