Last time we met in this virtual space, I asked: what makes Spanish a popular language option for schooling in Calgary? Of course, Google won’t tell me everything I want to know, and you also know that Wikipedia is not considered an academic source. Therefore, for research purposes one must dig deeper. So, I did!
There is abundant literature on second language acquisition and the cognitive, linguistic, academic, social, economic and cultural benefits of learning another language. But what does the literature say about the Spanish Bilingual Program? Will I find out the answer to the question I have posed over and over? Let’s find out that together.
Let’s start with some facts. The province of Alberta is leader in Second Language programming (Speck, 2008; Walton & Fine, 2001). Appelt (2017) notes that Alberta has “the largest number of school districts offering alternative programs of choice in Canada” (p. 6). Indeed, Alberta Education has provincial programs of study in eight International Languages: Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Punjabi, Spanish and Ukrainian ─there are more language program options when Indigenous languages such as Cree and Blackfoot are included.
The enactment of several federal and provincial policies since the 1960s ─namely the 1969 Official Language Act, the 1985 Canadian Multiculturalism Act, the Alberta School Act─ have had significant impact in the implementation of Alternative Bilingual Language Programs in Canada, and in Alberta in particular, for the purpose of language and cultural maintenance (Naqvi, Schmidt & Krickhan, 2014; Zhou Wu, 2005).
These policies laid the foundations for the establishment of the first Spanish Bilingual Program in Canada’s public school system, which started simultaneously in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, in 2001 (Elliot, 2014; Lamb & Bremness, 2019). In Calgary, the program started in Collingwood School and expanded rapidly (Elliot, 2014).
Key to the establishment of the Spanish Bilingual Program was -it still is- the cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Spain, which has provided support through the International Spanish Academy (ISA). ISA, which was introduced in North America in 2000 (Madden, 2017), is an educational initiative from the Ministry of Education of Spain that provides numerous supports and compliments school boards in the implementation of English-Spanish bilingual programs in the US and Canada (Ministry of Education and Professional Development, n.d.). For instance, students are eligible for Spanish language credentials (e.g. Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language or DELE) and diplomas granted by the Ministry of Education of Spain, while teachers have the opportunity to access professional development activities in Spanish language and culture (Embassy of Spain, n.d.). There is also a Visiting Teaching Program, allowing teachers from Spain to teach in Alberta schools that are part of the ISA network.
There are 32 schools across the province that offer the Spanish Bilingual Program and 28 of them run the International Spanish Academy. In total, 60% of these schools are located in Calgary. The program in Calgary began in the 2001-2002 academic year with 100 students. In the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 5,728 enrolled in the program across the province, according to the Spain’s Ministry of Education (2018). Appelt (2017) reported that the enrollment of students in the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) Spanish Bilingual program increased by 93% between 2009 and 2016, making it the fastest growing alternative language program in the city.
To what is this meteoric rise in enrollment attributed? Liana Appelt’s PhD dissertation may offer the long-awaited answer. One of the key parts of Appelt’s (2017) lengthy research was understanding why parents chose to send their children to learn Spanish in Calgary (p. 68). Following 83 responses from an online survey (conducted anonymously), key parents’ perspectives emerged:
The majority of parents who participated in this study chose Spanish bilingual for their children based on their perception that the program was of higher quality than their other available options. They also felt that learning an additional language would give their child an advantage later in life. (Appelt, 2017, p. 163).
The study also revealed other important parents’ perspectives: the reputation of school staff, academic skills of the students’ population, and the model for instruction delivery, that is 50% in Spanish and 50% in English, influenced their decision regarding schooling for their children.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about the Spanish Bilingual Program.
Until next time!
If you want to learn more, here is the reference list.
Appelt, L. (2017). Public Spanish Bilingual Schools in Calgary, Alberta: A Case Study of Parent and Student Perspectives and Expectations. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Calgary]. PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository.
Elliot, T. (2014, February 2014). Spanish programs at Calgary schools set to expand. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/1169722/spanish-programs-at-calgary-schools-set-to-expand/
Embassy of Spain. (n.d.). The ISA Program: A dual language immersion program model for high performing schools. https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/eeuu/en_US/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/isa.html
Lamb, A., & Bremness, R. (2019, February 7). Edmonton's new Spanish school opens with a fiesta, of course. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/adrienne-lamb-escuela-mill-creek-school-1.5008338
Madden, J. F. (2017). How an International Spanish Academy bilingual program impacts student motivation for Spanish language learning: A case study. (Publication N° 10687137) [Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University]. ProQuest LLC.
Ministry of Education and Professional Development of Spain. (2018). El Mundo Estudia Español 2018. https://sede.educacion.gob.es/publiventa/el-mundo-estudia-espanol-2018/ensenanza-lengua-espanola/22602
Ministry of Education and Professional Development of Spain. (n.d.). International Spanish Academy Program. https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/eeuu/en_US/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/isa.html
Naqvi, R., Schmidt, E., & Krickhan, M. (2014). Evolving 50-50% bilingual pedagogy in Alberta: what does the research say? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00413
Speck, K. (2008). Alberta leads the way in second languages. ATA Magazine, 37(1). https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/ata%20magazine/Volume%2089/Number1/Articles/Pages/AlbertaLeadstheWayinSecondLanguages.aspx
Walton, D., & Fine, S. (2001, March 26). Alberta immersion loses French accent. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/alberta-immersion-loses-french-accent/article4145802/ Zhou Wu, J. (2005). Bilingual education in Western Canada and Chinese language minority students' self perceptions of their citizenship and ethnicity. Canadian and International Education, 34(1), 23–30.