Language of Instruction and Ethnic Disparities in School Success

In Quebec’s French-language secondary schools, youth originating from South Asia (mainly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) have the highest dropout rate among all immigrant-origin students, whereas in the English sector, students from these same ethnic groups have an even more positive academic profile than third-plus-generation students. Using quantitative data, the authors aim to understand the difference in school performance between these two groups in the two school sectors. Firstly, they examine the students' performance through three indicators: school delay, graduation, and dropout rates. Secondly, the authors contrast the students' profile through nine characteristics. Finally, the authors discuss the influence of each group’s characteristics on graduation. The authors conclude that their results reveal that the difference in performance is largely due to the characteristics of the French-sector students. They believe that the English-sector students’ success is not significantly related to having English as mother tongue or as language spoken at home.

McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

Vol. 51

no. 2

689-713

Spring 2016

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