Most elementary Core French instruction in British Columbia is conducted by generalist teachers.  French in Grades 5 to 7 has only very recently become a provincially mandated course rather than a local option.  The University of British Columbia offers off-campus second language methodology courses to address the needs of generalist teachers at a local level.  A study was conducted concurrent with one such course in 1997 in Surrey, B.C.'s second largest school district.  Teachers from Surrey and Delta attended.  The purpose of the study was to discover some of the challenges faced by generalists who teach core French and the ways in which they improved their practice throughout the course.  The biggest challenges these teachers faced were a lack of specialized training, inadequate time to assimilate many curricular changes and the need to integrate students with English as a second language or special needs.  Teachers reported on the changes in their teaching and the results of classroom research.  Recommendations are made for university-school district partnerships as a means of developing professional knowledge and practice.

La plupart des professeurs du français de base en Colombie Britannique sont des généralistes.  Le français pour les élèves de la cinquième à la septième année est récemment devenu un cours recommandé par le Ministère plutôt qu'une option régionale.  Pour répondre aux besoins des professeurs généralistes, l'Université de la Colombie Britannique offre des cours de méthodologie de langue seconde à un niveau local.  L'auteur a étudié un tel cours en 1997 à Surrey, la deuxième plus grande commission scolaire en Colombie Britannique.  Les professeurs participant à l'étude étaient de Surrey et de Delta.  Le but de cette étude était de découvrir les défis envisagés par les généralistes qui enseignent le français de base et comment ils se sont améliorés pendant le cours.  Le plus grand défi ressenti par ces professeurs était le manque de formation spécialisée, de temps pour assimiler beaucoup de changements curriculaires et le problème d'intégrer dans leurs classes les élèves qui parlent anglais comme langue seconde ou qui ont des besoins spéciaux.  Les professeurs ont partagé les effets du cours sur leur pédagogie et les résultats de leur recherche en classe.  L'auteur propose que les liaisons entre les universités et les commissions scolaires sont efficaces pour déveloper les connaissances et la pratique professionelles.
 

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. The study

4. What is the biggest challenge faced by an elementary generalist teaching core French?

5. What changes in teaching practices were observed during the study?

6. Limitations of the study

7. Conclusions and Recommendations

8. References

1. Introduction
 

  Core French in the elementary Grades (5 to 7) is taught in British Columbia by generalists with little or no specialized second language training.  These teachers are implementing a new provincial curriculum, The Core French Integrated Resource Package (1995), which emphasizes communicating, learning language via content, developing cultural insights and reflecting and generalizing about how we learn a language.  The organizing principle has shifted from grammar to "the use of the language to perform communicative tasks, to share ideas, to acquire information, and to get things done" (pp 1-2).  Many districts in British Columbia have purchased and are implementing new commercial French programs which support this communicative-experiential approach.
 

 In 1996, British Columbia enacted a language education policy requiring that each student in Grades 5 to 8 study a second language with prior or continued optional study of that language.  Although core French was being taught in many elementary schools prior to 1996, the amount and quality of programs varied greatly from no French to 90-120 minutes per week by a second language teaching specialist.  The Intermediate Program Policy (1993), in place until 1995-1996, indicated the implementation of French in Grades 4 to 7 as a local option only.  Today most districts are providing approximately 80 to 90 minutes per week at the elementary level, according to the Core French Integrated Resource Package  [IRP], thus calling into service more and more generalist teachers.
 

  This article describes a study conducted as part of a University of British Columbia Modern Language Education [MLED] methodology course which took place in 1977 in Surrey, B.C.'s second largest school district.  A group of fourteen generalist teachers from Surrey and Delta, another Lower Mainland district, enrolled in the MLED 480 (3 credit) course and took part in a three-month teacher research study.  The study described how these teachers developed their knowledge and skills as they changed some of the methods used to teach core French; it also described how teachers experienced this process.  The study was less focused on delivery policy or one particular methodology than on how classroom practices were shaped by teachers' practical experience, training and self-assessment.  Issues of professional development and teacher research were also of keen interest.
 

  The University of British Columbia's Department of Language Education has offered MLED 480 courses since 1991 both on campus and in cooperation with various provincial school districts.  Similar courses are offered by Simon Fraser University (EDUC 450 and EDPR 415) and the University of Victoria (EDUC 391).  The MLED 480 course provides practicing teachers with theoretical and practical training in core French methodology.  The organizing principle for the course is the notion of a multi-dimensional curriculum, including teaching language through content, bridging from the students' lived experiences, creating opportunities for meaningful communication and integrating the study of language and culture.   Teaching strategies, such as using authentic documents, incorporating action and songs, facilitating student-student interaction, incorporating technology and evaluating communicatively, are demonstrated and practised in each class.   The intent of the course is to inform teachers about theory and practice and to provide a safe place to "try out" new methods, especially since the vast majority of teachers in the course are generalists.
 

