French in the Primary school - a report on the Vichy course, July 2000

Joan Bell Hare Law Special School, County Durham

I discovered that I was a late applicant for this course but was delighted when I was accepted. I teach French to children with learning and behavioural problems in a school which takes children from 5 - 16 who are entitled to a modified National Curriculum. I am certainly not fluent in the French language but I have always maintained an interest throughout my 30+ years of teaching. I have been following a scheme of work which is especially for Key Stages 3 and 4 children and we have decided to introduce French at Key Stage 2. "Huh!" you might say, "WHY teach kids a foreign language when they can't speak or read English?" Unless you have experienced teaching children with special needs then I can understand this sentiment but it may surprise you that they achieve a great deal in a subject in which they do not feel threatened and have no inhibitions.

Now for the course itself, I met fellow teachers from a variety of types of schools in Britain and our course leader, Catherine Cheater, at Heathrow and flew to Paris with them. We then transferred to a luxury coach and, at last, were on our way to Vichy with time to get to know one another. We really had no idea of what lay ahead of us. Our accommodation was very comfortable and we each had a room to ourselves for which we were very grateful.

Our first morning was spent making our way to CAVILAM, the famous language centre, only to discover that we were each to be given a test to allow us to be assessed. We did grammar exercises and aural tests and then had to wait until the afternoon to see our groupings. I discovered that I was to be the only English person in my group. I went to my classroom and met my teacher, Audrey, and my 'classmates' who were from all parts of the world. I realised that the only communicating language was to be French as there were representatives from Libya, Japan, Korea, Qatar, China, Venezuela, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal and there was no age barrier. There was a lovely feeling of camaraderie from the very beginning.

Each morning we had grammar exercises, conversations and learnt about French culture. We were all there to learn and our teacher never made us feel inadequate or inferior. At first I felt as if I had forgotten everything I had ever been taught, but eventually I became tuned in to the language. Audrey insisted that we must let her know if we did not understand something. Dictionaries were not allowed in class but other students were encouraged to help those who needed it. There were numerous hilarious moments due to misunderstandings and misuse of words.

During the afternoons I worked with my British group on ideas and strategies for use in the primary classroom. The expectations of both staff and students differed. We, as a group, teach in varied types of schools. Some are working with mainstream children in state schools, others in private schools and others in different types of special schools, such as those who have children with physical, severe, moderate and emotional problems. We each seemed to have differing expectations from this part of the course. We wanted to know typical responses which are used in a French classroom, songs, rhymes and strategies for teaching the language.

From my point of view, the ideas offered assumed that children had a good grasp of vocabulary already. This was a major problem for me, as I work with those who have virtually a blank sheet as far as vocabulary is concerned. It is much easier if the language is the mother tongue. Many ideas were offered but were based on rhyming sounds. To be able to do this the knowledge of words needs to be already in place. However, I am sure that at some time during the two weeks we each benefitted in some way. We gathered a wealth of materials which we can use in our own ways and best of all we have become a united group who keep in touch and share ideas now that we are back in the classroom. I have found the whole experience worthwhile as I have been able to meet and talk with colleagues who had similar fears at the beginning and feel more confident about my own ability.