FSL EDUGAINS Presentation

Vision, Goals, and Enduring Ideas of the French as a Second Language Curriculum
The Vision and Goals of the French as a Second Language curriculum in Ontario
In Ontario, there are three French as a Second Language programs - Core French, Extended
French, and French Immersion - to meet the diverse needs of Ontarios students. All three of the
French as a Second Language programs share a common vision and set of goals.
The vision states:
Students will communicate and interact with growing confidence in French, one of
Canadas official languages, while developing the knowledge, skills, and
perspectives they need to participate fully as citizens in Canada and in the world.
In all three French as a Second Language programs, students realize the vision of the FSL
curriculum as they strive to meet the following goals.
The first goal is to use French to communicate and interact effectively in a variety of social
settings;
The second goal encourages students to learn about Canada, its two official languages, and
other cultures;
The third goal helps students appreciate and acknowledge the interconnectedness and
interdependence of the global community;
The fourth goal emphasizes students responsibility for their own learning, as they work
independently and in groups;
The fifth goal gives students the ability to use effective language learning strategies;
The sixth goal is to enable students to become lifelong language learners for personal growth
and for active participation as world citizens.
These goals apply to all three French as a Second Language programs from grades 1 to 12.
In order to achieve these goals, the revised FSL curriculum is founded on seven Enduring Ideas.
In the next presentation, we will discuss the Enduring Ideas in detail.
Enduring Ideas of the Revised French as a Second Language Curriculum
As shown in this visual, all three FSL programs are based on the same Vision, goals and Enduring
ideas. This presentation will look at the Enduring Ideas in more detail.
The first Enduring Idea of the revised FSL Curriculum is Authentic Oral Communication:
Reception, Production and Interaction.
Research shows that authentic oral communication is key to the acquisition of language. It is
important to note that the main purpose of language is to communicate. Therefore, there is an
emphasis on the communication of ideas, information and opinions. It is important that we give
students many opportunities to hear and speak French so that they can develop their
communication and literacy skills. Communication is a social act, so students need to interact in
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the language to develop their language skills and strategies. Action-oriented and communicative
approaches to teaching languages put meaningful and authentic communication at the centre of
all language learning activities. Students need to have comprehensible input which means that
there needs to be linguistic stimuli, either oral or written, that a teacher or other students
provide to students that is relevant, meaningful, and most importantly, understandable. In order
to communicate in a language, students need to hear and use it to communicate their thoughts,
opinions and ideas.
Some of the

key characteristics of the action-oriented and communicative approaches are:

focus on meaning over form;
emphasis on meaningful, interactive activities;
Centering on communicative language needs; and
Highlighting authentic tasks, when possible, within the context of a classroom
environment.

In the revised FSL curriculum there is an increased focus on meaningful interaction and the
introduction and use of interaction strategies in both Listening and Speaking.
The Overall Expectations for Listening and Speaking focus on the skills and strategies needed to
be effective communicators:
Listening Comprehension
Listening to Interact
Intercultural Understanding
Speaking to Communicate
Speaking to Interact and
Intercultural Understanding
Students should be involved in a variety of interactions in the classroom in order to practise and
consolidate their knowledge and understanding of French. In FSL classrooms students should
have opportunities to participate in the following interactions:

Students in partners
Students with small groups
Students with class
Teacher with individual students
Teacher with small groups and
Teacher with class

This will enable students to develop the confidence and skills to communicate in French with
each other, their teachers, and with French-speaking people they should encounter outside of
the classroom.
Enduring Idea #2: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing: Interconnected but
Distinct
The FSL Curriculum is divided into four interdependent strands. To develop the skills necessary
to become life-long language learners, students will have multiple opportunities:

to listen and respond to texts and others;

to speak to and interact with others;
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to read, view, and respond to a variety of texts; and

to write for many different purposes and audiences.

