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French Home Page
Bonjour et bienvenue sur ce site!
Hello and welcome to this website!
This support service for teachers of French is managed by ILANZ with the significant support of the New Zealand Ministry of Education and the Embassy of France
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Ruth Bourchier | |
| National Adviser: French | ||
| PO Box 5653 | ||
| Frankton | ||
| HAMILTON 3242 | ||
| Phone: | (021) 024 40237 | |
| Fax: | (07) 839 5454 | |
| Email: | contact me | |
I assumed my role as National Adviser for French in June 2007, after completing a training course at the CLA in Besançon, France. Unlike the other language-specific advisers on the ILANZ team, I am not a native speaker of French but rather a New Zealand trained teacher, appointed to the position for a contracted period. Prior to taking up this appointment with ILANZ, I taught French in a variety of secondary and tertiary institutions, my most recent positions being HOD French at Hillcrest High School, Hamilton and part-time lecturer in French at the University of Waikato.
While I am the only adviser in French, I do not work in isolation. Far from it! I consider myself part of two major teams: the ILANZ advisory team, which includes my colleagues in other languages and the French support team, which includes the personnel of the linguistic section of the French Embassy here in Wellington and the New Zealand Association of French Teachers. I also work in close association with the Learning Languages team of regional advisers.
The support I can offer teachers of French comes in various forms:
- School visits
- Information on teaching materials
- Courses, workshops and cluster meetings
- Advice (in person, by phone, by e-mail, via listservs)
- Newsletter for teachers of French (via website www.french.ac.nz)
- French days and camps
- School Exchanges between France and New Zealand
School visits
My visits to schools are free of charge. I can come in to discuss resources, course planning and documentation or specific issues and concerns. I can come in to observe a lesson or to teach a lesson or part of it myself. I can come in for an informal chat with your students on France, New Caledonia and French Polynesia in English or French. I am also quite happy to do a combination of any or all of these things. I also find that it is usually a good idea to spend five minutes with your principal and talk about French in your school.
When I am planning to visit your area I will email and offer to come to your school, but you can also contact me to request a school visit.
Information on teaching materials
I have a library of French teaching materials (courses books and supplementary materials, including DVDs and CDs) and a collection of catalogues from publishers and distributors. I can also direct you to valuable internet resources (many of which are accessible via links in our website www.french.ac.nz. There is also a wealth of material developed by our French teachers to fit the NZ curriculum and which are accessible under the 'Resources' heading of the website. If you need help looking for resources for a specific purpose, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Courses, workshops and cluster meetings
I can offer a variety of courses and workshops on a one-to-one (or several) basis, working for a whole or half-day with a teacher or two in their own school, dealing with their specific issues and teaching or team-teaching their classes. I am also able to offer courses ( together with other advisers) on relevant topics. These courses can be conducted in English, in French or in a combination of the two. I can take part in Learning languages cluster meetings. Your school or cluster may invite me or you can join a course that has been organised through your teachers' centre or language teachers' association.
Advice
IIf you are looking for advice on any matter relating to the teaching of French in New Zealand, please do not hesitate to contact me.
I may not be able to help immediately but may be able to put you in touch with someone who can.
For advice on issues relating to NCEA or departmental management, contact the teacher support services at your nearest College of Education.
- Team Solutions: Auckland and Northland
Waikato University School School of Education Support Services
Massey University College of Education
Victoria University of Wellington College of Education
UC Education Plus
University of Otago College of Education
Newsletter
My newsletter is (produced in conjunction with the Bureau de coopération linguistique of the French Embassy and is) published on the website www.french.ac.nz under 'Contacts' > 'National Adviser'. Hardcopy newsletters are no longer sent to schools.
If you teach French in a NZ school please consider the website www.french.ac.nz as your one-stop-shop for all information relevant to the teaching of French in New Zealand at any level up to Year 13.
We try to maintain an up-to-date database for language teaching in New Zealand, relying on information from Ministry of Education returns and our own surveys. If you think our information may be out-of-date, please contact me and I'll update the details for your school. The most effective way to stay informed and be part of the French teaching community in New Zealand is to join the two listservs nzaft@list.tki.org.nz and francais@list.tki.org.nz. The NZAFT listserv which is dedicated to classroom related discussion, can be joined by clicking on nzaft-subscribe@list.tki.org.nz then 'send'. To join the FRANCAIS listserv, which has been set up exclusively for discussion about language and which fosters dialogue between native French and English speaking teachers, click on francais-subscribe@list.tki.org.nz then 'send'. For each listserv, once a confirmation email is sent, click on 'reply' then 'send'
Newsletter Dec 2007 click here
Language Assistants:
Approximately 20 French, German and Spanish Language Assistants are
employed for the academic year to assist language teachers.
They apply through their own home country, and are matched with New Zealand schools (or
groups of schools) that have applied to host.
