GET READY !

What type of text is it ? Tick the correct answer(s).

a newspaper article an online article
informative argumentative
Identify:
the authors name : Alissa J. Rubin
the release date : June 23, 2015
Focus on the repetitions and highlight 6 keywords which will help you make sense of the
article
students ( 8) / French(8) / question (6) / cope/ing ( 5) / petition (3) /

complain (t) (3) /concern(s) (2) / English (4) / difficult (3)

Making use of the words above ,identify the problem the journalist refers to.
The journalist raises the problem of a petition which was signed by the French students who
couldnt cope with a difficult question in the English national exam paper.
Now, find basic information about the issue being raised that has become a matter of great
concern? Quote elements from the text and fill in the grid.
People

Place

Key moment

actions

France /French

June(19 )

Sign a petition

French students
Tho

Paris

Last week

Post a petition (online)

ClmenceSiouffi

Lyce Jean Pierre

Vernant

4 days ago

The education
minister = NVB
The education
ministry

Change.org

th

Baccalaureate general Dismiss the complaints

exam
Rejected the
studentspleas

 Say Whator Who the following numbers refer to .

a- 350,000 :It refers to the number of students who took the exam this year.
b- 12,000 : It refers to the number of students who have signed the online petition.
c- 50: - It refers to the number of countries in which EF Education First has English teaching
schools.
- It refers to the length of an English class in France / 50 minutes

d- 30: It refers to the number of French students in an English class.

e- 18: It refers to Clemences age.
f- 4: It refers to the moment / the day when the petition was posted online.
g- 2: It refers to the number of questions in the exam which the students had trouble
understanding. // the number of foreign languages which are required for the exam.
Pick out elements from the article to give a definition of baccalaureate.
The French Baccalaureate exam is a national general exam which is taken by senior students ,
at age 17/18 , in their final year in High School. It is a High School degree.
Tick the main skill being referred to in the article regarding the issue. Quote the text
to justify your answer.

the English reading comprehension section

reading

Match them up !
Turner

= a main character

Le Crpuscule = a poem
Carol=Engish teacher=
a novel

a defender

Atonement

Ian McEwan = a novelist

NajatVallaud-Belkacem =the Education minister
Change.org

a social media site

Alissa J.Rubin = a journalist

NenadDjokic =EF Education First manager

Quote the2 questions

What concerns him about the situation ?

( =What are 3 of his concerns about the situation?)

How is Turner coping with the situation ?
The question asked students to list 3 of the central characters concerns and asked how he
was coping with the situation .
Pick out 5 adjectives that best describe the questions which were asked in the exam.
difficult / incomprehensible / impossible (to answer)/ puzzling/hard( to translate)
Test your English language skills !Complete theWORDSEARCH :

a-

Find in the article an equivalent for :

a complaint :a petition
to make someone feel worried or upset :to bother / adj: bothered by
confusing or difficult to understand :puzzling (droutant/ dconcertant)
to deal successfully with a difficult situation: to cope with
an urgent or emotional request for something : a plea( = urgent request)
someone who supports someone elses point of view :a defender
to be baffled by (tredrout par quelque chose/ perplexe): to be flummoxed ( = dmont)
to be able to speak a foreign language very well /spoken well and
without difficulty:

fluent

to say that you are not satisfied with something: to complain (about)

b-

Find in the article the opposite of :

to pass (an exam)

to fail an exam

unexperienced:experienced
c-

Use the context and infer the meaning of :

onaverage adv / en moyenne

( on average / cope / concerns)

cope(V) faire face (un pb/situation) = deal with

concerns(V) inquiter = worry

BUILD MEANING !

What solution has been found ? Identify what the students did to cope with the situation.
A petition was written (launched/ started) and posted online .

 About the petition :

a- Who was it addressed to ? Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

b- What for ? to denounce the difficult words used in Question M.
c- How successful were they? The students petition/plea was rejected by the Education
Ministry. // they failed. / It was a failure.

Arguments for / against the petition .Complete :

COMPLAINANTS & DEFENDERS

OPPONENTS

Arguments For

Arguments against

- Incomprehensible/ impossible to answer

/difficult (students)
- The word = cope= hard to translate into
French ( English teacher)
- The English notion = difficult to understand
for experienced adult learners = no
French equivalent in the French language
+ French mind
- The French Educational system is to blame
= fail / fluency 30 students per class /
average 50 minutes /3 times a week ( EF
Education First)
- The teacher grammar/
vocabulary/speaking how can he
cope with the situation ? / does the
speaking

- Look foolish/ look like idiots

- A bothering petition
- Part of a generation that keeps complaining
- The words= Part of the things one learns in High
school / should have handled the questions

Who should be held responsible for this lack of fluency at foreign languages ?
Who is to blame according to the defenders?

According to the defenders the French educational system is to blame since it is made clear in the
article that the Educational system in Francefails to give students the opportunity to gain fluency as a
result of the number of students per class and the lack of weekly practice .They should be held
responsible for their lack of understanding.
In other words, students are not given the opportunity to speak in class . Language teachers have to deal
with the grammar, the vocabulary, the speaking , the reading and the writing, which makes speaking
practice nearly impossible.

According to you, which

adjective(s) best describe French students in the article ?

strong-willed (rsolu/dune rgande force de volont) / foolish / determined /polemical / bold

(intrpide/audacieux) /critical / provocative
Comment on the journalists point of view and on
The tone / the journalist is :
sarcastic / controversial / amused / skeptical

the tone of the article.

/critical

Quelques lments de rponse :

The overall tone is quite sarcastic as the journalist mocks the French students for not understanding
the word coping and the petition.
The article is definitely controversial . What strikes me the most is the irony in an Anglo-saxon country
making fun of another country in their ability to speak English.