The overall expectations for the listening strand across all grades, in all three FSL programs are
listening to understand, listening to interact, and intercultural understanding. The overall
expectations for the speaking strand are speaking to communicate, speaking to interact, and
intercultural understanding.
In the reading strand, the overall expectations are reading comprehension, purpose, form and
style, and intercultural understanding. Lastly, in the writing strand, the overall expectations are
purpose, audience and form, the writing process, and intercultural understanding.
In the past, reading and writing have been emphasized at the expense of oral communication
and this has resulted in students who could read and write but not speak the language.
Students will be able to transfer their knowledge of the language attained in communicative
contexts when listening and speaking and apply it when reading and writing.
In the communicative and action-oriented approaches, language needs to be contextualized and
developed in authentic, real-world settings. Students use and reuse language for multiple
reasons while developing their language skills and strategies across the four strands.
There is a variety of ways to introduce a new language to students. One of the models for this is
outlined:
Purposeful Introduction of language:
The teacher sets the communicative goal or task and introduces and models the use of
language needed to communicate in that situation.
Ongoing Modelling and Practice:
The teacher provides ongoing modelling and support as students practise their use of
language.
Application and Consolidation:
Teachers encourage students to recognize and apply their knowledge of the language
in new situations or contexts.
Using a variety of approaches, including the action-oriented and communicative approaches, teachers
facilitate the learning of language by embedding it within authentic contexts. Students are introduced to
the language that is necessary for them to communicate and interact in a certain context or situation.
As educators in the twenty-first century, we are charged with implementing an approach that makes it
possible for our students to communicate meaning fully. We must not underestimate the importance of
language conventions, but they are only effective when approached globally, serve a communicative
purpose, and are informed by the following factors:
they are taught in context;
they are scaffolded, modelled and practised in authentic situations;
they are interpreted in meaningful ways;
they are tailored to meet student needs;
they are structured to respond to student interests;
they are practised and applied in multiple ways to consolidate knowledge; and
they are presented across the curriculum.

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Enduring Idea #3: Development of Language Learning Strategies

It is important to note that language learning is a personal journey and that not all students
acquire language in the same way or at the same rate. It is essential to respect the needs of the
learner and where they may be on their language learning journey.
In order to demystify for the students the process of learning a new language, it is important
that there is an increased focus on the development of language learning strategies.
There are expectations in all four strands which focus on the introduction and use of language
learning strategies. The strategies may not be unique to learning a second or additional
language but help students to be aware of the things they are doing while learning a language. It
is important to note that not all students acquire these strategies on their own.
Most students will benefit from explicit classroom instruction regarding the use of second
language learning strategies, in authentic and relevant contexts. The language learning
strategies are not program or grade specific. Students should be exposed to a wide variety of
strategies and apply then in increasingly complex contexts and situations.
There are four types of language learning strategies in the FSL curriculum listening strategies,
speaking strategies, reading strategies, and writing strategies.
Listening Strategies include showing respect, activating prior knowledge, interpreting non-verbal
cues, processing information, confirming understanding, taking notes, reacting to the message,
anticipating responses and making predictions.
Speaking Strategies are selecting purpose and audience, establishing and maintain contact,
cupporing the message, clarifying the message, rehearsing, confirming understanding, and using
appropriate language register.
Reading Strategies are activating prior knowledge, making connections, asking questions,
summarizing, inferring, predicting, and monitoring and repairing understanding.
Lastly, Writing Strategies include choosing a topic and audience, making a plan, sketching to
stretch, engaging the audience, following the writing process, and selecting stylistic elements.
Once students are consciously aware of strategies, have practiced using them, can select the
most effective ones for a particular task, and can see the link between their own actions and
their learning, they will be more motivated and more effective French language learners.
Enduring Idea #4: Interdependence of Language and Culture
The language used in a community is reflective of the cultures of the individuals within that
community. The language therefore reflects the ideas, values, and traditions of the community.
In the revised French as a Second Language curriculum there is one Overall Expectation entitled
Intercultural Understanding in each of the four strands. It includes the two specific expectations
of Intercultural Awareness and Awareness of Sociolinguistic Conventions
This is a map of the French-speaking areas of the world Le monde de la Fancophonie.
The expectations that deal with the development of intercultural understanding are developed
through the four interconnected strands and are included to help students make connections
and build bridges between diverse French-speaking communities and society as a whole.
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Through a focus on intercultural understanding, students will

