Pooneh Golestani

Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue · Department of Education Sciences

In Quebec, there has been a trend in the decreasing number of qualified ESL teachers available to teach English in Primary and Secondary schools (Winer, 2007 ; Conseil Superior de l’éducation, 2014). In a study, data obtained from primary schools (n=15) and secondary schools (n= 18) in Francophone school boards in Quebec, reported 12 out of 16 primary school and 11 out 18 secondary schools having difficulty recruiting ESL teachers (Delobbe, 2017). The study also demonstrated that ESL teachers along with Music teachers were among the top two teaching specialities with considerably lower recruitment rates than teachers in other subjects (Delobbe, 2017). As a result, the hiring of unqualified ESL teachers has become a common practice both at the primary and secondary levels in Quebec (Colpron, 2019 ; Institute du Québec, 2019). This is of even greater concern for students, parents and administrators, because unlike other subjects, the language of communication is also the subject being taught. This implies that when an unqualified teacher is hired without having mastered the former, they will fall short in the delivery of the latter to the students. At the moment there is no conclusive documentation regarding unqualified ESL teachers in the province of Quebec. Furthermore, very little is known about this demographic of teachers—their educational experience, their aspirations, their attraction to the teaching profession, and their motivation to stay in the profession. By creating a portrait through the collection of descriptive data an overview of their socioprofessional characterisitc can be provided, which can help better understand their career trajectory (scientific relevance). This can ultimately help stakeholders be more aware of the status and needs of unqualified ESL teachers, as well as the resources and paths of professional development available to them. This can in turn help to achieve the goal of providing quality teachers in the field of ESL teaching in the context of the teacher shortage in Quebec (social relevance). The aim of this research is therefore to create a portrait of unqualified ESL teachers in Quebec in order to identify levers to facilitate their attraction, insertion and retention in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language. This will be done by answering the following research questions: Question 1: What are the socioprofessional characteristics of unqualified ESL teachers in Québec? Question 2: What are the professional trajectories of unqualified ESL teachers in Québec?

The investigation of the Intensive English Program in different linguistic settings in Quebec and its influence on students’ comprehensive L2 learning, particularly oral production, has not been a focus of study. As a result, information on how students’ oral abilities may differ given a different linguistic setting than a larger metropolitan city, where students have more exposure to English, is scarce. The present study seeks to answer the following general research question: How does linguistic environment influence the performance on oral tasks of two groups in Intensive English and regular ESL programs in the remote region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue?