LET'S LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH (Wed. Seotember 10, 2008)

THE Government has directed all its officials to compulsorily take French lessons. According to the Vice-President, the directive is part of the government’s plans to make French a common language as much as possible to enhance economic, commercial and social activities.
The need for Ghanaians to communicate effectively in the French language has always been emphasised as the country is surrounded by Francophone countries.
Unfortunately, the teaching and learning of French has not made the desired impact over the years and efforts to generate the needed interest among Ghanaians have also not yielded the right response.
It appears that many Ghanaians are content with their proficiency in the English language and, thus, do not find it important to educate themselves in a second international language, particularly, French.
Indeed, on the other side, many people in Francophone countries take their English proficiency studies seriously, be it formal or informal, hence they are able to communicate in the English language unlike us who do not speak French at all.
While it may be out of place to accuse ourselves of being a group of self-conceited people, our very limited ability to communicate in the French language betrays a systemic weakness in our educational system that has persisted for so many years and must be urgently addressed.
Although French lessons have been instituted in the school curricula right from the basic level, the desired impact of these lessons has not been really felt and it is sad that the various education reform programmes have not been able to address this major challenge of empowering our people to promote dialogue among the peoples of the sub-region.
If students are made to sit through French lessons for a greater part of their basic education and then grow up with next to zero level of French proficiency, then we need to ask ourselves whether we are making any gains at all?
For many school authorities, French continues to be fringe subject for which not so high targets are set for students and teachers. That appears to be the bane. Therefore, in many of our schools, the usual scenario is to get a group of students who would rather make fun of French phrases and words they learn in school than to contextualise them and master their usage.
In the realms of pedagogic practice, it is widely acknowledged that those who do well in their mother tongues are more capable to take any course of study in a second language. Perhaps, our lack of interest in the study of the French language must stem from the less premium we place on the study of local languages in our schools.
The DAILY GRAPHIC welcomes the government’s directive and wish to challenge it to ensure that this does not become a nine days’ wonder.
There is also the need for the Ghana Education Service to take a second look at the study of French in schools in order to generate the desired interest and impact.
Our universities and other tertiary institutions must also institute policies that will make the study of French more rigorous. Although in some of our tertiary institutions, the French language has been made compulsory, others prefer to make it optional for their students.
However, if the country recognises the importance of the French language, then it may be very important to introduce measures that will encourage students to take their French lessons seriously at all levels and that we can achieve by making the French language not only compulsory for government officials, but also for students.
It is only when students realise that the French language is a core part of their studies for which they shall be examined that they will attach the needed seriousness to its study and not just pronounce French words and recite phrases in jest.