Posted on 06 November 2007.
It isn’t often I spark off any debate on here, but I was interested in one of the responses to an earlier post, entitled ‘French of Spanish?’ that I made a while back. This was of particular interest:
When deciding which language to introduce, a primary school will consider these factors, among others:
- Which language do the teachers in the primary school have some knowledge of?
- Which language has the most teaching resources available?
- Which language does the local secondary school teach?
And the likely answers?
- French
- French
- French
Around 70% of primary schools are teaching a language now, and of that number perhaps 90% are teaching French.
Schools are just starting out with language teaching and it is understandable that they choose a ‘safe’ option (French) at this stage.
I maintain that teaching French at primary schools (and at secondary schools for that matte) is a bad move, and in this post I’m going to explain why.
First of all, if those teaching it are not really good at pronouncing it, they are going to pass on mistakes, and with French that’s easy to do! How well do they pronounce the ‘u’ sound in French in ‘tu’ and ‘au dessus’? Can they distinguish between ‘au dessus’ and ‘au dessous’? One minute sound change, in this case, results in opposite meanings. Can they distinguish between ‘un’ and ‘une’ sufficiently, or are they pronouncing something in between – one size fits all? The differences between the article in French is as important as adding that extra ‘-n’ before a vowel sound in English.
I’m only saying this because no-one taught me at school, or at 6th form college how to pronounce French properly. I only really learned the correct pronunciation of French through the traditional phonetics classes we were given throughout the first year at university. I can’t understand why this isn’t taught sooner, but it isn’t!
Now, I’m not suggesting that you expose your Y4s to French phonetics lessons – far from it, but if people are going to persist with this fetish for teaching French, they should at least know how to pronounce the language properly, if they are going to act as the language model for their students. That is far more easily achieved in Spanish, German, and even Italian without the phonetics course. For French, though, you really need background on how to pronounce the language, because the sounds can be very different from those of English.
A good rule of thumb to follow in determining how difficult a foreign language will be to pronounce, is to listen to the way many people who speak the language you want to learn as a native language, speaking English, if you see what I mean. Listen to a Chinese person and you’ll hear the difficulties that person has with English straight away. That’s a good indicator that their language will be a challenge in the pronunciation department for you! Yes, I know that Maurice Chevalier made a fortune playing on the ‘Frenchness’ of his accent, as did Antoine De Caunnes, but I wouldn’t want either of them teaching me English with accents as pronounced as that. To be fair, though, Antoine De Caunnes does speak really good English when he wants to.
At one school where I used to teach years ago, I taught French to one class of Y7s and Spanish to the other. Spanish was easier to learn and easier to teach. Students could pronounce Spanish far more easily and some of them managed fantastic pronunciation. I was really blown away by it at times! In Y8, they were introduced to the other language. I noticed that learning French takes far more effort, an uncommon interest in the language and a good ear to discern those subtle differences and reproduce them convincingly.
In fact I put it to you that the answers to the questions in the quote at the beginning of this post i.e. those that are answered by ‘French’, in every case – are flawed by false logic. Let’s go through them one by one.
Which language do the teachers in the primary school have some knowledge of? French
This is a double-edged sword if ever I saw one! Yes, it can work in the favour of the teacher electing to teach French, if he or she was good at the language and enjoyed it, and may even possess an A level or higher in the language. For many others, however, the prospect of teaching French strikes them with dread, as they recall the misery of those language classes at school they couldn’t wait to drop.
This means that some teachers who are expected to teach French now, and who have been through school hating and avoiding it, are burdened with the bad ‘vibes’ and memories of trying to relearn French now, because again, they are required to do so. Now that’s got to be working against their making progress. Psychologically, these people would be far better off starting a new language with a new approach and a fresh, new perspective. It would take a lot to overcome a negative attitude borne out of the negative learning experiences that so many students have had to endure, so I think it would be far better to start with a clean slate and an easier language…dare I say Spanish?