Definition of terms

 There is a degree of subjectivity in the definition of specialist and generalist which reflects to some measure the blurred lines between who is qualified to teach core French and who is not.  The National Core French Study Summary Report (1990) includes recommendations for teachers:  "fluency is perhaps the first requirement...or at least the ability to communicate in the second language well enough that they feel comfortable in the teaching situation...and training in the latest methods of communicative second language teaching" (p. 5).  There is, however, little national unity on how this recommendation has been interpreted or what the minimum requirements should be to teach core French.  In Ontario, for example, elementary teachers may not teach core French without a French-Part I Specialist Certificate granted by the Ontario College of Teachers in recognition of post-baccalaureate courses in language and methodology.  In New Brunswick, teachers interview for an oral proficiency certificate before applying to individual school districts.  Manitoba, like British Columbia, considers its elementary teachers to be generalists who are qualified to teach all subjects in the elementary grades.  Within each province, individual school boards have differing requirements in terms of coursework or language proficiency, yet many must waive these in order to fill positions.  Fluent French teachers at the elementary level are not plentiful in British Columbia; the term specialist  is often used to recognize teachers with in-the-field experience rather than specialized training.
 

 The terms specialist and generalist, used in this study, are defined as follows:  a specialist is an elementary teacher who has been teaching a second language for more than two years and has taken one or more university methodology or language course(s) or summer institute(s) and/or demonstrates functional to fluent proficiency in the language.  The specialist teacher may deliver most or all French instruction within a school, often fulfilling teacher preparation time requirements (in Surrey, 100 minutes per week; in Delta, 80 minutes per week).  A generalist is an elementary teacher who is teaching a second language but has not taken a university methodology course, language course or summer institute and is not proficient in the language.  The generalist usually teaches the second language to his or her class only as well as all other curriculum areas (in English).  The motivated generalist is an elementary teacher who, like most of those involved in this study, displays a keen interest in teaching and learning about core French.  He or she participates in one or more of the following:  district workshops, university courses, immersion weekends or summer programs.  As well, the motivated generalist displays an active desire to learn, take risks and improve his or her teaching skills.  The term generalist was carefully chosen for this study rather than non-specialist because, rather than focusing on what these teachers lack, it describes what they do well, that is, teach a wide variety of subjects to elementary school-aged children.
 

 The Surrey school district enrols approximately 57,000 students.  There are 91 elementary schools and approximately 260 teachers delivering Core French.  Of this number, about 220 were described by the Languages Coordinator as generalists or motivated generalists.  In Delta, which enrols approximately 18,000 students, there are 25 elementary schools and approximately 100 teachers delivering Core French of which about 80 were described by the Languages Coordinator as generalists or motivated generalists.  The delivery model used in each district varies school to school from classroom teachers delivering their own French instruction to one teacher providing French for several classes, in some cases fulfilling teacher preparation time requirements; this is largely determined by teachers themselves and school need.  It is interesting to note the disparity between core French teaching time in British Columbia's elementary schools (80 to 100 minutes per week) and the time suggested in the National Core French Study of 40 minutes per day (or 200 minutes per week).
 
 

2. Background
 

 Several British Columbia lower mainland school districts have been the sites of recent teacher research.  In five cases, the district's French Coordinator studied aspects of his or her district's second language program.  Lewis (1995) studied nine elementary and secondary core French teachers, individually and in a group, during the early stages of implementing curriculum change in Surrey.  Her doctoral study revealed that risk-taking and engagement in teaching and learning were important elements in their experience, keeping them in a state which she described in her title as "a little off-balance".  Joyce (1995) studied the personal and professional characteristics of five elementary and secondary generalist English as a Second Language teachers in Burnaby.  Both Lewis and Joyce examined the role played by teachers' beliefs, experiences and personal theories about teaching and learning.  Daneault (1994) evaluated the implementation of a new curriculum within Coquitlam's French Immersion program by interviewing students, parents, teachers and administrators.  His study reported a high degree of satisfaction with the program, need for attention to social problems and secondary immersion curriculum, and it recommended continued district support.  Brine (1986) evaluated an Immersion Teacher Retraining Program wherein twelve teachers who were not fluent French speakers nor trained in immersion methodology underwent an intensive retraining year at Simon Fraser University.  The year comprised a four-phase program of language training, immersion pedagogy, 6-week teaching practicum and 6-week period living and studying in a francophone community.  Success was measured in growth in language development, knowledge and practice of methodology and participant self-confidence.  Swansborough (1993) conducted a study of elementary generalist teachers in Surrey as they attempted to integrate core French into other areas of the curriculum.  Teachers, provided with cross-curricular thematic units incorporating elements of French language and culture, were able to bridge from areas of strength, most notably, Social Studies.  The study described in this article, which formed part of the author's Masters program at the University of British Columbia, was undertaken to identify some of the challenges faced by British Columbia's generalist core French teachers and ways of facilitating  professional growth.

