This article reviews the research literature on core French in three main areas: student diversity, delivery models for the core French program, and instructional approaches. These topics are put into context through a discussion of studies on community attitudes to French as a second language (FSL), dissatisfaction with core French outcomes and discontent among core French teachers. A summary of our main findings highlights the need for further research on the design of the program with respect to the entry point for core French and the distribution of instructional time, the inclusion of diverse learners, instructional approaches, and the marginalization of the program and its teachers. (Contains 16 footnotes.)