A report on the results of changes in the introductory core French program summarizes three reports evaluating the effects of increasing the total amount of instructional time in French in grades 7 and 8 on students' acquisition of French language skills, attitudes, and cultural awareness. Random samples of students in four academic year grade 8 cohorts were used, and the data used included French language achievement and attitude tests, and results of the grade 7 system-wide Canadian Test of Basic Skills to ensure the representativeness of samples. Only data on students exposed to the core French program were used for statistical tests. Results indicate that increasing the amount of instructional time produced significant improvements, in varying degrees, in most aspects of students' achievement in French. Students also generally showed increasingly positive attitudes toward French Canadians and learning French and had less anxiety about active participation in their French classes. Their knowledge of the French culture had not changed significantly. (MSE)