In the spirit of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Alliance Française of TT (AFTT) held its sixth workshop celebrating International Day of French Teachers on November 21 at its base in St Clair, Port of Spain.
“Teachers are the torchbearers of French language and culture. So it’s really about bringing the Olympic spirit into the classroom by inspiring students to do their best.” said Anyka Batista, the first Trinidadian to be director of the AFTT.
The workshop, attended by around 20 French language teachers, included an educational conference led by UWI lecturers, who spoke on strategies for enhancing French education in the country.
“It takes a lot to motivate students in schools where modern foreign languages are taught,” said Susan Otway-Charles, assistant lecturer in modern foreign languages, when she spoke to Newsday.
“French is not taught in a lot of schools, but from how I see it, one way to motivate is to get them to identify with what they learn.”
[caption id="attachment_1122783" align="alignnone" width="1024"] From left, French teachers, Karen Clarke-Mc Collins of Woodbrook Secondary, Fayola Forde of Holy Name Convent Port of Spain and Keisha Sandiford of St Jospeh Convent Port of Spain have fun creating their artwork at Alliance Française of Trinidad and Tobago on Alcazar Street, St. Clair, Port of Spain on November 21. - Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
She presented strategies teachers can use to help students become more engaged with French language learning. One was to get students to identify links between local and French culture.
“French is very influential in TT culture: you see it in Carnival, in our language, in our music and even in our place names, like Sans Souci and Blanchisseuse.
“What I’ve done in the past is encourage students to come (to the AFTT). I’d bring them on a field trip if there are events like Fête de la Musique (International Music Day) and the Marché de Noel (Christmas Market).”
However, she says French teachers across the country say they still face challenges.
"All these things we tell them, like, 'Try to use the technology,' a lot of them in schools don’t have that. So we have to try to show them things that would reach students otherwise,
like bringing books, so at least they (the students) will be exposed to that.”
Dr Savrina Chinien, undergraduate and postgraduate co-ordinator in the Humanities and Education Department of UWI, also presented at the workshop. She made recommendations on how to get students more interested in learning French.
"What we are seeing is that Spanish is more predominant than French, so what we are really trying to do is boost students’ interest in French and get them motivated to study it,” she told Newsday.
Her presentation emphasised the importance of using dynamic teaching methods and modern technologies such as artificial intelligence to enhance learning environments.
“What we are thinking is to also have a spelling bee at a national level and have all the students participate.
"And we also want to bridge the ga
