The conceptual framework within which Alberta's elementary school French immersion programs are designed is presented. The first of three main sections outlines the evolution of the concept of language and some second language instructional approaches, including the structural, formalist, functional, and communicative approaches. It also discusses the elements of communication and their interrelationships. A second section examines different educational strategies, including the encyclopedic, "free," closed, and open strategies. The relationships between the different educational strategies, instructional approaches, teacher, and student are noted. The third section addresses the student-centered, communicative approach, the instructional approach selected for new elementary and secondary French programs. It describes the approach in general terms and outlines the resulting program objectives for linguistic competence and sociocultural values. A glossary and bibliography are appended. (MSE)