Abstract
This paper addresses the theme of social inclusion through language learning. The focus is on an ad-hoc tutoring scheme set up between newly arrived British migrant pupils and French monolingual pupils in a small secondary school in the south-west of France. Though the original objective of this tutoring scheme was to improve the English skills of the younger pupils, feedback reports indicated that it also had a positive impact on the relationship between the British migrant pupils and their French peers. Teachers believed that those involved participated more fully in class, and appeared more self-assured and generally happy thanks to the interpersonal relationships this scheme helped to forge. This study demonstrates the necessity of analysing the socio-cultural context migrants may find themselves in, in order to identify potential challenges. The ad-hoc tutoring scheme described here is an example of how language learning can support the integration and inclusion of “new generation” migrants into everyday school life.
Résumé
Enseignants en langues vivantes étrangères, ne laissez pas ces jeunes à l’abandon ! Échange linguistique et culturel lors d’un tutorat ponctuel – Le présent article aborde le thème de l’inclusion sociale à travers l’apprentissage linguistique. L’accent est mis sur un programme ponctuel de tutorat établi entre des élèves migrants récemment arrivés sur le territoire britannique et des élèves unilingues d’un petit collège situé dans le sud-ouest de la France. Bien que l’objectif de ce tutorat ait consisté à l’origine à améliorer la maîtrise de l’anglais chez les élèves plus jeunes, les rapports de retour d’expérience signalent que ce programme a en outre exercé un impact positif sur la relation entre élèves migrants britanniques et collégiens français. Les enseignants ont rapporté que les élèves impliqués participaient plus pleinement aux cours, semblaient avoir davantage confiance en eux et être généralement satisfaits grâce aux relations interpersonnelles que ce programme a contribué à forger. Cette étude démontre la nécessité d’analyser le contexte socio-culturel que les migrants peuvent trouver en vue d’identifier les défis potentiels. Le tutorat ponctuel décrit ici illustre que l’apprentissage linguistique peut favoriser l’inclusion et l’intégration des migrants « de la nouvelle génération » dans la vie scolaire quotidienne.
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Notes
Most children between the ages of two and six in France attend infant school (école maternelle). Although attendance is not mandatory, infant schools are not considered as day nurseries or kindergartens because they are run according to the same guiding principles as primary schools. Infant schools within the state sector are free and secular.
In France, children start primary school (which lasts five years; from CP to CM2) at age 6. They proceed to lower secondary school (four years, from 6ème to 3ème) at age 11, and to upper secondary school (three years from 2nde to Terminale) at age 15, finishing at age 18.
Il y a des enfants qui vont très bien s’intégrer et vont apprendre les gros mots tout de suite pour ça, ça ne posera pas de problème … Quand il y a deux anglais dans la classe il ne faut pas les mettre à côté car ils vont parler anglais tout le temps et il y a une espèce d’osmose qui se fait, ce qui fait qu’ils restent ensemble tout le temps même à la récréation - ils ne vont pas se mélanger avec les petits français. Alors que s’il y a un anglais tout seul il va faire l’effort d’apprendre le français et les autres vont faire l’effort de l’intégrer, donc voilà. Il faut un principe lorsqu’il y a deux anglais du même âge, il faut éviter de les mettre dans la même classe.
The affective filter hypothesis states that second language acquisition is influenced by negative emotions such as fear, nervousness, boredom and anxiety which block comprehensible input by functioning as filters between the speaker and the listener. By consequence, the listener’s ability to understand the language spoken to them is reduced.
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Leroy, N. Modern foreign language teachers – don’t leave those kids alone! Linguistic-cultural “give and take” in an ad-hoc tutoring scheme. Int Rev Educ 63, 561–582 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9654-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9654-1