Encourage the learning of bilingual education in New York

There is a lack of teachers to teach French in New York. However, the city continues to be a real bastion of bilingual learning in the USA, in particular thanks to a man, Fabrice Jaumont, Northerner who became a resident of Brooklyn and educational attaché at the French Embassy. After releasing, in 2017, a manual on setting up classes with courses in two languages, he looks back on the bilingual revolution that is developing in many American states.

Lepetitjournal.com New York: Where are we at with the expansion of French-English bilingual programs in New York public schools?

The gentrification of many neighborhoods in New York City led to the creation of bilingual programs in the city’s public schools. The latest is a project that must be born at PS05 in Bedford Stuyvesant (in Brooklyn, editor’s note). We are working so that families can join Pre-K and Kindegarten classes in order to educate children from the age of 4. It would be a school that would serve as our pilot because for the moment there is no public French-English bilingual reception in New York for children of this age. This project is an initiative of Benoît Busseuil (a French restaurateur, editor’s note), who put his daughter in this school and pushed the idea to the director who was looking to create diversity. We also managed to get a grant from the New York City Department. Now, families must take the plunge!

What about older students?

A Boerum Hill School For International Studies, we are developing the bilingual high school with 9th and 10th grade students. The goal is to go up to the 12th grade and ultimately offer a program to pass the international bac, which in France is called the Geneva bac. We have two years left before seeing the first students to graduate from an international bilingual baccalaureate. This will be the culmination of the creation of a public school path in New York, where it will become possible to educate your child for free from pre-K to the baccalaureate, in a bilingual class and, with the result of a diploma recognized in all universities. European and North American. It’s still a bit visionary, but we are touching our dream.

The “French Heritage” program also participates in the development of French among adolescents …

Yes, once a week, the idea is to offer advanced French lessons to French-speaking teenagers in public high schools in New York. We allow them to keep a link with our language so as not to lose it, but also to make this practice an asset. The best will be able to take exams called “Advanced Placement” and thus obtain credits at the university. This activity is offered in 10 high schools in New York where Haitian or African children, who have just arrived in the USA, attend school. We give them a class or two during the week, they will also get together to do theater, videos, talk about their stories, their cultures and their travels. This program is made possible thanks to private funds, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France and the International Organization of la Francophonie which provides an international volunteer.

How to explain this boom in bilingual courses in New York public schools?

Richard Carranza, the current chancellor of schools, who was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, is Mexican-American. The son of a sheet metal worker and hairdresser and the grandson of Mexican immigrants, he began his career at a bilingual high school in Tucson, Arizona, as a social science and music teacher. It therefore has a strong link with bilingualism. On the other hand, New York City’s policy has always been the same: bilingual programs are used to teach immigrants English to give them a better chance of succeeding in American society. The municipality wants to create a sanctuary city protecting immigrants, with or without papers, protecting their culture, their language and giving them chances to integrate fully.

It is in this sense that you wrote, The Bilingual Revolution, the future of education is written in two languages (ed. TBR Books, 2017), translated today into several languages ​​and used as a guide for those who wish to set up bilingual classes?

With the book and the work we do with parents, we are trying to change this definition of bilingual education as given by New York City. It must be used to help non-English speakers of course, but it is also a model that must include families like mine, who want children to keep the language of the grandparents. It should also help all English-speaking monolingual families looking to acquire a second language, as is the case for a large proportion of Americans in New York. Bilingual education must be for everyone and not just for English learners. School principals act with a certain flexibility when families come to see them to create a bilingual program. And it is the same for French, but also German, Korean, Italian: many families are waiting for the New York public school system to help their children acquire a second language. Because it is proven: bilingualism has an impact on the brain at any age. It contributes positively to the cognitive development of children. It also promotes integration and social cohesion: young people are more open-minded, more receptive to other cultures and more tolerant.

What are the obstacles ?

The field of bilingual education is highly politicized here in the United States. There are constant tensions, especially currently on issues affecting immigrants. And programs in Spanish or Arabic are particularly victims. And then, the professors are the sinews of war but they must be certified, that is to say who have a license to teach in the State of New York, a green card because the city ​​does not issue visas, so it limits the number of applicants. The more schools there are, the more positions there are, but we have to be able to fit into the mold and meet the criteria of the city’s public school system. The French Embassy and the FACE Foundation encourage students to follow bilingual education diplomas, generally designed to be able to teach all subjects in two languages, through scholarships which must cover part of their training costs, up to of 5000 dollars. In New York, Hunter College public university has also added a module in French to its Master of Bilingual Education, which allows teachers to be trained in subjects specific to the teaching of French. However, as long as the city does not decree that this sector is lacking in teachers, there will be no political will to forge partnerships with French-speaking countries. It is therefore from New York that we can encourage young people to become teachers for bilingual classes.

Are other American cities more inclined to welcome foreign French-speaking teachers?

Yes, Utah has a different approach. It is the state where there are the most bilingual French-speaking courses after Louisiana. This is not linked to the wishes of the parents or to the number of Francophones in the State, but to that of the local government which encourages the development of these French immersion courses as part of an economic development strategy. He brings in teachers from France or elsewhere to whom we roll out the red carpet. The objective is to create a multilingual workforce and train students capable of being competitive in the global skills market in order to attract multinationals to Utah, a very landlocked state. It is a phenomenon that can also be found in Georgia, North Carolina and Delaware.

What was the impact of your book on the bilingual revolution after its release in 2017?

He made a lot of people want to do the same, like in Washington DC, San Francisco and Boston where some are getting organized. There are also some groups that are launching out of large cities such as Burlington in Vermont where we are trying to do immersion schools, again for economic reasons related to the reception of the flow of Quebec tourists who come to visit. this state. But there are also parents who are inspired by it outside the United States. A version of the book is particularly expected in Peru because some would like to set up bilingual Quechua-Spanish programs. In France too, a lot of people ask me and I will participate in a conference on the subject of plurilingualism on October 6 in Paris. This book provides ideas and tools. People need to read and hear that it is possible to do the same at home, thanks to the feedback from other parents who have been there.

The conference on plurilingualism will take place on Saturday, October 6, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the National Assembly in Paris. Fabrice Jaumont will speak on the role of parents in the creation of bilingual courses. Tickets available here.

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