Acculturation, intégration scolaire et perception des attentes parentales : le cas d’adolescentes immigrantes au secondaire

This research project focuses on the acculturation dynamics of teenagers from recent immigration to French-language public high school in the city of Montreal. In recent years, many researchers have studied the phenomenon of immigration in Quebec schools. On the other hand, there are only a few studies about immigrant teenage girls, even though their integration into a new society differs from the one of boys their age (Güngör, 2011). These girls face many problems related to sexism, while some also face racial discrimination (Ghosh, 2000). In addition, these teenagers live with some parental pressure for their socialization (Halsouet, 2012, Samuel, 2010).  To contribute to a better knowledge of the immigrant teenage population in Montreal, we use three concepts in order to study their social, school and family realities. Our first concept is acculturation according to different writings from Berry and his collaborators over time. It is declined into four strategies (assimilation, integration, separation, marginalization), in addition to adding the underlying concept of acculturative stress. Our second concept is school integration according to Jacquet & Masinda (2014) and its four dimensions (academic, social, cultural, psychological). We have also included the concept of parental expectations in order to identify the issues related to the settlement of immigrant girls in a new society.  As part of our research, we focus our research in Montreal in public francophone high schools. In fact, the participants of our sample share the same school, but they come from several countries (Colombia, Syria, China, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Bulgaria). The collection of qualitative data took place in two stages. First, participants completed a questionnaire that aimed to identify acculturation strategies. Subsequently, we conducted a semi-directed interview individually with each participant. The interviews first confirmed the acculturation strategies and brought information on school integration and participants' perceptions of parental expectations. Subsequently, the data collected with the interview were analyzed using a thematic grid.  The results of the research show us that integration is the central strategy for establishing adolescent girls in our study. Every day, they are increasingly connecting with their new country, although the feeling of being Canadian might still be far away. It is mainly the school environment that drives their integration, while the out-of-school acculturative strategies vary more. This place brings immigrant teenagers to learn the French language, an important social challenge, along with the creation of a new circle of friends and studying in a different school system. Outside of school, the socialization of participants is heterogeneous. Some attend the same friends as at school, some form links with people from the same place of worship, while others spend most of their time with their family. Overall, our participants have a positive relationship with their parents, although a few participants feel pressure on their socialization and schooling. They are aware of the sacrifices made by their parents in the aim of a better education, which is for them a guarantee of a successful future. During our data collection, we witnessed significant changes throughout each family's migration process. The family structure of some girls has changed, others have questioned themselves about the place of religion in their life, while many retrieve the connections they had built with their love ones before the migration.  In sum, our study provides a better understanding of the dynamics of acculturation of immigrant teenagers from various countries in the Montreal context. This enriches the writings in the scientific community, more specifically about a population that remains little studied. Also, the various actors of the school environment could be inspired by our results to intervene with these young girls.

Keyphrases: Acculturation, School integration, Parental expectations, Adolescent girls, Immigrant