Benefis and Challenges of Learning and Teaching English: The Case of Student Teachers in France.
Résumé
The teaching of a foreign language in French primary schools became mandatory for all pupils from the age of six upwards, from September 2016. The consequence of this reform was that primary school teachers, irrespective of their L2 language skills, were to teach a foreign language one and a half hours per week. This new official framework also had an impact on the curriculum in Teacher Training Institutes throughout France. In order to qualify as a primary school teacher and be given tenure, students must obtain a Master’s degree in Teaching and Education, pass a highly competitive examination and validate a CEFR B2 level in a foreign language, although English is predominantly taught. With the introduction of this framework, student teachers now had to be trained to teach this new ‘subject. ‘This chapter will be concerned with the benefits and challenges of learning and teaching English in primary schools in France, focusing primarily on the training of future primary teachers.