NZ schools use the assistants as native speakers in language classes and receive a subsidy to employ them. More information......
Organising a tour to France:
Organising a trip to France is not as onerous as you might think and is certainly worth the effort from both the students' and the teacher's point of view. Contact me for advice.
Motivating students through ICT in the classroom:
It is becoming increasingly important for teachers to be skilled and informed in the area of new technologies. These have a powerful role to play in effective language teaching. I am committed to assisting teachers to familiarise themselves with ICT and am happy to offer advice and instruction on innovative and interactive use of such resources as data projectors, interactive whiteboards, blogs, wikis, podcasts, second life and other Web 2 tools.
French days or camps
I have been involved in the organisation of the biennial Waikato Y12 & 13 French camp for a number of years and believe strongly in the value of such events to motivate students and bring them together for the purpose of using their French. If you are organising a camp, please feel free to invite me - I am happy to just be there or do some sessions with the students. If you are organising an event for the first time, I can also help with ideas for activities, which have been successful in other places.
School Exchanges between France and New Zealand
Exchanges between French and New Zealand schools, although not yet widespread, do indeed take place. In spite of the difficulties associated with distance and time zone difference between us (it’s hard to find two countries more distant from one another), about twenty New Zealand schools each year send students to France or host their correspondents. Those involved in virtual exchanges, via email or collaborative spaces such as blogs and wikis, are more numerous. It is one of my major goals to develop virtual exchanges for the following reasons: They are in harmony with the 5 key competencies of the NZ curriculum, they allow students to develop their intercultural and linguistic competence in an authentic context and they give access to the target culture for all students learning French, rather than the few with the means to travel. I would encourage teachers to consider virtual exchanges, particularly at junior level, as an integral part of the French programme rather than an add-on.
There are many speakers of French in other parts of the world and I have had requests for partnerships from teachers in the Pacific and Canada. I am keen to extend our links with other parts of Francophonie as this provides an insight into a variety of Francophone identities.
Face to face exchanges, successfully established by schools in both countries, prove that there are ways of overcoming the difficulties associated with distance. The solutions reached by schools prepared to launch into the adventure vary greatly according to available finance. But in both countries it is mainly the parents who provide the financial backing, followed by the community. Added to these contributions are funds that students and schools provide through fund-raising activities.
French and New Zealand schools also have the advantage of something unique to the two countries, the France-New Zealand Friendship fund, of which one of the main aims is to foster school exchanges.
For the year 2009/2010, the deadline for applications for funding is 31 March 2009. Information on the Friendship Fund is available on www.nz-franceff.com
Download the Application form below and send to Ruth Bourchier
french@ilanz.ac.nz. IMPORTANT NOTE: this funding is intended for support of well-established, truly reciprocal partnerships which involve substantial periods in homestays in both countries.
Les échanges scolaires entre la France et la NZ
Les relations entre établissements scolaires français et néo-zélandais, même si elles ne sont pas extrêmement développées, existent bel et bien. Malgré les difficultés liées à la distance et au décalage horaire entre la France et la Nouvelle-Zélande (on peut difficilement trouver deux pays plus éloignés l’un de l’autre), une vingtaine d’établissement néo-zélandais envoient chaque année des élèves en France, ou reçoivent leurs correspondants. Plus nombreux sont ceux qui échangent à distance, par courrier électronique, sur des espaces virtuels communs ou en partageant des fichiers son ou vidéo.
Pour les enseignants de français en Nouvelle-Zélande, la rencontre avec les jeunes Français permet aux élèves d’appréhender la réalité d’un pays lointain et qui reste mal connu malgré la somme considérable d’informations disponibles sur le web : rien ne vaut le contact direct. Mais compte tenu de la distance et des coûts, on comprend que les enseignants se satisfassent des échanges électroniques à distance.
Dans le même temps, les rencontres menées à bien par des établissements des deux pays, même si elles restent limitées, prouvent qu’il existe des façons de surmonter les difficultés liées à l’éloignement. Les solutions mises en place par les établissements qui se lancent dans l’aventure varient grandement selon les financements trouvés. Mais dans un pays comme dans l’autre, les familles restent les principaux financeurs, suivies des collectivités. A ces contributions s’ajoutent les sommes que les établissements et les élèves peuvent collecter par eux-mêmes, en organisant des ventes ou des spectacles.
Les établissements français et néo-zélandais qui souhaitent échanger bénéficient également d’un atout propre aux deux pays : le Fonds d’Amitié France - Nouvelle-Zélande, dont l’un des objectifs principaux est de faciliter les échanges scolaires. Pour l’année 2008/2009, la date-limite de dépôt des demandes de financement est fixée au 31 mars 2008. Information sur le site du Fonds d’amitié : www.nz-franceff.com
Téléchargez le formulaire de recherche de partenaire - à retourner à french@ilanz.ac.nz et dominique.suquet@diplomatie.gouv.fr
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Formulaire en anglais |
