French embassy’s moves to improve language proficiency

FRENCH is Nigeria’s second official language, and for some time now, the French embassy, in collaboration with the network of Alliance Française in Nigeria and the Centres for French Training and Documentation (CFTD) have been working towards promoting the proficiency of the language among teachers and the general public alike.

The embassy, in a move to further boost the learning of the language in the country, has worked out a plan to train selected teachers of the language, who would further go out to retrain others.

One of the plans was a one-week programme aimed at teachers of the language, which was recently concluded in Abuja and Ibadan.

The programme in Abuja was held between October 22 and 26, while the Ibadan version, was held from October 29 till November 2, at the Alliance Francaise, Ibadan.

Speaking with Arts and Review during the training, the embassy’s linguistic attaché, Mr Benoit Billy, said the programme was aimed at building the capacity of teachers of the French language, particularly those who lecture at the Colleges of Education, polytechnics and universities in the country.

Mr Billy said the programme focused on the oral aspect of communication in the language, as well as improving participants’ French oratorical skills.

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The embassy’s linguistic attaché explained that 15 selected teachers of the French language participated in the programmes at Abuja and Ibadan, making a total of 30 beneficiaries, and part of the objectives was that the skills gained would be transferred to other teachers of the language who didn’t have the opportunity to attend the trainings.

Mr Billy, who just resumed in Nigeria a couple of weeks ago, however, said more teachers of the French language would benefit as the programme would run till 2019.

In Oyo State, the embassy’s linguistic attaché was at the Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo and the Ibadan International School, a Franco African school, where he spoke to students studying the French language, as well as their teachers.

Mr Billy highlighted the benefits of being bi-lingual to the students, saying they would have global opportunities if they mastered the French language with the English language.

“There are several international organisations that need the services of bi-lingual people, and this is a great period for you to master the language for future international opportunities,” Mr Billy said.

While also speaking, the Director of the Alliance Francaise, Ibadan, Mr Nicolas Michelland, explained that last August, there was a training targeted at teachers of the French language in secondary schools in Oyo State.

Mr Michelland said the objective of the workshop was to improve the oral and written level of the teachers, “and about 45 teachers participated in the programme.

“However, there will be more programmes in 2019, as the French embassy, Alliance Francaise and CFTD would continue to work towards improving the mastery of the language in Nigeria,” Mr Michelland said.

The Abuja programme was conducted by Ms Martine Darchelet, while the Ibadan programme was conducted by Ms Anne-Lyse Dubois, who are both from the Alliance Francaise, Paris, France.