It is au colleague from Quartier d'Orléans held on Wednesday, November 27, the first seminar dedicated to bilingual classes in Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.
In 2016, to meet political will related to “Taking into account the linguistic particularities of the territories” expressed in the organic law of the two communities, bilingual classes have been set up in Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.
Four years later, all the players in this innovative experimental project came together to draw up an intermediate assessment and define the directions to come.
"Today, the results are very encouraging"
In quantitative terms, 584 students in nearly thirty classes from the middle section of kindergarten to grade 3 benefit from this bilingual education with, since 2016, a cohort which has continued to grow thanks to the opening each year of an additional class level in the 5 nursery schools, the 5 elementary schools and the 2 colleges where these bilingual classes are established.
If, on the educational level, these classes constitute for Saint-Martin an answer to the academic difficulty, for Saint-Barthélemy, it is a will of openness aiming to provide the territory with a bilingual workforce .
Evidence from research allows us to say today that the brain plasticity of young children helping, these two objectives are fully achievable. It is also on this profusion of research and experience reports that the group responsible for piloting bilingual classes founded to build coherent learning that overlaps the two languages.
Qualitatively, the first results are based on the reading skills of the pupils at the end of the preparatory course and on the results obtained by the pupils of the college. During the preparatory course, the pupils naturally transferred the skills acquired from one language to another. In college, they improved the use of standard English and made it easier to understand mathematics.
The scope of bilingual education has also been manifested in general in terms of learning, thus confirming the researchers' assertions: when the English-speaking student can build and enrich his mother tongue, this results in better mastery of French and when the French-speaking student discovers concepts in English, it is all his ability to think that develops.
In addition to the many benefits of bilingual education, this seminar highlighted difficulties in the field linked to insufficient training of teachers to teach not a foreign language, but French programs in English.
The first responses to this difficulty were provided by the inspector in charge of language teaching in our academy, Jocelyne VIEILLOT, who presented all the training offered on the national territory, whether face-to-face or distance learning but also language stays abroad aimed at developing the skills of teachers.
Encouraged by the rector of the Guadeloupe academy, Mostafa FOURAR and the general inspector, Antonella DURAN, bilingual education in our territories, will continue to strengthen in the years to come to offer more students increased opportunities for success. It is no longer an experience, but a recognized educational lever (thanks to Marie-Joselyne Arnell, Educational Advisor in charge of pedagogical management of bilingual first-level classes).
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