Recently, I have heard a lot of Francophones outside Quebec speak up about linguistic insecurity and the harm some Quebecois are doing to their confidence and their identity. I thought that it was a relevant subject to bring into class because it both touches on the language, the culture and the history of Francophone communities across Canada.
I have designed this unit thinking about what I would like them to know before reaching an age where they are too ashamed of speaking French. I read a lot about linguistic insecurity in the last couple of months and it is a real concern as a future French Immersion teacher. I think that they need to be aware of this phenomena even before it hits them. It will give them power over it, and I hope this unit will give them the tools to fight it. One of the ways my students can fight the linguistic insecurity is also by increasing their abilities in French. So I thought it would be a good idea to not just talking about this matter but also to work on the subject while practising their French through authentic tasks.
When I saw that the curriculum wanted us to talk about implicit and explicit in text, I did see a lot of value in this in relationship to conversation (learning to read non-verbal signals), but also in informational texts or argumentative texts. I find that there is a tremendous power in reading between the lines and uncover hidden meanings in that context, especially regarding the linguistic insecurity. People suffer from linguistic insecurity because they are told implicitly that their French is not good enough, that they are not “real” francophones.
I believe that with the right scaffolding, my students can achieve the interview and the reflection. I don’t expect them to identify implicit in each arguments made in each new video or text presented to them, but I see that it is a useful way of introducing that concept in class.