build a strong understanding of Le monde de la francophonie French speaking
communities around the world;
have a better understanding of the people, traditions and aspects of their culture;
develop cultural sensitivity and the ability to identify and use a variety of strategies
for contact with those from other cultures; and
develop an increased awareness and the ability to overcome stereotyped
relationships.
To build student intercultural awareness, we start with increasing knowledge and building
understanding about the aspects of cultures in local French-speaking communities in Ontario. We
then move to Quebec, eastern, western, and northern regions of Canada.
Students continue to build their intercultural awareness by gaining an understanding about the
aspects of culture of French-speaking communities in North America and South America.
Students continue on their journey by learning about French-speaking communities in France
and Europe.
Finally, students will continue to build their awareness and understanding about French-speaking
communities in Africa, Asia, and Oceania to give a more global perspective of le monde de la
francophonie.
Intercultural awareness and understanding are key aspects of the concept of global citizenship
which includes citizenship at all levels - from the local school community, to North America, and
beyond.
Here we can see the Intercultural Awareness Expectation from Grade 4 Core French from the
Listening strand. In grade 4, students will have multiple opportunities to explore Franco-Ontarian
communities and make connections to their own and other communities.
This expectation illustrates how the specific expectations, the illustrative examples, the teacher
prompts, and the instructional tips work together to serve as a guide for the teacher to the
various ways students can demonstrate the required knowledge of the expectation.
This is an example of the second specific expectation related to the awareness of sociolinguistic
conventions in the Speaking strand of Grade 5 Core French. In this expectation, students are
required to show understanding of the different forms of address and differences in language
register. For example, students may be required to select the appropriate form of address Tu or
Vous based on the context or who they are addressing. Teachers are encouraged to highlight
sociolinguistic conventions related to the chosen French-speaking region for that particular
grade, but have the flexibility to address the various sociolinguistic conventions that may be
universal or related to other French-speaking communities.
Enduring Idea #5: Emphasis on Critical and Creative Thinking Skills
Learners of a second language are engaged in critical and creative thinking on a daily basis.
In order to make sense of what they are hearing, reading, and viewing, and communicate their
messages clearly, they need to use a variety of strategies to solve problems and make meaning.
Problem solving skills are an integral part of learning and interacting in a language.
When students think critically and ask questions about what they are hearing, reading, and
viewing, they begin to develop their critical literacy skills.
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As a result of the pedagogical shift and the research surrounding language acquisition, there is a
focus on the development of students thinking skills. In addition, there is a shift from the
memorization and recall of vocabulary and language structures to students applying their
knowledge of the language and using it in creative and innovative ways in new contexts.
Enduring Idea #6: Goal Setting and Reflection
When students are aware of the learning goals, the success criteria, and receive timely
descriptive feedback, they are better able to assess and evaluate their own use of the language
and language learning strategies and can plan next steps. The integrated use of Assessment for
and as learning will develop students metacognitive skills and allow them to have multiple
opportunities to use the language in a variety of contexts prior to being evaluated on their
achievement in the language. Metacognition allows students to take responsibility for their
learning. It can be best described as students becoming their own teachers. They are able to
assess what they know and dont yet know, set new learning goals, and then seek strategies and
support to meet their goals and reflect on what theyve learned and how theyve learned it.
When discussing assessment in the French as a Second Language classroom we would like to
emphasize the importance of Assessment for and as Learning. When learning a language,
students need multiple opportunities to hear, to speak, to read, to write and to use the language
in a variety of contexts. Students need regular, descriptive feedback from the teacher, peers,
and through self-assessment, and daily opportunities to act on the feedback Students need
opportunities to reflect on their use of language and their use of language learning strategies, to
set and revise personal goals, in order to monitor their progress. This will promote the
development of metacognitive skills. Metacognition is a specific expectation in each of the four
strands.
In order for students to become effective self-assessors, teachers need to take explicit actions to
ensure students are aware of the learning goals and understand the success criteria. Further,
teachers need to purposely teach and scaffold students development of these skills.
All assessment, evaluation, and reporting of student achievement in French as a Second
Language will be based on the policies and practices as outlined in Growing Success:
Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools. First Edition, Covering Grades 1 to 12.
2010 and the Achievement chart for French as a Second Language.

With an increased emphasis on Assessment for and as learning, students:

are aware of the goals and criteria for communicating in relevant, real life situations;
give and receive timely and descriptive feedback about their use of language and
strategies;
reflect on their thinking and learning;
reflect on their use of French and language learning strategies;
assess their strengths and determine what they can do; and
reflect on next steps, and set and monitor goals for improvement
Language learning that is task-based and student-centred cannot adequately be assessed by
traditional grammar quizzes or even structured interviews.
Teachers can gain an understanding of the strengths and areas of need of their students through
their daily observations of students interactions in French. This understanding will enable them
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to plan and develop learning experiences for their students to hone their communication skills in
French.
Enduring Idea #7: Making Real World Connections
French language learners will be more successful if they have opportunities to use the language
for authentic communication in a broad range of contexts.
The revised FSL Curriculum supports and encourages the real-life application of language
learning through meaningful contact with French-speaking individuals.
Involving students in the learning process through active engagement in meaningful, ageappropriate, and cognitively demanding tasks and projects, in French, is key to engaging and
motivating FSL students.
Students engage more in learning when they have a certain degree of choice and an opportunity
to express preferences for the themes and activities in FSL learning. Being involved in controlling
the learning process puts students at the centre of the learning, and is critical in the
development of their engagement, motivation, and success.
The vision and goals of the revised French as a Second Language curriculum will help teachers to
build the bridge from language and strategies learned in French class to students applying their
language knowledge and strategies in real world situations and contexts.
Using the skills and strategies outlined in the Vision, Goals, and Enduring Ideas of the FSL
curriculum, we hope to enable our students to value Life Long Language Learning.
At the end of their studies in French, we hope to hear each student say Je peux comprendre et
parler le franais!"
With the knowledge that the sole reason to learn a language is to be able to communicate with
other speakers of that language, we hope that the vision, goals, and enduring ideas of the
revised French as a Second Language curriculum will effectively allow students to become lifelong language learners of French and encourage them to study other languages. The revised
French as a Second Language curriculum policy document represents a first step in the
development of confident, proficient, and bilingual citizens of Ontario, Canada, and the world.
With an emphasis on the communicative and action-oriented approaches, students will see that
they are able to communicate for a variety of reasons in a variety of situations in French with
each other, their teachers, and anyone they should encounter who speaks French.
Quoi de neuf? / Whats New?
Based on research from the field of teaching and learning French as a Second Language, national
and international benchmarking, and extensive consultation with stakeholders in Ontario,
recommendations were made and revisions took place. Following the initial revisions, all
education stakeholders, including educators, parents, universities, and faculties of education,
were invited to provide feedback on the draft revised documents for each FSL program (Core
French, French Immersion, and Extended French). The documents were then edited and further
revisions based on the feedback were incorporated. During the revision process, the draft
revised documents were sent for external fact check and feedback. This input, where
appropriate, was incorporated in the curriculum policy documents.
The following are some of the key changes in the revised FSL curriculum.
The revised FSL curriculum has many new features to support teachers and students in second
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language education.
These new features include:
The Reorganization and numbering of Overall and Specific expectations;
The addition of illustrative examples to give suggested ways in which
students can demonstrate each expectation;
The inclusion of teacher prompts in French as models to assist teachers and
students in using the language to communicate;
Additionally, Instructional tips have been included to provide instructional
strategies and authentic contexts for the effective modelling, practice and
application of language.
Another new aspect of the revised FSL curriculum is the development of Intercultural
Understanding.
Intercultural Understanding provides students with an understanding of the
various French-speaking communities around the world. It helps students to
better understand the cultures of the communities and to develop an
appreciation of the similarities and differences between their own culture and
the culture of the French-speaking community.
There is a geographic focus on French-speaking communities beginning with
local communities, moving to Ontario communities, and then a Canada-wide
perspective. Students will then have the opportunity to learn about Frenchspeaking communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
A second aspect to the development of Intercultural Understanding, is the
development of sociolinguistic competencies so that students will be aware
of the language and behaviours that are appropriate to a variety of social
contexts.
The development of metacognition is also a focus of the revised curriculum. In FSL we will see
students developing their metacognitive skills through thinking about their learning, assessing
their progress, and setting goals to improve their acquisition and use of language and language
learning strategies.
Another key addition to the revised FSL curriculum is the inclusion of Media Literacy.
In Core French, Media literacy is integrated throughout the four strands as
examples of the texts that they will listen to, view, read, and produce.
Whereas, in Extended French and French Immersion, Media Literacy is
included as a specific expectation in each strand.
There is an expanded definition of texts to include examples from media.
Students will be exposed to authentic texts and will be asked to question the
information and messages that are presented
A key feature of the revised FSL curriculum is a change in pedagogical approaches to the
teaching and learning of the French language.
There is an increased emphasis on the Communicative and Action-oriented approaches. There is
an increased focus on student interest and the authenticity of tasks. Students will focus on
language learning strategies in each of the four strands (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and
Writing). Teachers are encouraged to contextualize the use of language for students. In addition,
there is an increased emphasis on the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model where students
and teachers will engage in Modelled, Shared, Guided, and Independent practice.
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