 Teacher research is a viable and well supported method of professional development which cuts across curricula, teaching approaches, socio-political issues and many other factors which influence teachers on a day to day basis.  Yet, laments Bell (1997), there is a lack of published teacher research in second language education, especially from Canadian educators.  Richards (1994) encourages a teacher-directed approach in which teachers "observe themselves, collect data about their own classrooms and their roles within them, and use that data as a basis for self-evaluation for change, and hence for professional growth" (p. ix).  This can be seen as a reaction against the view of teachers as technicians who execute what is dictated by non-practitioners.  It recognizes that teachers are professionals who must play an active role in formulating the purposes of their work as well as the means (Carr and Kemmis, 1986; Sarason, 1993; Schön, 1987; Zeichner, 1993).  While field guides for teacher research or action research provide practical guidelines for conducting local work (B.C. Ministry of Education, 1994; Sagor, 1992), the author suggests that the mix of theoretical, practical and reflective coursework facilitated in this university-school district sponsored methodology course proved effective in facilitating meaningful teacher research and professional growth.
 

3. The Study
 

 The study group comprised 14 elementary generalists, 10 female and 4 male, teaching in Surrey and Delta, British Columbia.  These teachers completed a MLED 480 (3 credit) course in Surrey during January to March 1997 and agreed to conduct and share the findings of a teacher research project conducted in their own classrooms.  Most group members were motivated generalists with a range of experience teaching French from 0 to 2 years; however, the range of total teaching experience, was from 2 to 17 years.  Several groups of practicing and pre-service teachers were also polled during core French workshops conducted by the author throughout British Columbia during October 1996 to March 1997.  A total of 85 participants were briefly told about the study's guiding questions and invited to complete a short, optional, anonymous questionnaire at the end of the workshop. This preliminary questionnaire (see Appendix A) was completed by study group teachers and workshop participants.  Information gathered from the latter group assisted in corroborating statements made by teachers in the study group, that is, the sentiment that teachers felt underqualified and unconfident about teaching French.
 

 The research process and MLED 480 course organization attempted to recognize the unique talents and limitations of each practitioner in terms of core French teaching experience, level of training, attitude, and class population, among other factors.  Generalist teachers, attempting to implement the Core French IRP with its broad learning outcomes rather than lists of discreet language items, must attempt to personalize curriculum.  This involves a degree of risk-taking which teachers sometimes find fearful.  Margaret's feelings expressed below were typical of those expressed by other experienced elementary teachers faced with the challenge of adding core French to her assignment for the first time.
 

A year ago I was petrified.  The only reason I had the confidence to take  this course was after having taken a summer immersion course in Québec.  This is my second year teaching core French and it's only now starting to feel more familiar.  Margaret

 The course project was a teacher research study which group members conducted in their schools based on a challenge faced in their teaching situation, for example, facilitating more oral interaction among their students or making their evaluation techniques more communicative.  Teachers identified the challenge, developed a plan to address it, conducted classroom research and reported their findings.  The intent was to apply skills and knowledge acquired in the course as a means of improving classroom practice.  Reports, along with any artifacts collected during the study, such as a video or student product, were shared during the last MLED 480 class.
 

 Opportunities for reflection afforded by class discussions, informal dialogues and journal writing were intended to support teachers in a safe environment.  Strauss (1995) suggests that "practitioners who are interested in asking themselves awkward and challenging questions about their practice cannot really be expected to sustain their project in isolation.  Reflectiveness depends on colleagues talking to one another and trusting one another" (p. 33).  Tillema and Imants (1995) add that the actual learning takes place through reflection upon one's own or another's action through discussion and self-evaluation.  Huberman (1995) describes the shift away from a "lone-wolf" paradigm to a continuously innovating model involving experimentation and sharing.  The teacher research conducted during this study was guided by the teachers themselves, and the role of the instructor was to demonstrate, assist and advise teachers as they developed their skills through reflective practice.
 

 A questionnaire distributed distributed during the first class and returned anonymously the following week provided information about French teaching experience, training and their current teaching assignment.  A second questionnaire concerned preferred second language teaching strategies (see Appendix A).  A post-course questionnaire allowed teachers to chronicle any changes in practice and to evaluate the usefulness of strategies imparted during the course (see Appendix B).  All questionnaires were completed anonymously.  Course journal entries were required on a once-per-week basis and often formed the basis of class discussions.  They were graded on a submitted/not submitted basis only.  All cited passages were made available to teachers for approval or ammendment together with an invitation to have their comments included in the published study if they wished.  All teachers granted permission to include their comments and use their first name.

