Education

Goal I - To provide elementary, secondary and college-level students, teachers and administrators with opportunities to engage in and profit from French language learning experiences.

French as a Second Language Program
French Immersion
CODOFIL Consortium of French Immersion Programs
CODOFIL Teacher Recruiting
CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Colleges and Universities
Study-abroad Scholarship Program


French as a Second Language Program

Since its inception in 1968, CODOFIL has worked very closely with the State Department of Education to promote the study of French in Louisiana's elementary and secondary schools. For many years, the speaking of French at schools was discouraged through means such as humiliation or corporal punishment. Great steps had to be taken to reverse the psychologically-ingrained belief that the French language was inferior and not worthy of study. The greatest of these steps came in 1983 when the state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to require five years of second language study at the Elementary school level. Additionally, for students to qualify for the TOPS scholarship program, they must take at least two years of a second language at the high school level as well. In Louisiana today, more students than ever before study the French language.

French Immersion

For more information about French Immersion in Louisiana, visit the Action Cadienne web-site

French immersion is a process where the student is "immersed" in French. In other words, a subject such as math or social studies is taught entirely in French, and the student learns the vocabulary by listening and using it. In very important ways, this is the way we all learned our first language(s). In Louisiana, young people begin French immersion in kindergarten. All or most of the courses are offered in French with the exception of an English language arts class. An additional year is added to the program as the students advance through the school system. In 2001-2002, 2200 students from 26 schools in 8 parishes participated in the French immersion programs. Two additional programs will open in Iberia Parish for the 2002-2003 school year.

While students completing immersion programs can generally boast of French-language skills nearing those of native speakers, they also generally score significantly higher on standardized tests such as the LEAP (Louisiana Educational Assessment Program). While parents deserve credit for this success, CODOFIL has been fundamental in many ways including: supplying materials, standardizing immersion curricula, work towards the creation of a Bachelor of Science degree in Immersion instruction, and supplying Immersion teachers.

Each of the immersion programs boasts a parent group who are responsible for fundraising as well as other projects which support French in the community and the teaching of French in the schools. Le Grand Pique-Nique de la Louisiane, which brings together all of the immersion programs for a day of fun and food and being together, is held in September.


CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana French Immersion Programs

The Consortium of French Immersion Programs was created to provide a human and financial resource for parents, teachers and administrators involved with the immersion program. The Consortium meets twice a year to share information, address problems and work on common projects. In addition to creating a network of support, the Consortium also addresses the issues of uniformity of curriculum and goals. One of the primary goals of the Consortium is to search for grants and other funding. In 2001-2002, the Consortium has received grants and books from the French government, the French Community of Belgium, Quebec, the Lions Club of France, Confédération des Associations des Familles Acadiennes, and France-Louisiane.


CODOFIL teacher recruiting

Click here for information about how to become a CODOFIL teacher!
With the demand for teachers of French exceeding the current availability of qualified teachers, Louisiana has had to depend on foreign governments for assistance. During the 2001-2002 school year, 210 French, Belgian, Canadian, and African teaching professionals have been teaching the French language in Louisiana's schools. They are all highly qualified and are all working towards the self-defeating goal of making themselves obsolete: As students graduate and attain French fluency, Louisiana is becoming more self-sufficient and in the near-future CODOFIL looks forward to the day when we will no longer have to rely so heavily on Foreign Associate Teachers.


CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Universities and Colleges

The CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Colleges and Universities brings together representatives from all of the university French departments. The Consortium was created to advise the CODOFIL Board on questions concerning the teaching of French in Louisiana and to administer the CODOFIL scholarship program. During the year 2000, the Consortium created an exchange program with the MICEFA, a consortium of Parisian universities, to offer a more affordable year-long program of study in Paris for Louisiana students, as well as Classiques Pélican, a project with Pelican Publishing to publish Louisiana 19th century French literature. The first book, Tante Cydette, was published in 2001. For 2002, the Consortium is working on a program of mini-grants to university students and professors doing research around Louisiana French literature and linguistics.

The member institutions are:

Centenary College, Delgado Community College , Dillard University, Grambling State, Louisiana State University at Alexandria, Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge , Louisiana State University at Eunice , Louisiana State University, Shreveport , Louisiana Tech, Loyola University , McNeese State University, Nicholls State University , Northwestern State University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Southeastern Louisiana University, Southern University, Southern University at New Orleans, Tulane University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of New Orleans, and Xavier University.


Study-abroad scholarship program

Click here for more detailed information about the CODOFIL scholarship and exchange program.

The primary reason our study-abroad scholarship program was created was to offer to Louisiana students and teachers of French the possibility of studying and living in a completely French-speaking region. Thanks to our foreign partners, and particularly the French Community of Belgium, France and Canada, as well as universities in Quebec and Nova Scotia, we have been able to offer approximately 2500 scholarships for foreign study. The Fondation CODOFIL has recently introduced the Domengeaux scholarships for year-long study in France and Belgium, and the Fondation’s goal is to increase the number of these scholarships as well as the countries in which they are offered. The CODOFIL Consortium of Louisiana Universities and Colleges has recently signed accords with the MICEFA (Interuniversity Mission for the Coordination of Franco-American Exchanges), a consortium of universities in Paris, to offer a more-affordable semester or year-long study program to Louisiana university students.