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GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
inanced a Fesival of Languages also ofered students an entrée into the world of French theatre
and music. The arrival of TV5 was a further boost to our eforts to make France a real presence
in the classroom. Language exchange programmes and Transiion Year homestays had a huge
impact on those able to avail of them. Alongside these developments the good old-fashioned
study of grammar and literature re-established itself and students emerged with a competency
and an understanding that I feel is lacking today. While we have vastly more authenic and up-
to-the-minute resources available thanks to the Internet, students no longer see the need to be
au fait with what is happening in France or in the French speaking world.
Why? In my opinion, the Leaving Ceriicate examinaion as it currently stands has largely
abandoned the concept of cultural awareness. The focus is on personal wriing, on a personal
response to simulus material so anodyne that if ofered in any language, the same sort of response
could be generated. Token acknowledgement of issues of concern to the French (and Irish) is ofered
in the choice of topics – the smoking ban, the importance of religion, the diiculies faced by Sean Dingle, who teaches
immigrants have all been raised in recent examinaion papers – but our students are not expected French at Gonzaga
to have any real understanding of how French people relate to these issues.
Today’s Leaving Ceriicate graduates can conduct conversaions in French that are
impressive to those of us who went through the system prior to the introducion of oral exams.
They can write luently about a row with a friend or about their concern with global warming.
They can read lengthy passages extracted from late twenieth century French novels and
accurately transcribe a sentence to demonstrate their comprehension skills. They can listen
to the news report of an accident in a ski resort and correctly idenify the number of people
injured. The focus is enirely on funcion. Where is the appreciaion of French poetry? Where
is the love of le sepième art? Where is the admiraion for la gastronomie française? Where is
the recogniion of the trauma engendered by President Sarkozy’s plan to redraw the borders of
France’s départments reducing them from 22 to 15? (Akin to amalgamaing Cork and Kerry into
a new county Corry!) Relegated to the backwaters of Transiion Year?
While I applaud students’ successes in the Leaving Ceriicate French exam, I regret the
changes that have been forced on us by the rigidity of the exam. Students too frequently want
to reduce the material studied to that which will be examined. How oten do we teachers hear
the quesions “Is this on the syllabus?”, “Will this be on the exam?” Concentraion levels are
not what they were and students will only infrequently engage with a text longer than an A4
page. The constant need to move on to something new or diferent means that reading a novel
as a class group is no longer an opion. Even showing a French ilm is only possible if the English
language subitles are retained.
A certain rebalancing is required. Why not return to the ideals of the 1985 syllabus? Include
on the Leaving Ceriicate examinaion some elements of cultural awareness as originally
envisaged. Then perhaps the student who happily writes of spending a day at the beach in
Clermont-Ferrand will be a thing of the past!
Anne Nevin
GONZAGA AT SIXTY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
inanced a Fesival of Languages also ofered students an entrée into the world of French theatre
and music. The arrival of TV5 was a further boost to our eforts to make France a real presence
in the classroom. Language exchange programmes and Transiion Year homestays had a huge
impact on those able to avail of them. Alongside these developments the good old-fashioned
study of grammar and literature re-established itself and students emerged with a competency
and an understanding that I feel is lacking today. While we have vastly more authenic and up-
to-the-minute resources available thanks to the Internet, students no longer see the need to be
au fait with what is happening in France or in the French speaking world.
Why? In my opinion, the Leaving Ceriicate examinaion as it currently stands has largely
abandoned the concept of cultural awareness. The focus is on personal wriing, on a personal
response to simulus material so anodyne that if ofered in any language, the same sort of response
could be generated. Token acknowledgement of issues of concern to the French (and Irish) is ofered
in the choice of topics – the smoking ban, the importance of religion, the diiculies faced by Sean Dingle, who teaches
immigrants have all been raised in recent examinaion papers – but our students are not expected French at Gonzaga
to have any real understanding of how French people relate to these issues.
Today’s Leaving Ceriicate graduates can conduct conversaions in French that are
impressive to those of us who went through the system prior to the introducion of oral exams.
They can write luently about a row with a friend or about their concern with global warming.
They can read lengthy passages extracted from late twenieth century French novels and
accurately transcribe a sentence to demonstrate their comprehension skills. They can listen
to the news report of an accident in a ski resort and correctly idenify the number of people
injured. The focus is enirely on funcion. Where is the appreciaion of French poetry? Where
is the love of le sepième art? Where is the admiraion for la gastronomie française? Where is
the recogniion of the trauma engendered by President Sarkozy’s plan to redraw the borders of
France’s départments reducing them from 22 to 15? (Akin to amalgamaing Cork and Kerry into
a new county Corry!) Relegated to the backwaters of Transiion Year?
While I applaud students’ successes in the Leaving Ceriicate French exam, I regret the
changes that have been forced on us by the rigidity of the exam. Students too frequently want
to reduce the material studied to that which will be examined. How oten do we teachers hear
the quesions “Is this on the syllabus?”, “Will this be on the exam?” Concentraion levels are
not what they were and students will only infrequently engage with a text longer than an A4
page. The constant need to move on to something new or diferent means that reading a novel
as a class group is no longer an opion. Even showing a French ilm is only possible if the English
language subitles are retained.
A certain rebalancing is required. Why not return to the ideals of the 1985 syllabus? Include
on the Leaving Ceriicate examinaion some elements of cultural awareness as originally
envisaged. Then perhaps the student who happily writes of spending a day at the beach in
Clermont-Ferrand will be a thing of the past!
Anne Nevin