4. Limitations of the Study

 It should be noted that I acted as MLED 480 instructor and primary researcher and that the original study was submitted as part of my Masters degree.  The limitation of interviewer effect was noted since I may have been perceived as having a vested interest in reporting rosy findings pertaining to teacher effectiveness and degree of satisfaction with course content.  Offsetting this influence was the fact that I was and is a B.C. elementary core French teacher and could, on some levels, be perceived as a colleague.  The use of pre- and post-course surveys may have heightened expectations for an increase in teaching effectiveness and/or improvement in classroom practices, and it may have been very tempting to maximize the positive effect of the MLED 480 course.  For these reasons, questionnaires were completed anonymously.

 The information regarding actual instructional practices was provided by study members via discussions, journals and teacher research projects and not through direct classroom observation by the researcher.  Their self-assessment was, therefore, not validated by objective observation of their practices.  Certain corroborative strategies were used, however, such as verbatim accounts, mechanically recorded data, such as photos and videos, and participant review of cited excerpts and the author's interpretation of same (Schumacher and McMillan, 1993).  The reliance upon teachers' words and interpretations was a crucial part of the research process and ultimately provided the greatest insight.  It was the introspective nature of the journals which allowed the author and primary researcher to learn about affective elements, learning strategies and other factors which would otherwise not have been observable (Bailey and Ochsner, 1983).  Despite the problems associated with conducting classroom research (Schachter and Gass, 1996), it is important to include teachers' voices because, as Larsen-Freeman (1996) maintains, "without this perspective, we cannot do justice to the data of classroom research" (p. 168).

5. What is your greatest challenge as an elementary generalist teaching core French?
 

 The two key questions of the study were posed during the first class meeting, included in the questionnaires, discussed frequently during subsequent meetings, written and reviewed in journals, and formally considered in an individual teacher research project.  It was not the intent of this study to offer universal explanations or recommendations about how core French should be taught nor to correlate types of comments with teacher attributes, training, experience or class composition.  The purpose was to record some of the common challenges and observations articulated by this group of generalist teachers.

What is your greatest challenge as an elementary generalist teaching core French?
 

Lack of specialized training (linguistic and methodological)
 

 The most consistent answer given by study members (11 out of 14 or 79 per cent) and corroborated by 70 per cent of 85 workshop participants polled throughout British Columbia was a lack of French training in language and methodology.  Other issues, such as dealing with a high degree of curricular change and the difficulty of integrating English as a second language, French immersion and special needs students were discussed, but the overwhelming concern related to a lack of specialized training.

In the group of teachers with whom I attended the workshop there  were many negative attitudes towards teaching French.  Because the district  isn't hiring specialists, generalist teachers are having to take on the teaching  of core French.  They don't want to do it poorly but feel very underqualified to do it well.  Megan

My background in French did not prepare me for my assignment.  We  learned to read and write but not speak.  What is the value of learning a  language without practice in speaking it?  We memorized verbs, tenses and  J'entre dans la salle de classe....This left me with little love of French and,  after four years of instruction from Grade 9-12, no feeling at all that I could  speak even a small amount in French with anyone.  Kathleen

When I began teaching French a few years go, I was a little nervous  about it, to say the least.  My own experiences in learning French, minimal as  they were, were rather uncomfortable, and these memories made me  hesitant.  Randy

My French class has not changed much since I began teaching five years  ago.  Being completely unfamiliar with the language, I tend to stick to very  structured lessons, afraid of being confronted by questions that I might not  answer or vocabulary that I am unfamiliar with.  Because I tend to teach from  the front, I have not given my students much of a chance to work together in  groups either.  Recently I have begun to let my guard down a bit and am  starting to make some positive changes.  Randy

I'm remembering my Grade 12 French teacher.  He was most often seen  sitting on a desk in his classroom with his guitar in his hands.  He generally  chose songs to illustrate grammatical concepts and presented them in a fun  way.  He never took himself too seriously, but set high standards for his  students.  I learned a lot from him and now, as a teacher myself, find myself  thinking about his teaching style and how effective it was for me.  Megan

I was eleven at the time, living...thousands of miles from any place  where the language was spoken and our teacher had certainly never been  there.  Along with some thirty-five other eager almost-teens I had the time of  my life....How did this young teacher arouse such enthusiasm for her esoteric  subject?  First of all, she loved young people and she loved teaching.  She  used her imagination as she shared with us the knowledge, perhaps  imperfect, she possessed.  (p. 3)

I hope that, as long as I play easy songs and do all the À l'écoute taped  sections, nobody will notice that I can't speak French.  I know it's less than  ideal.  Anonymous (workshop participant)