I’m not blaming secondary school teachers here – I have a foot in both camps. For one thing, learning a language in a school environment is frought with complications. It takes a burning passion for a language to learn it, and frankly, most secondary school students don’t want to. I don’t blame them for that. It just is as it is. Teachers are doing their best, but in the end, the students’ own interests will dictate how well they do in a subject. Languages are the hardest subjects for most students, I believe.
Which language has the most teaching resources available? French
Well, it follows that as French is so popular, publishing houses will create resources for French – supply and demand. If stones ever became popular as pets (They did in the USA!) you can bet someone would start selling them for an inflated price, and ‘producing’ more pets to satisfy the marketplace.
You can teach a language extremely effectively with limited, but particular, resources and a methodology that works. (Please tell me you’re not using text books at primary school! Especially for French!)
That’s the way I teach and it works like a charm! Resources are only useful when you know how to use them effectively, otherwise they’re just there for show. I’m serious. OK, a CD of a native speaker pronouncing words is essential if you don’t know the language well enough, and certainly posters can make very pretty wall displays, but will you actually use them to teach children the language? How? How will you use them, or will you just slap them up on the walls and hope the children learn the words on them? Will they learn the vocabulary only or will they be taught in a context? Well, they look awfully pretty and…
The truth is, you don’t need all that glossy, overpriced junk to teach children a language. Here’s a trade secret for you – The only resources you need are: yourself, and a good enough ability in the language you aim to teach to be consistently accurate, and a set of large picture cards. I teach that way, my classes rock, and the students learn because I’m treating the resources as a means to an end, not and end in themselves.
The textbook approach is unsuitable for all but the most lingusitically able primary school children. I know because years ago I tried it and fell flat on my face! Text books that are ‘suitable’ for all, are probably a waste of money. Again, I suppose how the language is being taught, and by whom, and of course, how bright the students are and what background they come from, also play a role, but I’ve taught languages at the primary level for over 10 years now, so I know what works best for the group as a whole.
Which language does the local secondary school teach? French
OK, if I demolished this one, it would be gratuitous, because it is reasonable and logical to teach the language at primary school that is going to be continued at secondary. However (…turning the big, bad bulldozer’s ignition key…), how many schools actually liaise with the secondary school and draw up a plan that will ensure a certain level is attained at primary, that can be carried on smoothly at secondary level? I’m talking here about a complete plan of required learning drawn up between the two schools that will allow the secondary teachers to build upon what the primary schools have taught them, not just vague guidelines, because without the two-level plan, the argument that what is taught at primary should reflect what is being taught at the secondary school, holds no water.
If you do this, please post here. I’m always looking for the exception that proves the rule!
I have a foot in both camps here, so I can see the issue from a secondary school perspective too. Even there, I still recommend Spanish as the main foreign language that should be taught, but let’s stick with French at primary school, for the sake of this discussion.
It winds secondary teachers up when they have to start with classes of Y7s who claim to have ‘done’ French before, but have learned erroneous French and poor pronunciation from untrained primary school teachers. You only need to read the comments on threads about primary MFL in forums where secondary school language teachers hang out to know that there are problems.
This can be traced back, to a great extent, to a problem I mentioned earlier, that is to say, French is difficult to pronounce properly, and no, approximate pronunciation won’t cut it. French is a most unforgiving language, as unforgiving as the French are when it comes to people butchering their language. Trust me on this one!
The students also claim they have done such and such before in French, when they have barely touched upon it, and cannot reproduce it to any extent worthy of note. To be sure, primary school language education is a thorny topic amongst secondary school teachers. Might it not, therefore, be a better option to teach a language that won’t conflict with French, but that might support it?
So is French really the ‘safe option’? Is it? Is it really?
I still maintain, for non-specialists Spanish is easier to teach because it just doesn’t come with all the ‘baggage’ that accompanies French.
Having said that, this argument is purely academic, because teachers will continue to choose French, in spite of anything I write here, and publishers will continue to create French resources, while there is a demand for them. So, as valid as I think my arguments for teaching Spanish are, the only way forward is to find more effective ways to teach French to the teachers who are going to teach the pupils.
There has been a big leap in the number of primary schools teaching children foreign languages. 
