Looking at how things are today, I would say that we are back to square one! What happened? I can’t really say, except that I had time to come up with an idea… the only one that actually makes sense (though I might be off track! It is only my opinion after all!)…

Of course, everyone heard the news around Mid-January: the government made the decision to cut in the second language training… therefore they cut many positions in Ottawa and across Canada within L’École de la Fonction publique… Almost 200 positions gone!  It certainly created some turmoil… some thought that second language training was canceled. It is not the case… civil servants are still getting training but… in private language schools. My business was not affected because now I have more contracts that I can handle… without counting all those people who applied for jobs in the government and do not have access to paid training in order to prepare for their SLE tests.

I heard (from one of my students) that all second language training for the militaries has already been canceled, therefore I get lots of requests from people in the Forces. And… I anticipate to get even more as the weeks will pass by.

Okay… I am digressing here… I now get back to my first point. First of all, we all had a big surprise last week regarding the reading comprehension test. It had been changed back in August 2010 with 60 questions plus 5 bonus questions… I guess they wanted to see if people were able to answer 65 questions on very long texts… at the time, the cut-off scores for a B was 33 and 46 for a C… I have many students who took that test in January and one got a B with 36 and another one got an E (exemption) with 55… Then last week, I had a student in Toronto who took the test and both of us were stunned when we found out that the cut-off scores had been changed… now people need 38 correct answers in order to get a B… and God knows that this new test is a real headache for everyone, including myself… Therefore I concluded that the test has now 65 questions and no bonuses… and they went back to the old cut-off scores, meaning the ones before they changed the test.

As for the TOP (Test of Oral Proficiency)… For the past three weeks, all of my students were unsuccessful at getting their C… out of four, three of them are fluent in French… yes they do make mistakes (Francophones do make mistakes as well, especially in the Ottawa/Gatineau area), but they do communicate without effort. First of all, the assessors seem to ask free-style questions in the warm-up part of the test bombarding the candidates with opinion questions… so good for the so called objective test! I have a student who was going for a B and she struggles with French because it’s her third language and she started learning it a few hours here and there only one year ago… Right from the beginning of the interview she was literally assaulted by her examiner who pushed difficult opinion questions down her throat… and not only a couple! Apparently it went on and on and on… and it was the same thing with the follow-up questions after her three minute presentation… The poor lady was traumatised!!!  My question is: is it necessary to torture people? It is only a test after all… a test to assess people’s abilities in their second language… it is useless to treat them like dirt… they should not be their victims! What is that?!?

In any case… I have work to do because I have to push my students to their limits now… I already felt like torturing them when preparing them fot their oral test… now I have to be even tougher so that they might have a chance at this stupid test!!!…

YES! I am angry… more than ever… because I see all these people working hard, losing sleep over this ordeal, panicking with the idea that they might lose their positions, etc… I am on the front line and I wonder how the assessors (who are becoming less and less humane) can sleep at night… I could not! They have the power to destroy people’s careers only by writing a single letter on a bogus feedback report… Quelle foutue machine!

The word that is on my mind now is: RETALIATION… ponder upon this word and see if you can associate it to what is happening now in the testing department…

“Il n’y a que deux voies pour parvenir à la connaissance d’une machine; l’une, que le maître qui l’a composée nous en découvre l’artifice; l’autre de la démonter jusqu’aux moindres ressorts, et les examiner tous séparément, et ensemble.”

Nicolas Sténon

Last year, especially starting around June, it seemed that no one could achieve a C at the TOP (Test of Oral Proficiency) in French. It was actually quite depressing for me because I knew that most of my trainees were strong enough to get this level. A couple of them even took the test up to three times with no other results than a mere B… To some extent, I had started to believe that there was a conspiracy in Ottawa, where the headquarters for SLE testing are located. Why only in Ottawa? Simply because people tested over the phone with examiners based in Montreal  – or in person with assessors from various Departments such as CRA, Health, etc. – were still getting their C when they deserved it!…

I admit that I was angry most of the time and, when I left for Jamaica in Mid-December, it was long due because I was totally drained… and, for a while, I  even thought of giving up and retiring!… Yet I felt that I could not let down people who really needed help so that they would have a chance at those stupid tests! This process is excruciating and they need all the support they can get in order to get through this ordeal. And… I thought of all these people who are not living in Ottawa and cannot find resources… they would have been left on their own… Finally I decided that I had still enough energy and courage to fight this absurd system. Therefore I rolled up my sleeves and dived into 2011 with the ferocity of a lioness!… Sometimes I truly believe that only someone like me is crazy enough to do this… well, I guess I am a true believer and I refuse to give up on people who need my support and expertise.

