ENGLISH Activity

WORKSHOP OFFERED BY SOPHIE

After 25 years in journalism, I decided to return to my former profession as an English teacher, having noticed that the generation of twenty-somethings was still not comfortable with the language. My training in comparative linguistics (English-French), which I pursued to the M2 level, taught me to approach English grammar in an intelligent and fairly innovative way (‘theory of enunciation’).

After realising that it was difficult to ‘turn things around’ in secondary school with pupils who were already struggling with the language, I decided to move into primary education, to tackle the problem at its root and get children on the right track from the outset. I adapted the theory of enunciation to make it understandable for younger children.

Over ten years of teaching at a school specialising in gifted children, I refined, staged and illustrated my method, as these particular pupils were themselves very creative. I then taught five times a year (in week-long sessions) for four years in a village in the Drôme region where I have ties, believing that the need for effective teaching was not limited to Paris.

THE METHOD

The principle: I created categories of words (king verbs, weak verbs, Super-DO, Miss NOT) which I turned into characters, each with a distinct personality. In the sentence, which has become a little theatre, the characters love each other, hate each other, set their conditions for appearing in the sentence, etc. So there are no longer any grammar rules, but stories and scenarios that are easy to remember.

Very quickly, the pupils learn how to make a statement, a question and a negation. I hardly ever ask them to write, as the sentences are constructed using small cards that are put in the right order. I attach great importance to accent: English prosody is very different and it’s all about rhythm. Knowing how to place the accent in the right place is crucial to creating an authentic accent.

I work on vocabulary using ‘bingos’. Finally, I don’t just teach the language. I put it into context by telling stories (mainly about the United Kingdom and the United States), and I find that the pupils are quite enthusiastic.

Today, I am happy with the results: the pupils go on to secondary school with a better level than the others and are among the very best in English.