A Day Focused on French Immersion - Mini-Conference

Who should attend

K-12 French Immersion Teachers, Program Coordinators and French Immersion School Leaders

About this learning opportunity

This learning opportunity will provide you with a chance to collaborate and learn with other French immersion educators focused on supporting the development of oral communication strategies for your students. This event is as a result of a partnership with MERFIP ( Metro Edmonton Regional French Immersion Program Group) and subsidized as a result of a grant from Alberta Education to support implementation.

Dr. Roy Lyster from the University of McGill and Dr. Thierry Karsenti from the University of Montreal will share their lessons learned, based on research, about teaching developing oral communication skills.

Linguistic Awareness, Practice and Feedback : A Winning Formula to Improve Student Skills in Oral Communication with Roy Lyster

In this workshop, the difficulties that your students face when learning to speak in French immersion will be identified. The linguistic and cognitive causes of those difficulties will be explored. You will then learn more about a pedagogical formula that is language centered and that, according to research, would ensure improvement of oral skills for French Immersion students. Dr. Lyster will address teachers of Gr. K-6 in the morning, and the afternoon session will be for teachers Gr. 7-12.

Oral Communication in French: The Reference Framework for Oral Competency and Motivational Pedagogical Activities with Thierry Karsenti

In this workshop, you will learn about the Reference Framework for Oral Competency in French Immersion. Notably, you will learn about the framework's six oral components used to assess oral competency and will learn how to use the framework in your French Immersion language classroom. You will be exposed to activities guaranteed to motivate and engage students in learning a second language. Dr. Karsenti will share his expertise on "Oral Communication in French: Using the Oral Communication Framework developed through ACPI. He will work with teachers of Gr. 7-12 in the morning and with teachers of K-6 in the afternoon.

This learning opportunity is subsidized as a result of a grant from Alberta Education to support implementation.

About the facilitator(s)

Roy Lyster is a professor of second language education, Department of Integrated Studies, at the University of McGill. He completed a doctorate degree, as well as a bachelor and masters degree in education at the University of Toronto. Professor Lyster's research examines content-based second language learning and the effects of instructional interventions designed to counterbalance form-focused and content-based approaches. His research interests also include professional development and collaboration between French and English language teachers for integrated language learning and biliteracy development. He is the author of Learning and Teaching Languages Through Content: A Counterbalanced Approach, published in 2007.

Thierry Karsenti, M.A., M.Ed., Ph.D., holds the Canada Research Chair on information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education. He is also a professor at the Université de Montréal, in the field of information and communication technologies and their integration in teacher training and education. His research interests center upon the pedagogical integration of new technologies, the impact of ICT on teaching and learning, distance education, teaching practices and motivation. He has also been recognized for his contributions, through research activities, to the quality of pedagogy. He is a past President of ACPI.