The purpose of this study was to explore the linguistic experiences of students in the classroom at the Campus Saint-Jean at the University of Alberta. For most students, the French language was not their first language and therefore created barriers to their learning, particularly at the beginning of their university education. This means that the professors face additional challenges compared to professors in other faculties (this time English-speaking) at the University of Alberta teaching students for whom English was their first language. Needless to say, these language barriers present teaching challenges for faculty, particularly in terms of the comprehension difficulties displayed by students.
Considering these challenges, some questions may arise: what can professors do in such a pedagogical context; how should professors react to this relatively unique clientele of students from Western Canada; how should students react in such a linguistic context; is teaching more effectively possible? At this point, pedagogical reflection is required, particularly in terms of pedagogical practices to address these learning challenges. In this context, one can take into account the vast field of educational effectiveness research, and more specifically, research related to teacher effectiveness (Campbell, Kyriakides, Muijs, & Robinson, 2004; Creemers & Kyriakides, 2008; Kyriakides, Creemers & Charalambous, 2018; Muijs & Reynolds, 2001). Researchers have argued for the importance of adopting eight pedagogical practices that have a definite impact on student learning: (1) orientation (specifying objectives at all stages) (Paris & Paris, 2001); (2) structuring (present materials by structuring it) (Brophy & Good, 1986); (3) teaching modelling (help students to use strategies and/or develop their own strategies) (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2005); (4) application (use seat work and small-group tasks) (Rosenshine, 1983); (5) questioning techniques (ask numerous questions to involve students in class discussion) (Muijs & Reynolds, 2001); (6) assessment (information gathered from students’ assessment should enable teachers to identify the students’ needs) (Krasne et al., 2006); (7) the classroom as a learning environment: contribution of the teacher (favoring positive students-students and teacher-students interactions) (Muijs & Reynolds, 2001); (8) management of time (opportunity to learn and time on tasks as two of the most significant effectiveness factors) (Creemers, 1994). Without claiming to solve everything, these pedagogical practices can nevertheless orient teachers working in such a cultural and linguistic environment, while guiding their actions in practice. With this in mind, how could professors answer the problems identified in this study?
First, the results indicated that this diversity created challenges of cross-comprehension, and that this difficulty could be general in nature or specific to a particular spoken French. Indeed, some students reported problems of comprehension regarding African French or Quebec French. In response to these difficulties, to promote student understanding, instructors should ask students comprehension questions in the classroom, while trying to involve students in the discussions (Muijs & Reynolds, 2001). The questions should be varied and elicit both short answers (closed-ended questions) and open-ended answers (open-ended questions). These questions should seek to elicit real reflection on the material being taught, always with a view to ensuring that the essential knowledge has been acquired (Muijs & Reynolds, 2001). Groupings of four or five students in teams could lead to meaningful discussion and mutual support, while fostering strong social bonds (Kyriakides, 2005). This way, students are encouraged to develop autonomy and learn to better organize their learning. Moreover, teachers should speak more slowly and articulate better, rephrase explanations, repeat instructions, be patient with students' lack of understanding, communicate effectively, or invite students to come for individual help during or after class (Muijs & Reynolds, 2001).
Secondly, it should be noted that teamwork in the form of discussions, cooperative tasks or consolidation, under the supervision of the teacher who aims to develop and maintain strong social ties with the students, can contribute to creating an environment conducive to learning, i.e., a classroom climate where it is good to be and which allows students to feel comfortable asking questions, to engage in their learning or simply to make mistakes (Kyriakides, 2005; Muijs & Reynolds, 2001). This learning-friendly climate can help alleviate students' negative reactions to their lack of understanding in the classroom, such as feelings of irritation, surprise, nervousness, fear, frustration, upset, stress, sadness, shock, failure, fatigue, confusion, and distraction (Kyriakides, 2005). To reduce these feelings, teachers should also become aware that they themselves have an accent that may cause difficulties in understanding and thus adapt their language level to that of the students. Professors can also discuss the specifics of their accent at the beginning of the session and clarify words or expressions that may help with understanding the material throughout the course.
Third, the results indicate that many students, often faced with comprehension problems, report a fear of failing or having to drop their courses. Faced with these fears, students should choose to adopt certain behaviors such as remaining curious, positive, and open to these language challenges. They can ask questions, seek to adapt to diversity, ask professors to rephrase what they are saying, consult with their peers, listen more carefully, and accept that they may not understand everything at first. In the classroom, teachers should structure learning (or learning processes) to better manage the time allocated to the different activities in a single course (Brophy & Good, 1986). For a 3-hour course, for example, four tasks can be planned, with time allocated for each one: 1) to review the main ideas of the previous course in a large group (15 minutes), 2 ) to teach the content of the current course in a lecture format (1.5 hours), 3) to generate team discussions on a theme from the current course (30 minutes), 4) to review the main ideas of the current course at the end of the course (15 minutes), etc. As a result, students would be more engaged when they can identify goals related to academic tasks (Paris & Paris, 2001). Students' academic success can also be maximized when the teacher presents the tasks in a structured way, by presenting the objectives, brief description of the contents, identification of the main ideas, etc. (Brophy & Good, 1986). It can be argued that these planning elements facilitate the memorization of information for the exams to be taken. In this context, the importance of evaluation should not be overlooked, not from the perspective of foolishly judging students on their performance, but rather to identify their shortcomings, in order to work on addressing them quickly during the semester; this proactive approach to evaluation can reduce students' fear of failing their courses (Krasne et al., 2006).