Before I start writing about my latest reflection, I want to let you know that I got a message from Seema last Friday and she got her B in oral interaction! Good for her… though she is not finished yet because, while she was under’going full time French training, her job position turned into a CBC!… Yet, elle a gagné du terrain!…
Congratulations Seema!
I also heard from Kate… unfortunately, she did not get the C she was looking for, the examiner gave her a mere B… but, since her boss really wants her in that position and does know that Kate can communicate efficiently in French, the oral language requirement of her job position has been changed into a level B… Finally one person with judgment and common sense!… It would be great improvement if there were more… yet demain n’est pas la veille!… Therefore Kate joins Alicia and Christie on my list of this assessment process flaws! I would not be surprised to hear that the three of them had the same assessor…
This week will be another marathon of testing: Sun is taking her reading comprehension and written expression tests (she needs a C in both) this morning and Krystal will take hers tomorrow. Kelly, in Victoria, will be tested orally over the phone on Wednesday… she must obtain a level C… hopefully she will get it!… Based upon my trainees (located outside Ottawa)experience, examiners in Montreal are a bit more flexible (read less picky)… we shall see! And… I almost forgot!… Edna will go back to be tested for her written expression on Wednesday as well… hopefully she will not be given the test in English this time!
For those of you who do not know what the COFI (Centres d’orientation et de formation des immigrants) are, here is a brief explanation… When the province of Quebec made French its official language and introduced Bill 101 (Bill stipulating that immigrants’ kids have to attend French school unless one of the two parents had some kind of education in English in Quebec at some point – which is highly unlikely), new adult immigrants who do not speak a word of French are sent in those centers so that they can learn the basics of the language… there, they can acquire some survival spoken French and get acquainted with the culture québécoise… Those aiming at learning how to write are invited to under’go day or evening programs that are tailored to their specific needs in any school boards across the province.
New immigrants who do not have jobs attend those centers full time… those who do have jobs or go to university attend part time… These centers are not giving highly qualified training in French… actually it is not their reason for being either. They are not teaching immigrants to take SLE tests: they are teaching them how to survive in a French environment by providing them with useful vocabulary so that they can communicate in daily situations.
Times really changed… I do remember my retired Italian neighbours in Montreal: they had arrived in Canada right after the World War II… the lady was fluent in both French and English, their adult kids only spoke English and the man could not speak any other languages than Italian (I always wondered how he had managed all those years… actually he was relying on his wife for everyday interaction with the outside world)… She had been a nanny in a family in Wesmount for years and it was where she had learned French and English (the father was an Anglophone, the mother was a Francophone and the children were bilingual and attending French schools)… Okay… back to my story now…
Last week, I assessed a new student located in Montreal who needs to obtain levels CCC in order to qualify for the job position he applied for within the PSC… Corey, a middle age man, arrived in Canada two years ago with only his mother tongue and English as a second language in his pocket: he did not know one single word of French at the time. Since he had a night shift job in an IT call center, he spent only half of his days (and still does) in a COFI combined with 16 weekly hours in his school board evening program (for the written part of his learning)… In late Spring I had Yong who had also spent some time in a COFI in order to learn French and, even if he did not get his B in oral interaction, he could communicate fairly well… actually I was quite impressed with his skills since the COFI do not teach French formally!… Of course his French was not polished enough for the PSC examiner and did not meet the absurd standards of the PPC tests… although he managed to get his B in reading and writing!
I really did not know what to expect prior to meeting with Corey… if Yong had missed the level B, how could he get a C?… I know so many people who are bilingual in my book and who cannot get it!… On the other hand, I know some who cannot even have a casual conversation about weather or order a pizza in French and who actually have a level C… Go figure!… I stopped wondering about such a dichotomy because I would only waste my time!… There are no answers to this strange phenomenon… only because there are no real objectives, except that candidates have to perform the way the PPC wants them to… and even so, sometimes, one examiner will prefer another dance!… It is why it is imperative to know more than one, just in case!…
On Wednesday, I spent one hour online with Corey and I simulated an interview in French (with the four components of the actual oral interaction test)… Of course he was all over the place, providing me with more information than I was actually seeking… In the middle of this babel, though, I was quite pleased with his easiness to speak… and his comprehension was excellent… therefore I decided that he could get his C!… Yet I will have to put him in the box and restrain his wish to talk too much!… I will have to constrict him so that he will stay within the speech limits permitted!… It will not be an easy task to confine him in the work area only and I will have to provide him with the jargon they are expecting him to use during the examination… but it is manageable!… He has an excellent foundation in French and all that is needed to do is to have him speak more formally (yet I will make sure that he will keep his natural way of expression)… using words such as processus, gestionnaire, gestion de projet, affectation, note de breffage (do not worry if you do not know this word, it does not exist outside the PSC), intérimaire, protocole d’entente, etc.
After our session, I thought that it would be a great idea to have civil servants under’going French training in one of the numerous COFI throughout Quebec (there must even be one located in Gatineau!)… I am surprised that the famous PSC technocrates have not thought of such an option yet: they do not know much about pedagogy, but they are supposed to know how to count… that would save the government lots of money indeed, because I am sure it would be much cheaper to send employees in a COFI than in any language schools around town (institutions that do not give top notch services anyways!)… The bright side of such training would be that, afterwards, those civil servants would be able to communicate in French… and, at the end, it would only take a few hours to prepare them for their dance in front of an examiner… If I ever doubted the kind of training the COFI are providing, now I am convinced that they do a great and useful job!
“La danse est une cage où l’on apprend l’oiseau”
Claude Nougaro
The COFI would actually do a better job!