Then something happened… something unexpected… something I would call a miracle! Now, 50% of the candidates to the TOP  who go to Slater are tested over the phone with examiners from Montreal… of course, my students who were evaluated this way got their C with no problems…  consequently, there was nothing to throw me off my chair… It is when my students tested face-to-face started to get their C one after the other that I realized that the pattern had been finally broken!… Actually none of them who were seeking a C failed!… Not even a single one!!! They all passed!… I would say that, since the beginning of January, I had about 20 trainees who needed a C and all of them obtained it!… Incredible!!!

How did that happen?… Well… it is known that our government keeps statistics of everything… therefore, I suspect that the ones on the success of bilingualism within the PSC showed a high rate of failure… without mentioning that many positions require CBC, BBC and CCC… if assessors fail most of the candidates, how can they staff?… In my opinion (and I might be wrong), the examiners have been “demanded” to be more realistic with their evaluation at level C… in other words, to assess people according to the criterias of the level: highly functional in the second language… and not bilingual! E is the level that people get when they are fluent!… Among my students who got their C, I had several who were bilingual and should have obtained an exemption… But hey! Let’s not be too greedy here… it is already an exploit that they got a C… Last year, I had a couple of them who were bilingual in my book and they only got a B!… Apparently, the wind shifted at Slater and it is kind of a relief… it is a test to assess people’s abilities in their second language… not a trial where they feel as if they were tortured by some tormenters…

On a sad note though, our “urban legend” did not budge… this examiner is still giving B to the ones who are at the level C… and giving an A to the ones who are at the level B… Two weeks ago, one of my students had the misfortune of being evaluated by this individual… she got out of there traumatized! Not only this jaded assessor is unfair but is also arrogant, cynical and sarcastic…  Who needs to sit down with such a jerk for 45 minutes when they are already under stress and pressure?… I have to say that I am tempted to reveal this person’s name, but I will not do it today… perhaps later… All I have to say for now is that no one should do this job more than two or three years, after that they tend to become bias and some of them are at risk of abusing the power they have… think of it for a second… individuals who fail to get the level they need at the TOP are eliminated from hiring processes and sometimes demoted… I think there should be at least two assessors in the room, the way it is done during job interviews… otherwise these people’s fate rests in the hands of one single person!!! A responsibility I would not want because I think I would have a hard time to sleep at night…

But… overall, there has been some improvement and there is hope for the future in the SLE testing department. It will be interesting to see if this positive trend will continue…

«Même sans espoir, la lutte est encore un espoir»

Romain Rolland

But I am not here to discuss the fate of the numerous language schools in Ottawa. I am rather interested in the fate of all these people who need to meet the language requirements of their positions and who became the victims of a vicious system.

Of course, there was the introduction of the new reading comprehension test at the beginning of August… something that is now making people more miserable than ever… at least, before, they were able to concentrate their effort on preparing for the written expression and oral tests… now they also have to try and better their abilities to read (well… what am I saying here? it is anything but a reading test!) in French…  Seema who now needs CBC after having achieved her BBB took the test again a couple of weeks ago: she said it was a real nightmare and she did not have enough time to finish the 60 questions… of course she missed the C… And, now, even Francophones with an exemption in oral proficiency cannot get their levels in both reading comprehension and written expression in English… they are now looking for training and most of them write to me in English and their messages are flawless! So… what should I conclude???… and do I have to add that there are no samples of the new test to practice with on Campus Direct? Great!!!…

 What bugs me the most right now is that, for over two months now, none of my trainees got a C in oral… except for the ones who were tested at CRA, Health Canada or over the phone (some people even got exemptions). All those who were tested in person at Slater failed… and those who achieved a C were tested more than two or three times. Is it a plot of some sort?… I hate to say this but… it appears this happened after a floor at Slater was flooded and they had to move their assessors on another floor… I know… it is ridiculous… but I cannot see why so many people are denied their C other than the examiners being frustrated (or truly incompetent)…

Take Josie for instance… born and raised in Montreal, she communicates very well in French and she does not have any English accent when she speaks… one would think that she is a Francophone from Montreal. Of course she makes some mistakes, but do I have to remind everyone that Francophones also make mistakes when they speak? Well… she was tested twice and, both times, she missed her C… I am sorry, but what are they looking for? It is beyond my understanding… and also beyond any logic…  On the other hand, they distribute Bs like candies to even people who can hardly put together a simple sentence with a subject, a verb (non conjugated most of the time) and one object!… Consequently, Josie who communicates efficiently and someone who only gets by in French end up with the same language profile, yet there is a huge gap between the two! And… on their feedback sheets, here is what we can read:

“Comprehension: You demonstrated an ability to understand linguistically complex questions, speaker viewpoints and conversations about abstract topics.”

Well… such a statement is accurate in Josie’s case… and I am sorry, but… someone who can demonstrate such abilities is NOT a B… and even a C is not described as bilingual, therefore there should not be such a fuss about abstract topics!… so… tell me… what do they want?

