The Role of Parents in the Transmission of French in Minority Settings

This year, the 3rd Summit on the Transmission of French Language, which will take place on March 14, 2025, in Victoria, invites us to reflect deeply on the role of the community in the transmission of French.

Among the various key players in the Francophone community, parents play a privileged and essential role for their children, from pregnancy to the end of adolescence. Indeed, their central position in the lives of their children, at all stages of learning, makes them one of the three basic pillars (school, home, and environment) that favour the conditions supporting a balance between an education in French and the influence of the language of the majority.

Can the transmission of language really start so early?

As surprising as it may seem, it’s true that the transmission of language begins during pregnancy!

According to a report¹ on early childhood development by the U.S. National Research Council and the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the ability to learn a language is optimal from the 34th week of pregnancy until the age of 12 months, which is the period when the brain’s synapses form.

What about exposure time?

To properly entrench French learning in preschoolers, their degree of exposure to French must correspond to about 30%, or about 28 hours out of 84 hours per week (1/3 of the time awake).

How can the transmission of French be successful for Francophone parents in a bilingual family?

The important thing is to be committed to the transmission of French, to make it your mission, and to put in place a few principles that will make a difference over time, such as:

• Get into the habit of speaking French to the child.
• Obtain the support of the non-Francophone partner regarding French.

In concrete terms, what more can be done? 

• Use every opportunity to live in French with the child, in a fun atmosphere, focusing on what he or she likes to do, to associate pleasure with French (for example, participating in activities and outings organized by Francophone organizations in your region).
• Adopt the 4 Rs (Routine, Repetition, Rejoicing, Rewarding) daily.
• Enrol your child in pre-kindergarten or a Francophone child care centre, if there is one in the area. Specialists¹ agree that the ability to learn a second language decreases around the age of 6 or 7.

Are you a non-Francophone parent, but you want your child to be proficient in French? What role could you play?

Adopt a few winning strategies by:

• encouraging reading at all ages, in both English and French (transfer of skills from one language to another);
• supporting your Francophone partner;
• learning French, so that this learning is integrated into family life. For the child, this is the ultimate confirmation that French is important, and this reinforces French exposure for the whole family.

To better understand the issues related to the transmission of French, and find answers to your questions, consult the 1 enfant, 2 langues web site, a resource offered to families by the Fédération des parents to support them in their role as first educators.

 

^{1 Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, page 188}