The Mauritius Examinations Syndicate (MES) has recently confirmed problems in the use of languages by pupils at the end of primary school. Several other reports had already pointed at those failures – like the British Council’s one on the use of the English language – but the MES relied on the latest results of the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) to express its concern about the “limited vocabulary” of pupils. Even though the institution acknowledged that there has been some improvement in the use of languages (especially in French), the level of most pupils is still not up to standard. Hopefully, the reform of the curriculum, if implemented will help solve part of the problem.

Languages have been a cause for concern for many pedagogues for the past few years for two main reasons. The results of the pupils in such or such a language is indeed not the only reason why it is important for them to master skills in that field. The main problem may actually be that languages – English and French – are the means through which the other subjects will be understood – or not. Therefore, it is all the more important that pupils master languages in a proper way. The National Curriculum Framework, which has been approved by the cabinet but still waits for implementation, makes room for these issues with two chapters devoted to each language.

“The Mauritian context where English is almost a foreign language for the young learner requires that the child be immersed in a language-rich environment and be given a maximum amount of exposure to the language by adopting a Whole Language Approach in association with Communicative Language Teaching strategies and inductive methodologies that will lead the child to learn the language through meaningful practice and discovery,” states the report. Exposure is indeed the key word in the learning of any language and should help them become “a tool enabling learning and building one’s knowledge”.

The report makes it clear that language learning competencies for English, “include the basic language modes of listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as additional/complementary skills/competencies/processes that should be developed together with the development of the four basic language modes” including viewing, use of the conventions of the language, use of ICT, organisation and management of learning, development of the thinking process, development of environmental awareness and development of values.

In fact, the overall objectives of learning the language are no longer restricted to the learning of a language itself but lie in the framework of daily life. The report emphasises the fact that, with proper understanding of the language, the child may be more in a position to take advantage of attractive and amusing activities for his or her age like watching cartoons on television or listening to music. It should also allow the child to feel more at ease in a social environment (libraries, school, in supermarkets, etc…).

<I>“The more regular and entertaining activities children practise in relation with the language, the better their use of that language will be. When children take pleasure in using it, they want to know more about it.”.</I>

In fact, the more regular and entertaining activities children practise in relation with the language, the better their use of the language will be. When children take pleasure in using the language, they want to know more to be able to take even more advantage of their learning skills. One of the objectives of learning French is indeed reported to be to “build the competencies in reading and writing so as to develop intellectual capacities and capacities to access knowledge (by going on the Internet for instance)”.

In its report on English Language Profiling Report for Mauritius published in June 2006, the British Council pointed at the “insufficient use made of English by the students and the community outside the classroom to enable the vast majority of students to develop mastery (confidence and competence) in English as a tool of communication”. This probably why the institution aimed at promoting English language and culture in the country recommended, “a much greater use of English outside the classroom throughout the education system” as well as “away from the school/education environment” (see inset).

In the light of the conclusions of the MES on the CPE report, there is no doubt that the reform of the curriculum – “the result of widespread consultation involving a broad and representative number of stakeholders working in collaboration with a large number of dedicated pedagogues, teachers and other resource and support persons from a number of our educational institutions”, as the minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, puts in in his foreword – aims at improving the level of the children and “optimising their potential so that they can participate fully in building the Mauritius of our dreams”. It is now a matter of implementing the report fully and training the teachers accordingly.

<B>A few ideas to boost language learning</B>

The British Council points at the need to make learning English fun – breaking this idea of English being an exclusively serious activity – and recommends exposure to the language through “worthy educational programmes and serious articles in the press. The popular media (cinema/TV/radio) is encouraged to entertain and engage (not educate) students through the medium of English”. However, several activities can also be planned in schools in order to make pupils feel closer to the language.

For English, there could be “weekly English-only days, English-speaker teachers or extra-curricular activities carried out in English” as advised by the British Council. Reading is of course one of the best way of acquiring vocabulary in a language, so pleasurable reading is undeniably to be encouraged. More emphasis may also be put on oral classes with specific projects where children will be brought to express themselves on a topic they have chosen and which is of interest to them.

Likewise, the putting on of plays also provides an opportunity for pupils to speak the language and learn a more refined vocabulary… With a bit of imagination, there are lots of ways of arousing pupils’ interest in languages!