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Montreal's cosmopolitan environment becomes richer and is modified as the years go by with the increased mobility and the arrival of new immigrants. In this context, it seems essential to know the development of the immigrants' cultural representations related to their own cultural identity, and related to the French language and people who speak this language. For the French teaching milieu, such knowledge is essential to inspire the development of curriculum to fulfil the new arrivals' linguistic and cultural needs and to better intervene in the classroom. Second language education can therefore provide opportunities for better knowing, understanding and appreciating the Other as well as the other language and culture. / This enquiry explores the cultural, representations of adult immigrants from different cultural backgrounds learning French in Montreal in various post-secondary institutions sanctioned by the ministere de l'Immigration et des Communautes culturelles du Quebec (MICC). This study uses quantitative and qualitative survey instruments in order to examine the cultural representations of these immigrants in relation to their integration, their linguistic, cultural and social practices, a new definition of their cultural identity, their reactions in instances of intercultural contact as well as their motivation to study French. In total, 110 immigrants answered our written questionnaire and 14 of them participated in an interview. / Findings suggest that the participants generally hold positive cultural representations towards the French language and French-speaking Quebecois. The study indicates that immigrants are mostly looking for informal French learning experiences within their host society. Moreover, participants acknowledge that learning and mastering French is very important for them, both to interact with French-speaking Quebecois, and to obtain a good job in Quebec. Findings related to the immigrants' cultural identity reveal that they seem to experience a "me-them" cultural duality in their host province. / The implications of this study are mainly related to the importance of emphasizing the informal learning of the French language so that immigrants can become better integrated into the French-speaking society. Further study perspectives could include the development of French language programs and the content of the French courses offered by the MICC, the use of different data collection methods as well as the participation of immigrants from specific cultural origins. / L'environnement cosmopolite montréalais s'enrichit et se modifie au fil des annéesavec la mobilité des populations et l'arrivée de nouveaux immigrants. Dans ce contexte,il apparaît essentiel de connaître le développement des représentations culturelles desimmigrants en lien avec leur propre identité culturelle, et envers la langue française et lesgens qui parlent cette langue. Pour le milieu de l'enseignement du français, une telleconnaissance est essentielle pour susciter le développement de curriculum répondant auxbesoins langagiers et culturels des immigrants. L'éducation en langues secondes peutdonc fournir des opportunités pour mieux connaître l'Autre, sa langue et sa culture, etéventuellement pour permettre de le comprendre et de l'apprécier davantage.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of French and Italian, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-40).