Before I start writing about my latest reflection, I want to let you know that I got a message from Seema last Friday and she got her B in oral interaction! Good for her… though she is not finished yet because, while she was under’going full time French training, her job position turned into a CBC!… Yet, elle a gagné du terrain!…
Congratulations Seema!
I also heard from Kate… unfortunately, she did not get the C she was looking for, the examiner gave her a mere B… but, since her boss really wants her in that position and does know that Kate can communicate efficiently in French, the oral language requirement of her job position has been changed into a level B… Finally one person with judgment and common sense!… It would be great improvement if there were more… yet demain n’est pas la veille!… Therefore Kate joins Alicia and Christie on my list of this assessment process flaws! I would not be surprised to hear that the three of them had the same assessor…
This week will be another marathon of testing: Sun is taking her reading comprehension and written expression tests (she needs a C in both) this morning and Krystal will take hers tomorrow. Kelly, in Victoria, will be tested orally over the phone on Wednesday… she must obtain a level C… hopefully she will get it!… Based upon my trainees (located outside Ottawa)experience, examiners in Montreal are a bit more flexible (read less picky)… we shall see! And… I almost forgot!… Edna will go back to be tested for her written expression on Wednesday as well… hopefully she will not be given the test in English this time!
For those of you who do not know what the COFI (Centres d’orientation et de formation des immigrants) are, here is a brief explanation… When the province of Quebec made French its official language and introduced Bill 101 (Bill stipulating that immigrants’ kids have to attend French school unless one of the two parents had some kind of education in English in Quebec at some point – which is highly unlikely), new adult immigrants who do not speak a word of French are sent in those centers so that they can learn the basics of the language… there, they can acquire some survival spoken French and get acquainted with the culture québécoise… Those aiming at learning how to write are invited to under’go day or evening programs that are tailored to their specific needs in any school boards across the province.
New immigrants who do not have jobs attend those centers full time… those who do have jobs or go to university attend part time… These centers are not giving highly qualified training in French… actually it is not their reason for being either. They are not teaching immigrants to take SLE tests: they are teaching them how to survive in a French environment by providing them with useful vocabulary so that they can communicate in daily situations.
Times really changed… I do remember my retired Italian neighbours in Montreal: they had arrived in Canada right after the World War II… the lady was fluent in both French and English, their adult kids only spoke English and the man could not speak any other languages than Italian (I always wondered how he had managed all those years… actually he was relying on his wife for everyday interaction with the outside world)… She had been a nanny in a family in Wesmount for years and it was where she had learned French and English (the father was an Anglophone, the mother was a Francophone and the children were bilingual and attending French schools)… Okay… back to my story now…
Last week, I assessed a new student located in Montreal who needs to obtain levels CCC in order to qualify for the job position he applied for within the PSC… Corey, a middle age man, arrived in Canada two years ago with only his mother tongue and English as a second language in his pocket: he did not know one single word of French at the time. Since he had a night shift job in an IT call center, he spent only half of his days (and still does) in a COFI combined with 16 weekly hours in his school board evening program (for the written part of his learning)… In late Spring I had Yong who had also spent some time in a COFI in order to learn French and, even if he did not get his B in oral interaction, he could communicate fairly well… actually I was quite impressed with his skills since the COFI do not teach French formally!… Of course his French was not polished enough for the PSC examiner and did not meet the absurd standards of the PPC tests… although he managed to get his B in reading and writing!
I really did not know what to expect prior to meeting with Corey… if Yong had missed the level B, how could he get a C?… I know so many people who are bilingual in my book and who cannot get it!… On the other hand, I know some who cannot even have a casual conversation about weather or order a pizza in French and who actually have a level C… Go figure!… I stopped wondering about such a dichotomy because I would only waste my time!… There are no answers to this strange phenomenon… only because there are no real objectives, except that candidates have to perform the way the PPC wants them to… and even so, sometimes, one examiner will prefer another dance!… It is why it is imperative to know more than one, just in case!…
On Wednesday, I spent one hour online with Corey and I simulated an interview in French (with the four components of the actual oral interaction test)… Of course he was all over the place, providing me with more information than I was actually seeking… In the middle of this babel, though, I was quite pleased with his easiness to speak… and his comprehension was excellent… therefore I decided that he could get his C!… Yet I will have to put him in the box and restrain his wish to talk too much!… I will have to constrict him so that he will stay within the speech limits permitted!… It will not be an easy task to confine him in the work area only and I will have to provide him with the jargon they are expecting him to use during the examination… but it is manageable!… He has an excellent foundation in French and all that is needed to do is to have him speak more formally (yet I will make sure that he will keep his natural way of expression)… using words such as processus, gestionnaire, gestion de projet, affectation, note de breffage (do not worry if you do not know this word, it does not exist outside the PSC), intérimaire, protocole d’entente, etc.
After our session, I thought that it would be a great idea to have civil servants under’going French training in one of the numerous COFI throughout Quebec (there must even be one located in Gatineau!)… I am surprised that the famous PSC technocrates have not thought of such an option yet: they do not know much about pedagogy, but they are supposed to know how to count… that would save the government lots of money indeed, because I am sure it would be much cheaper to send employees in a COFI than in any language schools around town (institutions that do not give top notch services anyways!)… The bright side of such training would be that, afterwards, those civil servants would be able to communicate in French… and, at the end, it would only take a few hours to prepare them for their dance in front of an examiner… If I ever doubted the kind of training the COFI are providing, now I am convinced that they do a great and useful job!
“La danse est une cage où l’on apprend l’oiseau”
Claude Nougaro