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Supporting French as a Second Language (FSL) Learners by Supporting Their Teachers.
This past spring I had the privilege of participating in a very unique professional experience. Over the past decade, I often spoke during various conferences or workshops about how we could and should improve learner confidence in FSL specifically related to the three oral skills: comprehension, production and interaction.
The teacher shortage in FSL, observed throughout the country, has also brought to light the importance of supporting the teachers on the job to help them tackle their own insecurities and anxiety and find creative ways to upgrade their ‘French Skills’, upgrade their level of confidence and offer them a pathway to maintain success that can be directly transported in their classroom.
This is what we call a win-win situation for our teachers and our learners who will benefit from their rejuvenated teachers. Premiere Class was part of this unique adventure with ACPI and I would like to share my thoughts about this unique adventure.
I had a very interesting group of FSL teachers wanting to improve either their ‘French Skills’ or their pedagogical skills. Either way all 5 of these teachers had a very unique background with the language. Everyone was highly motivated to improve. In that sense they were a very fun group to work with. This group, like most of our learner groups in teaching, were very different, unique in their own way and a differentiated model adapted to their own unique needs proved to be very successful.
Teacher 1 was a product of French Immersion. Her own history with language proficiency came to a scary observation when she moved to Gaspésie. She felt that through all of her schooling she spent a lot of time listening to teachers speaking, spent a lot of time reading novels, doing grammar exercises. Her real immersion happened in real life experiences. Her training focused on becoming a different type of teacher, one who would continue to improve her own skills but one who would be in a place of model of oral comprehension and interaction. This model would also support the Action-Oriented Approach inspired by the CEFR.
Teacher 2 spoke beautifully in French and her cultural background has always been about being successful in intercultural acquisition. Pedagogy focused on oral comprehension was important for her growth. Also even when she works with a very young audience she discovered that speaking the target language is essential for developing strong oral skills in her learners.
Teacher 3 is a model of discipline and structure. She is careful, dedicated and always strives for excellence. She reads a lot and she loves it and it really supports her love for French. My role was to lead her with a few strategies towards oral skills. I needed her to invest time in listening to authentic French documents and oral French culture. In her leadership capacities she will continue to influence the profession by being more confident in her abilities, by taking more risks. Again listening and speaking proved to increase confidence.
Teacher 4 and 5 each had interesting life experiences. Being able to talk about themselves in French mattered a great deal. Having a second language is a tremendous opportunity to create bonds and friendships. In many ways their development and their stronger sense of confidence will have direct positive effects on their own learners.
All of them helped me become a better FSL teacher. When planning the learning process, I had to adapt to their own needs, I had to be creative and find resources that met their needs. I feel strongly that all of them gained a higher level of proficiency. They were able to feel confident. To me that is why they are ‘ultimate learners’. Understanding how one learns and improves will help them all in their roles.
In essence, everyone was a winner in this process, including me.