Anxiety and Perceived English and French Language Competence of Education Students
Nov 27, 2015 — 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL) warmly invites you to its next research forum about Anxiety and Perceived English and French Language Competence of Education Students presented by Cameron Montgomery
Abstract
In this bilingual interactive workshop, I will present and prompt discussion surrounding a study on the relationship between manifest anxiety and perceptions of English and French language competence among Anglophone, Francophone, and mixed‑heritage education students at Saint Jean Campus (University of Alberta). Participants assessed their language competence differently in English and French. Francophone and mixed‑heritage students felt equally competent in the two languages, but Anglophone students reported much higher language competence in English. Manifest anxiety and self‑assessments of language competence were related only among the Anglophone group, with high levels of manifest anxiety associated with both low self‑assessments of French language competence and high self‑assessments of English language competence—the two being correlated with each other. Implications for practice in second language learning and Francophone and Anglophone minority and majority linguistic environments will be collectively discussed and explored.
Cameron Montgomery
Doctoral degree (2001) in psychopedagogy
Cameron Montgomery holds both a doctoral degree (2001) and a master’s degree (1998) in psychopedagogy from Laval University. After obtaining his doctorate, he moved to Western Canada where he worked as Assistant Professor of Education until June 2003 at the University of Alberta. On July 1, 2003, he joined the Faculty of Education’s specialized Education and Learning Program at the University of Ottawa. Mr. Montgomery began his university studies in Florida and continued them at the American University, a private institution in Washington, D.C., where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in literature and secondary education. In 1995, he earned a practical certificate in French from Université Michel de Montaigne in Bordeaux, France while teaching English at a private institution. Upon his return to Canada, he earned a master’s degree and a doctoral degree in psychopedagogy from Laval University. Professor Montgomery is interested in the experience of education interns during their practicums. He seeks to understand how stress influences these practicums and whether there is a link between stress and coping strategies. The researcher has published a number of articles in national and international scientific journals and received a scholarship for excellence in doctoral studies from the Fondation de l’Université Laval. Since his arrival at the University of Ottawa, he has been teaching the psychopedagogy of childhood and the psychopedagogy of learning. A native of Toronto, Mr. Montgomery is multilingual with proficiency in French, English, Spanish, Italian and German.