Toward the middle or end of that first year, they are allowed to use only French. The teacher establishes that the norm is to speak in French. Since these are children new to school, they don't know that the is not the way it is done everywhere, and begin using French. Through the second grade, they receive all of their instruction in French. Beginning in the third grade, English classes are introduced, and then classes in English are added each year.
Students continue, however, to speak French in at least half of their academic work.
The program is one of the most researched language acquisition programs in history. Given the importance of the issue of bilingual education and language acquisition in California, educators are eager to look at the program for guidance. Genessee cautioned listeners, however, in making too many assumptions about the applicability of findings from the Canadian immersion program to California's situation. The students in Montreal are primarily from middle class families growing up in a bilingual culture. Although French is the dominant language in Quebec, English is the second language and is valued, supported, and used by almost everyone to some degree.