I got hired because I said I'd do the French in the school.  I have high school coursework and I've travelled.  As far as the latest in teaching  techniques or philosophy, I attend workshops when I can, stay positive and  stick closely to the program.  Anonymous (workshop participant)

an approach which is thematic and experiential [and which] provides  wide scope and multidimensional contexts for learning a second language.   This approach is familiar to elementary classroom teachers who must focus  on the requirements of the whole child and whose instruction must always  accomplish simultaneously many types of goals:  social, cognitive and attitudinal.  (p. 16)

No time to implement a multitude of curricular changes in many areas
 

 The challenge of implementing many curricular changes at once was expressed less in the journals but often during discussions, especially when teachers arrived at the course after having attended after-school inservice sessions one or two other days that week.  Since 1995, B.C. elementary teachers have been required to implement nine Integrated Resource Packages:  Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Applied Skills and Technology, Personal Planning, and French (or other language).  Fullan (1991) and Werner (1988) emphasize the importance of planning, active involvement of stakeholders, need for on-going support and training and, above all, time  during any change process.  Hargreaves (1992) stresses that any implementation plan must "defer to the inevitably modest pace of human growth" (p. 235). A sense of being overwhelmed by too much change with too little time to implement and not enough on-going support was articulated by teachers often during the study.  It is not surprising, therefore, that of 14 study members only three were aware of the  National Core French Study prior to taking MLED 480 and, of these, none was able to describe the study's findings in any detail.  Generalist teachers are simply not aware of the sweeping changes in second language methodology because, among other reasons, they have many other changes on which to focus at once.
 

Need to accommodate students with English as a second language or special needs
 

  Integration of English as a Second Language [ESL] students provided lively debate during several class discussions.  The B.C. Teachers' Federation reports that the average population of ESL students in Surrey is approximately 25 percent and in Delta approximately 9 percent.  The British Columbia Language Education Policy (1996) requires that "a student who can already speak and understand a language other than English must still meet the second language requirement during Grades 5 to 8" (p. 8).  Sentiments expressed during the first class ranged from how these students "know almost no English and yet are trying to function in a core French class" (Lynne) to how "the French class is one of the few times each day when these children can function on par with Anglophone students" (Chris).  It became evident that individual experiences with ESL students were far from generalizable.  Some interesting observations were made during the study as teachers became more aware of the ESL students' metalinguistic awareness, "the ability of the learner to treat language as an object, for example, to define a word and say the sounds which make up that word, or state a rule about a language pattern" (Lightbown and Spada, 1993, p. 123).
 

My E.S.L. students were on equal linguistic footing with their native  English speaking classmates.  In fact, they were able to reproduce my  proununciations of the target words quite easily, and were very proud to say  them in front of the class.  This was an unexpected and exciting discovery for  their teacher.  Megan

In my program, I teach students who have either severe learning  disabilities or are mildly intellectually disabled.  Never before in my teaching  have I used music, and I think the students enjoyed placing the song lyrics in  order by listening to the tape and working together.  Often these students  already have low self-confidence and esteem so that having them feel more  successful is important.  Melanie

This lesson also benefited Samir.  He is a student who has very poor  social skills and has difficulty getting along with others.  The interaction  among the students during this activity helped build his self-esteem and to be  accepted by his peers.  Cerelina

I particularly find the singing and chanting a good way to hook my  autistic student into the French and into being more interactive with other  students.  After singing one day, he said, "Harry happy, Harry sing."  Kathleen

6. What changes in teaching practices were observed during the study?

 The second key question of the study examined changes in teaching observed by study members during the course.  The MLED 480 class format was designed to facilitate a process of conducting professional development recommended in Huberman (1995) whereby teachers could become self-sufficient in managing their own professional development:

 • collaborative work with one's peers
 • assistance and training from experts
 • access to new materials and technologies
 • intensive experimentation in which all novices are allowed to fail and each success can be celebrated. (p. 207)

This on-going type of process was only initiated during the course.  It is not the claim of this study that night-and-day changes took place in Surrey and Delta classrooms, although it felt that way for some of these teachers.  Journal entries included in the following section indicate that a process of change and professional growth was underway.  Three indicators of this process were an awareness or confirmation of theories underlying classroom events, insight into personal teaching style, and inclusion of new language teaching strategies into classroom repertoire.

Awareness or confirmation of methodological theories underlying classroom events
 

 A theoretical component accompanied the practical strategies imparted during the course because the factors which affect second language acquisition are based not only on appropriate classroom practice but also on a solid understanding of the theoretical principles underlying that practice.   Richards and Nunan (1990) warn that one of the greatest challenges faced by professional developers is balancing how-to-do-it training with deeper learning and understanding of recent advances in modern language education.  Fullan (1991) adds that "the learning of new skills through demonstration and practice does not necessarily include the learning of the conceptual underpinnings necessary for lasting use" (p. 85).   For these reasons, it was important to include examination of the National Core French Study as well as readings drawn from Brown (1994), Richard-Amato (1988), Richards (1990), and Rivers (1987) among others.  The combination of theoretical and practical information embodied in these texts ensured focus upon the why as well as the how.  This may be one of the reasons why the level of insight afforded by these journal entries is greater than what might have been produced had teachers simply explored strategies outside this university course context.  Many of the study members linked their use of new strategies in their classrooms to theories illustrated in the course readings.

