Teaching Core French Through the Arts : Constructing Communicative Competence

This study is concerned with Grade nine Applied level students’ attitudes toward learning French. The following paper provides an in-depth case study of one group of 18 students from a Core French class in a Southwestern Ontario inner city high school. Specifically students’ attitudes toward learning French through the Arts were examined. Guided by the tenets of constructivism and Arts-based research, with the collaboration of the classroom teacher, French/Arts lesson plans were prepared through which students’ motivation, attitudes, and enthusiasm to speak French whilst in the process of creating art could be examined. Students’ comments of learning French through Art were compared with their stories of past experiences within the Core French program. Grounded theory and an emerging theme design using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. Observational data, questionnaires, and focus group interviews were conducted in order to triangulate the data collection for analysis. Findings show that students’ attitudes toward learning French via Arts-based activities were more positive and their enjoyment, motivation to learn, and spoken French increased. Core French in Canada: Toward an intensive model Students’ attitudes toward the study of French in Canada are increasingly negative (Kissau, 2005; Netten, Riggs, & Hewlett, 1999). When asked how they and their peers viewed Core French courses in high school, the majority (52%) reported they had not had a good experience (Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training, 2004). According to the report State of the Core French Program in Canada (2004), existing Core French programs are not successful in producing functionally bilingual graduates. Of the students interviewed for this report, almost half of those who had completed secondary Core French felt unable to understand spoken French. Not only are students not learning to speak French within the established Core French program, the program itself is undermined. For example, most school boards have cut primary Core French in Ontario. Research shows that many of the current teaching practices used in the Core French as a Second Language (FSL) program are ineffective and negatively impact on student attitudes and success with regards to functional language knowledge. For example, a recent study of Grade 11 students who had dropped out of Core French programs concludes “that a paradigm shift in methodology and curriculum content of the Core French program is required. French has to become more interesting, more relevant and more oriented toward the goal of learning to speak the language. This is the obvious first step toward motivating students to continue their study of French” (Atlantic Provinces Education Foundation [APEF], 2002, p. 19). Moreover, the Canadian Parents for French (CPF) study focused attention on the need to enhance Core French education and explore alternate delivery models. In fact, the CPF association said, “It is a welcome and sorely needed initiative as there is much to be done” and further noted that, “students continue to complain of a lack of French speaking and listening practice and most felt that they were not able to hold a conversation with francophone peers” (CPF, 2004, p. 60). Additionally, enrolment numbers are declining: “Attrition between the last Grade of compulsory Core French and the last year of high school ranges from 85 to 95 per cent” (CPF, 2004). With so many secondary students not continuing with the current model of the FSL Core program in Ontario secondary schools, and as few students actually gain functional fluency, the question is: What purpose does the Core French program serve?