• Background
• Structure and Content of the Programme
• Assessment
• Teaching Materials
• Staffing Issues

"Classes européenes": the French version of bilingual teaching 

Background

    The French case study is based on a series of interviews carried out in different lycées throughout Paris. It concentrates on the role of European classes established in upper secondary education by the Ministry of Education in 1992.

    This was a deliberate policy decision on the part of the government to broaden access to bilingual education in an effort to cut across social and geographical differences. However, it is felt that bilingual education in France has come to equal elite education; European sections are often founded due to pressure from middle-class parents. Organisational and staffing problems mean that only a few pupils (20 to 30 per school) are actually involved.

Structure and Content of the Programme

    Bilingual education within the framework of European sections is a two-way process: in the last two years of lower secondary education pupils receive extra L2 tuition in a language that they have already been studying for two years. Then, at the lycée any extra tuition in the L2 is replaced by a content subject taught in the foreign language. Schools are responsible for choosing which subject is taught through a foreign language. The syllabus of the subject taught is exactly the same as the one taught in the native language in other classes. History is very popular in France, Science and Art are also taught through the medium of a foreign language.

    It is significant that the term "European" should have been chosen instead of "bilingual"; the emphasis being on elements of a European culture, although these are not specified in the official document (Bulletin Officiel du 19 août 1992).

    The underlying idea seems to be that the linguistic aspect and the non-linguistic aspect should be merged together to form a "European" and "cultural" whole, the content of which is both open and unspecified.

Assessment

    The European "baccalauréat" is obtained after two requirements are met:

1. An "A" grade in the normal language exam for the baccalauréat
2. A pass mark in a special content subject oral examination in the foreign language (e.g. students have to comment on a document in the foreign language)

    According to parents and pupils at the Lycée Claude Monet, such a "European" qualification holds credibility on the job market.

    The relationship between language and subject poses two related questions:

1. Are subject-matter teachers fully aware of the issues at stake in language learning (the different skills, the levels of competence etc.)?

2. Another question, which is often overlooked: in what ways does bilingual teaching modify, affect and even improve subject teaching? Does it represent an added value to it?

    The case study then goes on to answer these questions using examples from the lycées that were visited.

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Teaching Materials

    The question of teaching materials and the questions of content and curricula are closely linked.

    There are very few specifically designed bilingual materials available in France.

    The reflection on the choice of materials, the production of new ones, is closely related to the nature of the subject.

Staffing Issues

    As no teacher in France is trained with a dual qualification there exists the same problem as in other European countries (with the possible exception of Germany) of finding teachers of non-linguistic subjects capable of teaching through a second subject.

    As far as teacher training is concerned, although some efforts have been made in terms of foreign placements for subject teachers, the results as a whole are unsatisfactory.

    It seems that the difficulty of designing a satisfactory training course for bilingual education is partly related to the lack of pedagogical research into the relationship between the linguistic and the non-linguistic aspects of MBE. It also has to do with the notion of the "European dimension" which refers to a whole range of concepts and practices about which there is little consensus.

    What are the objectives of bilingual education in France?

    Ideas about this are emerging. They include:

• the necessity to develop access to authentic materials in the second language,
• an interest for a comparative approach to cultural topics ("Didactique Comparée"),
• the need to develop triangular partnerships including two subject-matter teachers from two different countries and a language teacher, the need to develop co-operative work within schools but also within training institutes,
• the awareness that specific teaching materials are urgently needed,
• the growing awareness that new technologies can provide a useful and innovative tool.

    All these questions will have to be dealt with fairly urgently. Otherwise, the motivation of bilingual teachers might gradually be weakened by the feeling of isolation they are experiencing at the moment.