CONCILIER FORMATION INITIALE ET PRATIQUE D’ENSEIGNEMENT DU FLE EN CONTEXTE KENYAN

Abstract

Language facilitates the sharing of one’s personal experiences with another. Thus, teaching and learning a language is anchored on interaction. The learner learns to communicate through authentic communication; in the context of a foreign language, the language is therefore both the tool and object of learning. Thematic training for teachers in the field of foreign language is scanty. The usual initial training course offers future instructors theoretical baggage in methodology, linguistics, and some literary areas. In some instances, exposure to cultural studies and emerging practices such as the use of authentic materials in language classes may take place. While the existing models largely target the adolescent public, the observations and practices meant to allow trainees to acquire baseline experience remain insufficient. The proliferation of tertiary institutions where foreign languages are taught has in turn spurred teacher mobility in response to the new opportunities. This mobility, based on the desire for professional growth, has seen teachers trained for the secondary school level moving on to adult teaching post-secondary establishments. Supposing that each public has specific learning and language needs which correspond to diverse social contexts, a number of questions need addressing: in the context of evolving needs, are instructors aware of their roles? How do they ensure that learning takes place? What mechanisms are put in place to ensure learning that responds not only to administrative demands but also to learners’ needs? In order to operate effectively across different academic and linguistic levels, are there methodological techniques that allow differentiated perception of the material at hand and more specifically in our context, facilitate learning of French as a Foreign Language? This paper is born of a study on the gaps existing between the theoretical expectations of initial training of instructors in the field of French as a foreign language and the reality on the evolving context on the ground. This paper makes certain proposals regarding the recruitment and continuing professional development of French language teachers, all with the intention of enhancing their efficiency in the field.