Brown (1994) states that "the most powerful rewards are those that are  intrinsically motivated within the learner."  There were some students who  at first did not want to do this assignment, even with my generous extrinsic  rewards.  Upon seeing other groups in the class having fun by doing the  assignment, they soon began to participate.  Don

I think if students were given a list of words and told to memorize  them they wouldn't retain them for long (that is, if they succeeded in  memorizing them in the first place).  The context in which this learning  takes place, it appears to me, is a much better assurance that they will  remember what they have learned.  There needs to be some meaning behind  the learning and they have to personally work through it.  Gloria

There was a development of the principle of meaningful learning  (Brown, 1994) which apparently leads to better long-term retention of the  information.  The song and the Carnaval event appealed to the students.  It was associated with activities with which they were familiar and had  significance for them.  Marilyn
 

Although there were several learning goals, the primary one was  exposure to another part of the francophone culture.  The visible part of a  culture are the things we can see, hear, taste and see.  The hidden parts  include values, attitudes, beliefs and thought patterns.  That's what I tried to  expose my students to during the Carnaval event:  an aspect of the Québecois  culture which gave them some more hooks on which to hang their learning.   Kathleen

  I try to analyze the language by seeing connections between English and  French.  I now find some of my students searching out connections between  the two languages; for example, recently there was a car from Quebec in the  school parking lot.  Somehow that led to a discussion of the licence plate (Je  me souviens).  We linked this to all sorts of other ideas.  I try to link French  to real life whenever possible.  Margaret

  Prior to embarking upon classroom research, teachers in this study participated in demonstration lessons led by the course instructor and then prepared and presented their own teaching demonstration the following week.  The experience of presenting for one's peers produced more anxiety than was expected by study members.  One reason which came up during end-of-class debriefing was that, while all had been observed early in their teaching careers, few had since watched or been watched by a colleague.  Little's (1990) comprehensive study of staff development in California found that one of the factors which works against effective staff development is how rarely teachers observe one another.  It was clear during the study -- from instructor observation and teacher self-assessment -- that most teachers were uncomfortable in the demonstrating-teaching situation.  Some study members expressed surprise at this response to teaching in front of colleagues.

I did my demo lesson presentation this week and learned a lot from it.   First, I'd forgotten what it was like to stand in front of a group of adults and  peers and give a lesson.  All of a sudden I got a case of the nerves.  With kids,  I'm normally able to "read" the class and see if what I am saying is making a  connection or if I need to try a different method.  In this particular lesson, I  just ploughed through it, anxious to get the job done.  Gloria

It's difficult to present in front of one's peers.  It did get easier though,  and provided some valuable input on how I present reading for gist activities.   I like the idea of getting peer feedback, but what I found was that most of the  class, although they liked the idea, thought that it was too challenging for  their students.  Chris
 

Being asked to perform a student memory task was surprisingly  frustrating.  The most important thing I learned is to have compassion and  understanding for those students in my classes who also freeze when asked to  repeat lists of things.  When I am teaching, I am able to remember all the  items on a list and have been frustrated when a student is unable to do the  same...until I found myself today in a panic trying to remember the list.   Marion

I have been able to experience first hand what it is like to be the  "stupidest" person in a class.  I don't simply mean experiencing this through  some role playing activity,  I mean a first hand, real experience where you are  the weakest student through the entire class and marks are at stake.  The  whole experience has been a real eye-opener for me....For me, it has been  invaluable and served as a reminder of the emotions, pressure and stress many students may encounter.  Don

  Teachers were expected to conduct research in their classrooms based upon at least one of the second language teaching strategies presented in the MLED 480 course in an effort to incorporate a more communicative approach.  The bigger-picture notions of personalizing and contextualizing curriculum, teaching language through content, and creating opportunities for meangingful communication provided the backdrop for MLED 480 course content.  It was, however, upon specific second language teaching strategies--demonstrated and practised in class--that teachers conducted classroom research.  The sequence of activities during the course required that each person practise teaching one strategy to his or her peers during the evening class and receive written feedback from class members and course instructor before embarking upon classroom research about the same strategy.  The choice of research topics was somewhat surprising in that many chose a strategy which was unfamiliar and even challenging to their level of comfort or expertise.
 

