AbstractThe paper presents the results of a study of Francophone pupils in the French schools of Windsor, Ontario. Like many French Canadians outside of Quebec, they live in a trilingual sociolinguistic environment. With their friends they speak English, the dominant language of Ontario, they watch American and English Canadian television and listen to American and English Canadian radio. At home they often speak the French Canadian vernacular which differs from standard French in many ways. At school most subjects are taught in standard French. Consequently, deeply rooted non‐standard features pervade their vocabulary and syntax. We will give several examples of these features later on. It is quite possible that a hybrid vernacular is emerging as a result of this sociolinguistic situation. From a pedagogical point of view, this situation presents a major challenge to the teaching of standard French to these pupils.