Promoting the linguistic diversity of the island
The pupils from REP + of Saint-Martin discovered several living languages throughout the week of 15 to 19 May 2017. The National Education Service organized the second edition of the Language Week. The event, instituted by the Ministry of National Education, aims to highlight the language and linguistic diversity of the territory.
Marie-Joselyne Arnell, general pedagogical adviser and Evelyne Fleming, in charge of the education department, were in charge, respectively for the 1st and 2nd degree, to put in place the different interventions on the ‘Dare to speak’ theme. "We wanted to highlight the different communities on the island and highlight what has been put in place in the national education on the question of languages such as the creation of bilingual classes and the French as a Foreign Language training by voluntary teachers" explains Evelyne Fleming.
Thus students from the bilingual, tourism and FFL classes have been particularly sought after, from kindergarten to 9th grade. They had the opportunity to discover, among others, Kabyle with Kacem Habassi (professor of physics), Mandarin with Chang Chia Lin (music education teacher), Hindi with Mr. Sadarangani, president of the association of Indians of Saint-Martin, Brazilian Portuguese with Olivier Beaufour, PRE referent and FFL project leader, a parallel between the different creoles (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyanese and Haitian) with Chantal Vaiti, French teacher, Mrs. Laville, company manager, and Thomas Toussaint, company manager, and German with Mr Torres, FFL referent and a student in his final year in College learning French, Junker Leon. The pupils, even among the most difficult classes have shown a lot of interest in the speeches.
The education service chose to focus on the institutions classified in Rep + in order to show that the plurilinguistic side is an asset, as well as to upgrade the students and teachers who live there. This is why the different interventions took place in the schools Omer Arrondell, Clair St Maximin, Jean Anselme, and the French Quarter college.
Photos: National Education Service of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin
