The program is designed to have the student develop language and communicative skills by doing things rather than by simply examining the language. The students no longer begin by studying the code system in order to understand its functioning. Instead, they find themselves in a situation where they must use the language for a definite purpose, to complete a clearly defined task, much like the principle of immersion. To successfully complete a specific task, the students need to know certain language elements such as grammar rules, verbs, and sentence structure.
In this approach, we look at the socio-cultural context of the French language in order to prepare them to live in Canadian Society and to broaden their cultural horizons. This includes French Canadian culture in Québec, the French Acadian culture in Atlantic Canada, the culture of pockets of French speakers in other provinces such as Saskatchewan and the culture of francophone nations throughout the world.
This approach also focuses on how languages are learned, the strategies used and makes language comparisons such as French words that are the same as English words, the use of masculine/feminine in comparison to the Hebrew language just to name a few.
Our French teachers from kindergarten to grade eight work very hard to ensure that our students receive an excellent French program that exceeds Ontario Ministry curriculum standards.
In grades four and five, the Extended French students study Social Studies in French for two periods a week. In Grades six to eight they have three periods of Social Studies taught in French.
In Grade Four, the program is streamed so that students can begin to work at their respective levels; we differentiate between Core French (French) and Extended French (Français). The students are selected based on their performance in Grade Three French, and a short assessment dialogue with the French Faculty.
It is important to note that at OJCS, we offer 20% more French per week to the Core French students than the Ottawa Public Board Core French students. Our Extended French program is similar to the Ottawa Public Board in that we also teach a second core subject in French, Social Studies.
We are proud of our graduates who go on and excel in any program requiring the use of French in secondary or post-secondary language settings. Many of our students successfully transition to immersion contexts in high school.
Every year, we celebrate French day and our kindergarten to grade three French classes present the AIM plays and the French department put together a great French assembly which showcases the talents of all our students. Whether it is a song, a skit, a poem, or a story, their love of the French language is clear.
