TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY TO TEACH FOREIGN LANGUAGES – LAGOS EDUCATION COMMISSIONER
The Lagos State Government has urged teachers to take advantage of technology to enhance the learning of foreign languages by students in order to narrow the gap between native speakers and second language learners.
The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo identified foreign language learning as key to exposing the students to global happenings and knowledge, saying the government will build the capacity of teachers to teach foreign languages in schools across the State.
She spoke at a train-the-trainers workshop for Senior Secondary School French Language teachers, noting that the seminar was an opportunity for French language instructors to acquire new techniques in handling the students while teaching in their various schools.
Represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Abosede Adelaja, the Commissioner stressed that the initiative of the State Government will not only enhance the learning and teaching of French but boost confidence of the learners when faced with native speakers.
Her words: “The primary goal of this seminar, therefore, is to build your capacities on how to teach the French language as a result of change in curriculum in the Senior Secondary School syllabus”.
“Part of the government’s objective is to improve the communication skills of French teachers, broaden your knowledge base, expose you to global current affairs in relation to contemporary issues and also facilitate an enhanced socio-cultural interaction with French teachers from other parts of the world”.
The Commissioner concluded by imploring the teachers to follow the new trends by learning and relearning, ensuring that their students adopt the techniques of learning, time management, composure, confidence and audible speech in French language.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the Director, Multilingual International Resource Centre, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Taiwo Haastrup, stated that the Centre has continued to organise various training programmes for foreign and local language teachers, imparting them with the 21st-century learning skills and adopting technology in line with the Education and Technology Agenda of this administration.
One of the Facilitators, Dr. Kodjo Sonou, a lecturer at Institute Universitaire Pan African, Port Norvo, commended the Lagos State Government for the initiative, stressing the importance of continuous training by language teachers as it enables them to adopt the new method and gives the opportunity to network and exchange knowledge towards better ways of teaching the language in schools.