I chose to try singing in the classroom as this will be a stretch for me.  I  am not a good singer and I do not usually willingly sing with my class.  I am  hoping to overcome my fears and, with the help and enthusiasm of my class,  become more comfortable singing in the class.  I think I am feeling more  confident after MLED 480.  I know that my ability to sing has not improved,  but I am feeling more adventurous.  Lisa

I've also realized that as a teacher it is important not to be biased and to  try different strategies, even if they aren't ones you are particularly  comfortable with.  It provides variety and allows for students with different  learning styles.  If we only used strategies we were successful with, many  teachers would simply stick with lecturing.  Now wouldn't that be exciting?   Don

I try very hard to be correct and thus was missing many opportunities  for learning and teaching because I didn't want to say something unless I was  sure it was correct.  This is still my natural tendency and probably always will  be but I try hard to overcome it.  It will probably mean making a few public  mistakes.  Margaret

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to do very well at evaluation this time  around.  I was so worried first off about singing and then about the students'  enjoyment that I didn't get very far with my checklist.  I hope that this will  become easier with more practice.  Lisa

You showed that students should not be tested in any other way than  how they have been taught.  This became very clear to me when I taught my  students to tell time in French.  I taught them using a clock and having them  (orally) tell me the time.  After many drills and games I tested them on paper.   This flopped as I realized that they had not seen the written words before,  only heard them.  Randy

Students love it when I point out my own errors.  I remember  deciding, after hearing the same old answer to Ça va?, to branch out a bit.  I  confidently answered, Je suis mal à la tête.  Then I burst out laughing because  I realized what I had said.  My students love to remind me that I am a  headache!  I think it has been valuable for the kids to see me struggling to  learn the language along with them.  Margaret

  To prepare effective language teachers, it is necessary to have a theory  of effective language teaching -- a statement of the general principles that  account for effective teaching.  Such a theory is arrived at through the study  of the teaching process itself.  (Richards, 1990, p. 4)

7. Conclusions and Recommendations
 

  The professional development model undertaken in the University of British Columbia's MLED 480 was effective in improving the quality of teaching and learning of group members and their students, based upon their personal accounts.  Teachers developed their own unique approach to classroom practice by trying out and reflecting upon different teaching strategies.  They also adopted a research orientation in their classrooms and their teaching, thus moving away from a "training" perspective to an "education" perspective (Richards and Nunan, 1990).  Such a perspective is achievable through university-school district partnerships, especially since there is growing recognition that the generation of knowledge about good practice is not the exclusive property of universities.  Teachers too have knowledge which can inform the work of all teachers.  Zeichner (1993) cautions that
 

we cannot rely on university generated knowledge alone for  individual practitioner development and institutional improvement.  There  are valuable things to be learned from university generated theories, but this  external discourse must feed into a process of inquiry that is initiated from  the ground up.  (p. 204)

 The study described in this article provided not only the setting in which teachers could plan and conduct classroom research but also a forum in which to report their findings.  It was systematically planned, methodically pursued and reported in a final project, some including video and audio data, which was made available to other teachers in the study.  The MLED 480 off-campus setting -- a familiar social and professional site for Surrey and Delta teachers, complete with their districts' French resources -- provided an effective bridge between the university and the school district.  Studies of professional development following the model used in this study, that is, theory, demonstration, practice, feedback and follow-through, have confirmed the link between teacher development, implementation and student outcomes (Fullan, 1991; Joyce and Showers, 1988).  Further study of the impact on student performance of university-school district teacher education would be valuable as would continued attention to teacher research as a viable and academically defensible form of professional development.
 

8. References

Bailey, K. and Ochsner, R. (1983).  A methodological review of the diary  studies:  Windmill tilting or social science?  in K. Bailey, M. Long & S.  Peck (Eds.).  Second Language Acquisition Studies (pp. 188-198).  Rowley, MA:  Newbury House.

Bell, J. (1997).  Introduction:  Teacher research in second and foreign language education.  The Canadian Modern Language Review, 54(1), 3-10.

Brine, J. (1986).  A formative evaluation of the teacher retraining program  for French immersion at Simon Fraser University.  Unpublished master's  thesis, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

Brown, D. (1994).  Teaching by principles:  An interactive approach to  language pedagogy.  New Jersey:  Prentice Hall Regents.

Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers. (1990).  National Core  French study summary.  Second Languages Bulletin Special Issue.

Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. (1986).  Becoming critical:  Education, knowledge and  action research.  Victoria, Australia:  Deakin University Press.

Clandinin, J.  (1986).  Classroom practice:  Teacher images in action.  London:  Falmer.

Cuban, L.  (1993).  The lure of curricular reform and its pitiful history.  Phi Delta  Kappan, 75(2), 181-185.

Daneault, L. (1991).  French as a second language:  A plan for implementing  the new curriculum in Coquitlam School District.  Unpublished master's  thesis, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

Freeman, D. & Richards, J. (1993).  Conceptions of teaching and education of  second language teachers.  TESOL Quarterly, 27(2), 193-216.

