Update : Nigerian French Language project.

2017 is the third and final year of the current project. The first months of the year were particularly active. The Steering Committee meeting held on 31st March at the Federal Ministry of Education with the Director of Basic and Secondary Education and the Head of cooperation at the French Embassy helped immensely in assessing the progress of the 2 main components of the project.

In line with the requirement for the development of the teaching of Professional French in higher institutions, Yaba College of Technology ( visited on 27 February) and Plateau Polytechnic ( visited on 29 March) increased the number of hours devoted to the learning of French in their curriculum. The commitment of the teaching teams and the support of their hierarchy have played an important part in this positive development. From now on, students of vocational streams will be able to acquire professional language skills in French, a real asset in the Nigerian labour market.

The meeting with the team of the Department of French of the University of Ibadan on 6th April was an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of changing the actual academic curriculum so that French Language learning at tertiary Level can also take professional status within the universities.

As regards to workshops and trainings dedicated to the improvement of the quality of French Language training in the Colleges of Education, workshops were organized at the three centers for French teaching and documentation (CFTD Jos, 28th March, CFTD Enugu, 3rd April, and CFTD Ibadan, 5th April). The objectives were to finalize feed backs on the current curriculum (NCE Minimum Standards for French), to optimize visits to institutions and the the organization of the training program for 2017.

Both trainings and Academic Supervisors visits in COEs are currently being organized throughout the six geopolitical zones. 2017 training program is focussing on class material, teaching methodologies and assessment of language skills.

The project also has a structuring dimension for the teaching and learning of French in Nigeria. Firstly, the observations and findings made by the various actors working for the training of trainers of the COEs lecturers led to produced a draft framework documents to the National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE) to support and enhance the revision of the NCE Minimum Standards planned for 2017. Secondly, meetings with the Commissioners for Education of Enugu State (April 3rd) and Oyo State (April 6th) were meant to reinforce the cooperation with these states for the French and the key role of CFTDs.

Finally, following the work undertaken with the French team of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) in charge of the entrance examinations in higher institutions, a preparatory workshop for the official French tests (DELF and DALF) was organized on 24th May at the French Institute of Nigeria. In addition to preparing for and enrolling in the exam in June 2017, this workshop was aimed at providing new avenues to modernize the current version of the test for French.

 

Fanny DUREYSSEIX & Elizabeth ITODO
Heads of NFLP.