The Preparation of Teachers of French for Junior and Senior High Schools

Abstract

THERE have been times when one has heard the question asked in all seriousness: Should Americans teach modern foreign languages? To regard the question with the same seriousness with which it is asked, one must agree that it sounds like a challenging question and it is undoubtedly intended to be one. But just what does it mean? Does it mean that we should give up the teaching of modern foreign languages in American schools? I do not think so, for the demand for such instruction is fairly constant. Does the question grow out of a condition of scarcity of teachers available for this work? I do not think so, for the demand for modern foreign language teachers is being met, whether satisfactorily or not. Does it then suggest that we can secure teachers of modern foreign languages at lower salaries if we employ foreign-born teachers, and that for this reason we should give up the work to them? I do not so understand the question, although it may well be true that we could save money in this way. In my judgment the question refers rather to our ability to prepare American students to become efficient teachers of modern foreign languages. It implies that, since Americans with English as their mother-tongue are not supposed to speak a modern foreign language as perfectly as a foreign-born person, they cannot, therefore, be prepared to teach the language as expertly or as efficiently as the foreign-born teacher. It implies, in other words, that the native French teacher is more capable of teaching French in American schools than the American teacher can be prepared to do it, and that the same is true of teachers of other modern foreign languages. It suggests that if we are to continue to teach modern foreign languages, we should secure foreign-born persons as teachers, since teachers who are native Americans cannot be expected to do it as well. If I have fairly stated the meaning of the question, I feel obliged to say, in answer to it, that I cannot agree with its implications. I am unwilling to accept the idea that American teachers should not teach modern foreign languages. On the contrary it is my conviction that American teachers are superior in American schools. My entire experience with modern foreign languages compels this conclusion: as a student, as a teacher, and in the training of teachers of French, in this country and in France, working under both American teachers and foreign-born teachers. My conviction on this point is a strong one and my reasons for arriving at such a conclusion are made clear in the following discussion. It is to be admitted that successful teaching of a modern foreign language, such for example as French, demands a mastery of the language. It requires also a marked facility in the oral use of the language. These two