Fullan, M. (1991).  The new meaning of educational change.  Toronto:  OISE  Press.

Hargreaves, A. (1992).  Cultures of teaching:  A focus for change.  In A.  Hargreaves & M. Fullan (Eds.).  Understanding teacher development (pp.  216-239).   New York:  Teachers College Press.

Huberman, M. (1995).  Professional careers and professional development:   Some intersections.  In T. Guskey & M. Huberman (Eds.).  Professional   Development in Education:  New Paradigms and Practice (pp. 193-224).   New York:  Teachers College Press.

Joyce, D. (1995).  An examination of significant factors in learning situations  in the delivery of ESL by non-specialists.  Unpublished master's thesis,  Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

Joyce, B. & Showers, B. (1988).  Student achievement through staff development.   New York:  Longman.

Kemmis, S. & McTaggart, R. (1988).  The action research planner.  Victoria, Australia:  Deakin University Press.

Lange, D. (1990).  A blueprint for a teacher development program.  In J. Richards  & D. Nunan (Eds.).  Second language teacher education (pp. 245-270).   Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1996).  The changing nature of second language  classroom research.  In J. Schachter & S. Gass (Eds.).  Second language  classroom research (pp. 157-170).  Mahwah, N.J.:  Lawrence Erlbaum  Associates.

Leblanc, R. (1989).  The national Core French study:  A synthesis.  Winnipeg:  The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.

Lewis, C.  (1995).  A little off balance:  Exploring teachers' knowledge about a  communicative-experiential curriculum in French as a second language.   Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

Lightbown, P. & Spada, N. (1993).  How languages are learned.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press.

Little, J. (1990).  Teachers as colleagues.  In A. Lieberman (Ed.).  Schools as  collaborative cultures (pp. 165-191).  New York:  Falmer.

Maley, A. & Duff, A. (1989).  The inward ear:  Poetry in the language  classroom.  Cambridge:  Cambrige University Press.

Mas, J., Carr, W., & Mennill, J. (1994).  Visages 1.  Toronto:  Addison-Wesley.

McCutcheon, G. & Jung, B. (1990).  Alternative perspectives on action  research. Theory into Practice, 29 (3), 144-194.

Ministry of Education, British Columbia (1993).  Field-based research:  A  working guide.  Victoria, B.C.:  Queen's Printer.

Ministry of Education, British Columbia (1993).  The intermediate program policy:  Grades 4 to 10.  Victoria, B.C.:  Queen's Printer.

Ministry of Education, British Columbia (1995).  Core French Integrated  Resource Package 1995.  Victoria, B.C.:  Queen's Printer.

Ministry of Education, British Columbia (1996).  Language education in B.C. schools.  Victoria, B.C.:  Queen's Printer.

Nunan, D. (1989). Understanding language classrooms:  A guide for teacher- initiated action.  New York:  Prentice Hall.

Nunan, D. (1990).  Action research in the language classroom.  In J. Richards  & D. Nunan (Eds.).  Second language teacher education (pp. 62-81).   Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

Richard-Amato, P. (1988).  Making it happen:  Interaction in the second language classroom - from theory to practice.  NewYork:  Longman.

Richards, J. (1990).  The language teaching matrix.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University Press.

Richards, J. & Lockhart, C. (1994).  Reflective teaching in second language classrooms.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. & Nunan, D. (1990).  Second language teacher education.   Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.

Rivers, W. (1987).  Interactive language teaching.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University Press.

Sagor, Richard  (1992).  How to conduct collaborative action research.   Alexandria, Virginia:  Association for Supervision and Curriculum  Development.

Sarason, S.  (1993).  The predictable failure of educational reform.  San  Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

Schumacher, S. & McMillan, J. (1993).  Research in education: A conceptual  introduction.  New York:  Harper Collins.

Schön, D.  (1987).  Educating the reflective practitioner:  Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions.  San Francisco:   Jossey-Bass.

Smith, D. (1991). Teacher Decision-making in the ESL classroom: The influenceof theory, beliefsand context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Vancouver, B.C.: University of British Columbia.

Strauss, P. (1995).  No easy answers:  The dilemmas and challenges of teacher  research.  Educational Action Research, 3(1), 29-40.

Swansborough, R. (1993).  Curricular integration of elementary French as a  second language by non-specialist teachers.  Unpublished master's thesis,  University of British Columbia.

Tillema, H. & Imants, J. (1995).  Training for the professional development of  teachers.   In T. Guskey & M. Huberman (Eds.).  Professional development in  education:  New paradigms and practice (pp. 135-150).  New York:  Teachers  College Press.

Werner, W. (1988).  Guidelines for planning program implementation.  Victoria, B.C.:  Queen's Printer.

Zeichner, Kenneth (1993).  Action research - personal renewal and social reconstruction.  Educational Action Research, 1(2), 199-219.