Towards linguistic resilience
Mar 21, 2023 — All day
Join CARFfI for an activity hosted by Parlons avec Confiance (PAC) ‘Towards linguistic resilience,’ a discussion aiming to demystify the concept and understand its application in education in Nova Scotia's Acadian communities, and francophone contexts in other parts of Canada.
Description of the event
CARFfI welcomes you to the roundtable discussion ‘Towards linguistic resilience’ organized by Parlons avec Confiance (PAC). During this conversation, researchers and teachers will define relevant concepts and explore ways to support the process of language resilience for students from minority backgrounds. We will conclude with inspiring examples.
Nathalie Comeau
Teacher
Originally from Baie Sainte-Marie, Nova Scotia, Nathalie Comeau obtained her teaching certificate in 1995 after studying at l'Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, NS. She became a French first language teacher at the secondary level, and after six years, a school closure led her to an unexpected detour to the elementary classroom for almost 18 years. From there, she completed two degrees (FML and differentiation) and a Master's degree in teaching French as a first language in a minority setting. In 2018, she returned to teaching French at the secondary level, and is on her way to completing a career goal of 35 years in the classroom, having taught every grade level from K-12. Born to a Quebec father and an Acadian mother, Nathalie Comeau draws on the richness of these two linguistic backgrounds to help her Acadian students build their language resilience.
Phyllis Dalley
Professor
An allochthonous person, researcher and activist for equity and inclusion in French-language schools, Phyllis Dalley, PhD, is the founding director of the group Chantiers d'actions et de Recherches pour des Ffrancophonies (CARFfI), a collaboration whose raison d’être is inclusion through recognition, reparation and reconciliation.
Gabrielle Samson
Teacher
Gabrielle Samson, originally from the Isle Madame region, has been involved in the development of the Acadian regions since a very young age. Through her early involvement with the Richmond Youth Centre and the Jeux de l'Acadie, she has had the opportunity to work with people from all corners of Acadia to improve the situation in the regions. As a result of these experiences, Gabrielle has developed a strong sense of belonging to the Canadian Francophonie, especially Acadia. She became a teacher in 2012 and has been working with young people to develop their sense of belonging by working on identity building in her daily teaching. She is currently teaching in the Northwest Territories with experiences also coming from CSAP, Nova Scotia.
Hannah Sutherland
Doctoral candidate
Hannah Sutherland is a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Ottawa. Born into an English-speaking family, she learned French at school. She became aware of language issues in Nova Scotia's Acadia during her teacher training at the University of Sainte-Anne. Her Master of Arts thesis is focused on the process of language resiliency in Francophone high school students. Her thesis, 'De l’insécurité linguistique à la résilience linguistique : le rôle de l’école de langue française dans la formation de la résilience linguistique des adolescents', is available to read on the University of Ottawa’s research repository.