| Summary: | Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1987. Education Bibliography: leaves 77-91. The purpose of this study was to explain achievement in early French immersion classrooms by examining the reciprocal relationship of self-esteem and achievement with the interpolation of teacher expectations and peer status. In this study French achievement was defined as teacher rankings of students' oral and reading ability in French, and the scores on the Test Diagnostique de Lecture, Niveau 1, 2 and 3. - All grade one, two and three French immersion classrooms in Newfoundland (excluding those situated in Labrador City), whose teachers volunteered to participate in the study, comprised the sample. This yielded a total of twenty-three classrooms from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, and included 259 grade one students, 143 grade two students, and 122 grade three students. -- Five instrument's were utilized in this study. The McDaniel-Piers Young Children's Self-Concept Scale was used to identify the level of self esteem for each student. Sociometric status was assessed on the two dimensions of social attraction and social acceptance using the Ohio Social Acceptance Scale. Teacher expectancy was measured by the Child Behavior Traits Checklist. The Tests Diagnostique de Lecture, Niveau 1, 2 and 3 was used to measure the achievement of the student in French reading. In addition, teachers were asked to rate achievement in French reading and oral proficiency. These rankings were then standardized in order that comparisons could be made across classrooms. The major statistical procedures used in this study were correlational and multiple regression analysis. -- The set of independent variables in this study accounted for a much larger proportion of variance for the teacher ratings of French achievement than for the standardized tests of French achievement in reading. The results suggested that the issue of French achievement in the early immersion classroom is based on the way each specific teacher constructs School related behavior and achievement. Feedback did not appear to be language oriented. Rather it was hypothesized to be contingent upon the way students act in the classroom. As teachers are the ones who control the behavioral contexts within the classroom milieu, their independent evaluation of language achievement may be critical. This determines what will be reinforced in the classroom and 'the interactions that occur there. This, in turn, will affect both the self-esteem and achievement of each student in the class.
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