French teachers learn how to use new technologies

Primary and secondary school teachers of French are better equipped to use new technologies in teaching French and developing the oral practice of the language in their classrooms, after participating in a one-day workshop.{{more}}

The workshop took place on Wednesday, June 1.

Flavia Howard, representative from the Ministry of Education with responsibility for foreign languages, told SEARCHLIGHT that with the Government’s ‘One laptop per child’ initiative well underway, the workshop was designed to give teachers ways of incorporating the netbooks into the teaching of French.

“Foreign languages are very important for our students today,” said Vanessa Demirciyan, Director of Alliance Francaise.

She explained that the interest in learning depended on the methods used.

“The world is moving very fast and we need to keep up with the times,” Demirciyan contended.

She added: “Students need to hear and speak more French from different sources, but more so from their teacher.”

She said that there was a problem, in that most teachers do not feel confident with their pronunciation, but contended that the more they (teachers) speak, the more comfortable they would become.

Howard further explained that with the introduction of Spanish and French into the primary schools’ curriculum, it was important for the younger students to be able to hear the language.

The Ministry representative added that it is important that students get accustomed to hearing foreign languages, especially secondary school students preparing for the oral component of the Caribbean Examinations Council examinations. (DD)