Issue 15

Aude-Claire Fourot, Rémi Léger and Jérémie Cornut, professors in SFU’s Department of Political Science, as well as Nicolas Kenny, professor in SFU’s Department of History, have just published a reference work entitled Le Canada dans le monde: Acteurs, idées, gouvernance (Canada in the World: Actors, Ideas and Governance). Combining content from some thirty experts, this introduction to Canadian politics offers a new look at the political and social dynamics that are shaping the country today. As Rémi Léger recently mentioned on Twitter, this work is unique in a number of ways:

• Its 25 chapters were written by 33 authors from the east to the west of Canada, 40% of whom are women.
• The work is primarily intended for students from the Canadian Francophonie and emphasizes the diverse political realities across Canada’s provinces.
• The chapters are only 5,000 words long and intended to be highly readable, for students whose first language is French, as well as for those for whom French is an additional language.
• The authors represent a cross-section of Canada’s French universities and university programs.
• It is hoped that this compilation will benefit students enrolled in a range of courses. At SFU, for instance, the work will be used in five introductory courses: four in political science and one in history.
• Best of all, at $44.95, this textbook is quite affordable.

The manual, which is published by Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, is already attracting keen interest from the academic community.

The Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) recently published an in-depth article about the work.

Radio Canada International also took an interest in the work and recently interviewed Aude-Claire Fourot to learn more.

Aude-Claire also spoke with Jacques Dufresne on the Boulevard du Pacifique show.

Are you interested in this book? Order it here.

SFU’s French integration model, as designed by the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs, is attracting more interest than ever across Canada and beyond. 

This was a busy spring for the OFFA team and its director, Gino LeBlanc, who participated in various events across the continent to promote French-language education in British Columbia.

On April 24, Mr. LeBlanc appeared as a panelist in a forum entitled Official Languages and Canada in the Digital Age. The forum was one of a series of events taking place across the country this spring, in connection with the modernization of the Official Languages Act.

Gino then flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to participate in the Forum de l’Innovation Universitaire des Amériques et des Caraïbes (University Innovation Forum of the Americas and the Caribbean), organized by the l’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) (the Francophonie University Association). He gave a presentation entitled "Espace francophone et formation des enseignants en milieu minoritaire canadien” (French settings and teacher training in a Canadian minority community).

The OFFA team and Mr. LeBlanc were also pleased to welcome to SFU Vancouver the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, who had excellent news for the community: $3 Million in funding for SFU to expand its French-language programmes, and $62.6 Million in funding over four years for projects and initiatives related to French-as-a-second-language in Canada.

Gino then attended the Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Official Languages Act on May 27 and 28 in Ottawa. Among his activities there, he moderated the following workshops: “Evolution of Official Languages in Canada; Governance, Coordination and Implementation of the Official Languages Act; and The Promotion of Culture and Bilingualism, and the Canadian Identity.”

To conclude his eastern tour, Mr. LeBlanc, together with Rémi Léger, a professor in SFU’s Department of Political Science, participated in the 87th Annual Conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) in the Gatineau area on May 30 and 31. Their respective presentations focused on the varied provincial realities of the Canadian Francophonie and the challenges associated with performing French-language research within a minority community.

Learn more about these events:

• Modernization of the Official Languages Act
• Forum de l’Innovation Universitaire des Amériques et des Caraïbes de l’AUF (AUF University Innovation Forum of the Americas and the Caribbean)
• Official statement from the Government of Canada regarding Mélanie Joly's announcement
• Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of the Official Languages Act
• ACFAS Conference

Author Gillian Judson, Director of the Centre for Imagination in Research, Culture & Education (CIRCE), recently collaborated with the OFFA on an important education-related project: the adaptation into French of “A Walking Curriculum: Evoking Wonder and Developing Sense of Place.” Judson's book is already attracting a lot of interest from the teaching community and was one of the finalists for the 2019 Cmolik Prize for the enhancement of public education in British Columbia.

The OFFA and its Associate Director - FOE, Hélène Lalancette, are proud to have contributed to this great project. To learn more about the book or to place an order, check out the book’s web page on Amazon.

On May 4, the SFU Surrey campus had the great pleasure of welcoming close to 250 talented students from grades 6-12 to the 36th provincial final of the Canadian Parents for French (CPF) Concours d’art oratoire public speaking competition.

The participants from across British Columbia were selected from among 10,000 students who took part in various stages of the competition.

Year after year, Simon Fraser University and its Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs are proud to be associated with the CPF Concours d'art oratoire and to be able to celebrate French on the Surrey campus.

The OFFA would like to acknowledge the great dedication of Bettina Cenerelli of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.  As Chief Judge, she has contributed to the success of the event for the past several years.

The list of winners and photos from the 2019 competition are available on the Canadian Parents for French website. 

The team at ICI Colombie-Britannique/Yukon recently met with graduates from the North Vancouver cohort of the Diplôme d'études supérieures en éducation (DES) or Graduate Diploma in Education (GDE) to learn more about their experience in this program. The reporter also took the opportunity to hear from their teacher, Monica Tang. The report is available here.

The Faculty of Education plans to start two more French-language DES programs in the fall of 2019 - one in Greater Vancouver and another on Vancouver Island.

REMINDER: What is a DES?

The DES or Diplôme d'études supérieures en éducation (Graduate Diploma in Education) is developed in collaboration with BC’s school districts and is designed for teachers of French first- and second- language programs who wish to explore innovative classroom practices.

Each DES is 2 years long and part-time (1 course per session, evenings or weekends) in order to accommodate teachers working full-time. The program facilitates career advancement and enables a TQS salary category upgrade from 4 to 5 or from 5 to 5+.

The deadline to register for one of the programs beginning in September 2019 is July 26. Check the Graduate Diplomas page for full details and to register for one of the many information sessions being offered in the coming weeks.

For a third consecutive year, SFU Camps will offer French summer camps to youth aged 6 to 13 at the Burnaby campus. Following the success of the first two seasons, the organizers expect to easily fill all available spots in the two camps being offered: French Camp and Intro to French Camp.

“French Camp" is designed for students aged 6 to 9 who are fluent in the language -usually students from a French-language school or an immersion school. We offer educational, recreational and outdoor activities, all in French.

The "Introduction to French" camp is designed for students aged 10 to 13 who are new to the language or who are in late immersion. This camp allows them to practice their French while having fun in a range of educational, recreational and outdoor activities.

There are still a few spots left in each of the camps. For more details, visit the website "French Camps (6-13 years)".