A Bilingual-FLES Pilot Program in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Unlike the United States, Argentina no longer has sizable minority groups. Even the children of the numerous immigrants from Bolivia, Paraguay and the Argentine Northwest-mestizos in the European island of the Capital Federal-speak Spanish. Notwithstanding changes of regimes, the authorities are determined to foster foreign language training in the elementary schools of Greater Buenos Aires. There are already numerous public and private schools de doble escolaridad, which teach half-sessions in another language, usually in French or in English, largely serving the middle class. In addition, there are secondary or normal schools that provide regular instruction in both languages. Obviously, teachers qualified for this type of work have to be trained. There exist already special post-secondary institutions, terciarias (not to be confused with the universities which teach foreign literatures), for young men and women who want to become foreign language teachers. But one school, under the Ministerio de Educaci6n, is offering now a new program leading to the double title of Profesora para ensefianza primaria and Profesora de ingl6s para ensefianza primaria, in other words, an elementary plus a language certificate. Presently the new program is limited to girls and to English. While working on an OAS grant in literature, I came across the Escuela Normal John F. Kennedy para Maestras de Lenguas Vivas, in a modernistic building completed in 1974, in a street in the Barrio Norte. There the tertiary level program shares the facilities with a regular secondary school offering a bachillerato with an English/French concentration. A threeyear program, the bilingual training is now nearing the end of its second academic year, after which graduates will have to undergo a year of pr6actica before receiving their diploma. There are about forty students in this pilot project. They had been admitted after the bachillerato, at an age of seventeen or eighteen, on the basis of language competency. Their schedule is a heavy one: from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, with a forty-five minute lunch break. It covers thirteen-fourteen subjects in the span of two years. The courses are a) professional (pedagogic), b) curricular (subject matters, since the egresas are to teach the entire elementary program in both languages), and c) linguistic. Actually, the students devote about twenty hours per week to courses given in English and about twenty-three in Spanish. Professional courses include instruction in the theory, history, psychology, and administration of education, as well as planning. In addition, there is a Workshop in adult education. Curricular subjects comprise mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, music and art. The third area provides linguistics, civilization, methodology and children's literature-an important item in Argentine education. The methodology course includes both observations and practice. I was privileged to observe a session of that course, taught completely in English by Sra. de Valle. It involved activity planning and pattern drills. Another class I visited was a first-year group practicing story-telling in English for kindergarten pupils. Freely retelling Snow White the girls showed a fine command of English albeit with a strong rioplatense mannerism. There were up to twenty students per class. I was told the teachers in the program are chosen by competition and teach up to twenty-four hours per week. The acting director of the John F. Kennedy School, Sra. de Schoeffel, was very cooperative, and the supervisor of the new program Srta. Elsa Enriz, provided me with all the necessary information since a brochure was not yet available. Teachers and students wanted to know more about U.S.