The only conclusion I can draw from this non sense is that the PSC needs people to fill in the entry level positions left vacant by the babyboomers leaving massively the workforce… therefore, they lowered their criterias for the B level (otherwise they would not have anyone they could hire) – in my book, the current B level in oral proficiency is the equivalent of an A before all the pointless reforms – and they raised the criterias for the C level… bottom line, we now see a flock of people detaining a B… yet their abilities to communicate in the second language are quite different.

Well… «au risque d’avoir l’air méchante», the only thing this test is assessing is the examiners’ inabilities to judge someone’s abilities to communicate in their second language… and one question pops up in my mind: who are these judges and what is their background?…

«Pour ne point rougir devant sa victime, l’homme qui a commencé par la blesser, la tue.»

Honoré de Blazac

There was a slow down in the PSC SLE testing though… it is always like this when the financial year ends: it takes a while before the Departments get their new budgets going. Nevertheless, requests for training are still coming in!

Patrice finally got the results for his three tests (after several months) and he got EEC… quite an achievement indeed!

Congratulations Patrice!

Adelaide also got the results of her oral interaction test and she got the B required for her to keep her current position and, even better, she was offered a promotion within her division!

Congratulations Adelaide!

And… Monica, who was totally depressed after her oral test and had nightmares thinking she had only achieved and A, got her results last week and she got her C!…

Congratulations Monica!

Therefore I am happy… it looks like everyone managed to get their required language levels… Yet I have to say that I have them work like slaves sometimes!… Getting prepared for the SLE tests is a long and painful process and I really do admire my trainees. I am not convinced I would be able to suffer as much!

That being said, I had time to browse some tests and I finally decide to have you try and take an exercise on pronunciation… though pronunciation in French is more or less consistent, sometimes there are words that are not pronounced the way they are written (or maybe they are!). I took the test myself and I got 50/50… I am sure you can get a perfect score too!

After some freezing temperatures last week, we are back to above normal tempartures this week… Go figure!

It is such a pleasure to see stuff like this!

If you are not sitting on some patio somewhere, click here to play my game!

Have fun!

Photo credit by Philip Lean, Canberra, Australia

Both March and April are always hectic months for me… I guess it is due to the end of fiscal in the PSC, as well as the beginning of another fiscal year… yet, I do not really see the link between so many people being tested for their second language and fiscal years!… Actually, maybe there is none and it is only coincidental… Who knows?

All I can say is that there are no breaks in the SLE testing… I believe it is because most of the entry level job positions now require a minimum of BBB and more and more of them require CBC… Also, it appears that many Departments cut into their language training budgets, leaving many civil servants in a limbo… they need to be either tested or re-tested, but they are not offered any paid training to prepare… I now work with many of them, which was quite unusual a few months ago… If there is a hiring freeze within the government at this point, there is no testing freeze!

In the news department, Mitch got back to me a couple of weeks ago: he finally got his B in written expression and we are currently working on his upcoming oral test preparation. He had a hard time with grammar because he never really took any formal French courses… on the other hand, he is from Montreal and he is more at ease speaking… therefore it should be easier for him to get his B (and possibly a C) in oral interaction.

Congratulations Mitch!

Chrissie went for her oral interaction test this morning… I am impatient to hear from her… I am convinced she will get her B… Sally, in Vancouver, finally went for her oral interview as well and she got her B!…

Congratulations Sally!

Bonita went for her written expression test yesterday and, unfortunately, she missed her B by only two points. She was really disappointed because she had worked very hard… yet, she was pressured with time and she would have needed a couple of more training sessions… And, from what she said, she got one of the tough versions of the test… but, good news, she is not out of the competition!… Sharon got her B in oral although she did not really believe she could make it… well… she did!

Congratulations Sharon!

Finally, and not the least, Haiyan - who was really nervous during the whole excruciating hiring process (from interviews to tests/exams) – saw the end of it last Friday… and she got her B in oral as well!

Congratulations Haiyan!

Sometimes, I think my job is redundant… of course, there is not much variety when it comes to SLE tests… they have been the same forever… yet, when I see my trainees get their required levels, I am very proud of their achievement and I do forget the repetitive aspect of my work… And, with Le Club français, we can enjoy sporadic outings and forget about the SLE tests for a while…  Those provide people with the opportunity to use their French outside the fake box they have to enter when they are tested… and I am always amazed of how good they are at communicating their messages and thoughts… when often they struggle so much with the tests!

Last Friday, we went to the The Higlanders’ Pub where we celebrated three April Birthdays… We had a great time and it was fun to get out of our lairs after the long winter months…

Celebrating Seema, Mark and Corey's birthdays!

Alice, Seema and Mark shining!

Corey, Mark and La Dame dragon smiling!

Corey (who never stopped smiling that evening), La Dame dragon and Keely

At the end of the evening...

Happy Mark on his 30th Birthday!

“J’avance dans l’hiver à force de printemps”

Charles Joseph de Ligne