Ghana: Provocative Conscience – A case for French Language education

Ghana/Mayo de 2017/Autor: Frederick K. Kofi Tse/Fuente: Graphic Online

Resumen: Esto ha encendido un debate entre ghaneses, especialmente políticos e interesados ​​en el sector de la educación; Y como algunos piensan que las deliberaciones sobre la idea son hace mucho tiempo, otros argumentan que es un movimiento equivocado. Un cambio en la estructura educativa puede tener efectos dinámicos en la economía, así que aprecio los diversos debates sobre esta política que ha planteado el Presidente. A decir verdad, la llamada para la enseñanza de la lengua francesa ha sido hecha por varios otros, incluyendo a la Sra. Hannah Tetteh, que instó a los políticos el año pasado a aprender a hablar francés y portugués.

This has ignited a debate among Ghanaians, especially politicians and stakeholders in the education sector; and as some think deliberations on the idea are long overdue, others argue that it is a wrong move.

A change in the educational structure may have dynamic effects on the economy, thus, I appreciate the various debates on this policy that has been raised by the President. Truth be told, the call for French language education has been made by several others, including Ms Hannah Tetteh who urged politicians last year to learn to speak both French and Portuguese.

As a language lover, I find it an important policy by President Akufo-Addo to give a chance to all Ghanaian children to have a taste of one of the most influential languages on earth. Ghanaians, like many other nationals, go for holidays in France and brag about French brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior and Hermes and also enjoy French fries. Others also travel for business in Togo and Burkina Faso but French Language which will make trade easy for such businessmen and women has been denied many because of the education structure.

Curriculum

Adjusting the curriculum to make room for a bilingual population is good. Here is a country surrounded by three francophone countries―Togo, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast― and in an Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) which has eight French-speaking countries as majority members. What is more, Africa is the continent with the largest French-speaking population in the world and 31 countries in Africa have French as a first or second language.

It is true that Ghana’s structure of education calls for a review, and foreign languages are the least of our woes. However, if government wants to solve our problems starting from the least, we ought to be looking at the positives and suggesting ways of making government’s position more favourable to the interest of students and the economy at large. Apart from English language, French is one language which has a global reach. The French in their efforts to remain relevant after World War II set up Organisation International de la Francophonie, simply called La Francophonie.  It is a body representing countries in which a significant portion of their population speak French. La Francophonie is made up of 56 countries, almost a third of the world’s nations, and this includes rich countries such as Canada, Switzerland and Belgium.

 Today’s western and even Chinese millennials are either bilingual or multilingual. They are either switching codes from English to Mandarin to French or from French to English and to Spanish. So equipping our children with the French language opens up their capacity to work and compete with their equals around the world.

Language with reach 

As a language with a global reach, it will enhance our appreciation of art, history and literature, and this absorbs cultural shocks when we travel to any of Ghana’s three neighbouring countries. As the world’s institutions are calling for deepening globalisation, French is an essential tool for trade, business and diplomacy. Even in the recent election in France, the French language was projected by the President of the European Union (EU), Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, who stated that English was losing its relevance in the EU, in a bid to appeal to France to remain in the EU. Though this statement was mischievous, it still carries some weight as he himself switched to French immediately after he ended that statement. President Akufo-Addo himself knows how useful the French language has been to him as a lawyer and as a former foreign minister, and that is why he is so passionate about making it compulsory. I also know many development agencies that prefer bilingual employees to those who speak only one official language.

Reconsideration

Nevertheless, the government has to reconsider making any language compulsory; otherwise, it should not be examinable for all students. There are many who do not like French and as such do not perform well in the language. You can open their heads like coconut and force a Dictionnaire Français into it and add one terabyte of artificial memory and they will still fail to utter je parle Français. Forcing such students to write an examination on the subject will be disastrous.

The attitude of French teachers will also either be an incentive or disincentive to students to learn French. Those of us who attended “syto” started the French course in Junior High School (JHS) and it was hell. Our French teachers seemed to have had a different training from non-French teachers and so had a different attitude on the job; they beat us as if they were not happy we were learning a foreign language. One time, I was chased by Mr Nutsukpoe, my French teacher, in the class until I jumped through the window. Imagine that! Since then, I never stepped my foot into the class until I finished school.  En fait, j’avais fini.

Fuente: http://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/provocative-conscience-a-case-for-french-language-education.html