Allow French teachers to use innovative techniques
THE Regional Unit Head of the Regional Centres for the Teaching of French (CREF), Mrs Evelyn Annor Nyarko, has appealed to school authorities to allow French teachers to use innovative techniques to teach the language.
She said reports reaching CREF indicated that school authorities did not allow French teachers to apply what they learnt at in-service training courses, which included the use of songs, games and story telling to teach the language.
Mrs Annor Nyarko made the appeal at the second Regional French Awareness Day celebration held in Accra on the theme: “ Connect with the world. Learn French.”
She said CREF was concerned about the future of students and had therefore come out with new methods of teaching French to make it more attractive and interesting to the learner.
“With the new methods for teaching the language, which included the use of songs, games and stories, it would encourage the learner to get involved in the oral aspect of the language since it was imperative for them to speak it,” she stated.
Mrs Annor Nyarko expressed her disappointment in the fact that school authorities were only interested in the written exercises which made it impossible for the learner to actively get involved in oral French.
She, therefore, expressed the hope that policy makers in the educational sector would make the study of French compulsory, from the primary to university level.
The Linguistic Attaché of the French Embassy, Mrs Isabelle Bokhari, said the decision to dedicate a specific day to celebrate French indicated the willingness of the country to develop the Language so that every citizen would have the opportunity to learn French.
She said it was important to study the language since it was certain that French was a world language, with more than 200 million people speaking it in five continents, alongside English, which was taught in every country in the world.
Mrs Bokhari said: "French represents a considerable asset for an individual in terms of bilingual skills on the job market and in the specific context of Ghana, French appears to be a key issue as far as regional and international exchange are concerned."
She, therefore, acknowledged the efforts of French teachers in the country and noted however, that, "there is still a profound need for further collective effort. Indeed, developing the use of French in Ghana is not an easy task but the difficulties can be overcome if energies and efforts are put together in the interest of Ghana for its further development and prosperity."
The Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Mrs Ernest Afosah Anim, noted the importance of speaking French since it was a social bonus that helped to improve one’s interpersonal skills, especially on the job market.
She said "the growing importance of French is evident in the recent listing of languages in the international job spheres by the US State Department, since 92 preferred French, 36 preferred Spanish and 11 preferred other UN languages."
Mrs Anim noted the efforts being made by the government to make the teaching and learning of French more attractive by awarding teachers with scholarships to study, through the study leave with pay programme.
She mentioned that the centres set up for teaching and learning French in the regional capitals were also some avenues to get as many people as possible to learn French.
Mrs Anim, therefore, called on stakeholders to help improve the language skills of people in the country by recognising the importance of children and the larger populace learning at least one foreign language, preferably French.
She said reports reaching CREF indicated that school authorities did not allow French teachers to apply what they learnt at in-service training courses, which included the use of songs, games and story telling to teach the language.
Mrs Annor Nyarko made the appeal at the second Regional French Awareness Day celebration held in Accra on the theme: “ Connect with the world. Learn French.”
She said CREF was concerned about the future of students and had therefore come out with new methods of teaching French to make it more attractive and interesting to the learner.
“With the new methods for teaching the language, which included the use of songs, games and stories, it would encourage the learner to get involved in the oral aspect of the language since it was imperative for them to speak it,” she stated.
Mrs Annor Nyarko expressed her disappointment in the fact that school authorities were only interested in the written exercises which made it impossible for the learner to actively get involved in oral French.
She, therefore, expressed the hope that policy makers in the educational sector would make the study of French compulsory, from the primary to university level.
The Linguistic Attaché of the French Embassy, Mrs Isabelle Bokhari, said the decision to dedicate a specific day to celebrate French indicated the willingness of the country to develop the Language so that every citizen would have the opportunity to learn French.
She said it was important to study the language since it was certain that French was a world language, with more than 200 million people speaking it in five continents, alongside English, which was taught in every country in the world.
Mrs Bokhari said: "French represents a considerable asset for an individual in terms of bilingual skills on the job market and in the specific context of Ghana, French appears to be a key issue as far as regional and international exchange are concerned."
She, therefore, acknowledged the efforts of French teachers in the country and noted however, that, "there is still a profound need for further collective effort. Indeed, developing the use of French in Ghana is not an easy task but the difficulties can be overcome if energies and efforts are put together in the interest of Ghana for its further development and prosperity."
The Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Mrs Ernest Afosah Anim, noted the importance of speaking French since it was a social bonus that helped to improve one’s interpersonal skills, especially on the job market.
She said "the growing importance of French is evident in the recent listing of languages in the international job spheres by the US State Department, since 92 preferred French, 36 preferred Spanish and 11 preferred other UN languages."
Mrs Anim noted the efforts being made by the government to make the teaching and learning of French more attractive by awarding teachers with scholarships to study, through the study leave with pay programme.
She mentioned that the centres set up for teaching and learning French in the regional capitals were also some avenues to get as many people as possible to learn French.
Mrs Anim, therefore, called on stakeholders to help improve the language skills of people in the country by recognising the importance of children and the larger populace learning at least one foreign language, preferably French.
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