Juliette Taylor

Mention has been made in the English forum of the lack of confidence felt by teachers of other subjects when it comes to the support of English language, as well as a supposed drop in standards regarding use of English by native speakers. I've found this to be a considerable hurdle to cross with respect to my own pupils. They reach a minimum level of compentency and are not encouraged to go further, other than in specific language classes. Is this a problem in other schools? I think part of the difficulty I have encountered is the very low number of ESL pupils in comparison with mainstream native speakers. Any similar experiences out there?

There are many options available to the English as a Foreign Language teacher today. After ten years' teaching experience, mainly in France, I'm looking to expand on my acquired knowledge. There are many distance learning courses for MAs out there, as well as various Diplomas and projects such as the Australian "ESL in the Mainstream". Does anyone have any comments to share, based on their own experience?

It would be interesting to hear views from any teachers involved with second language English students in an English-speaking evironment. How successful can a support programme be and what are the limitations or difficulties encountered? What are the necessary elements for its success and how is this success measured? Who should be responsible for it?

My name is Juliette Taylor-Lallau and I've been ESL Co-ordinator at the International School of Toulouse (yes, I'm another colleague of Mr. Jones-Nerzic's!) for the past three years. Having started my working life in television, I changed direction when I moved to France ten years ago. I've taught at university in Paris and Toulon, battled with students at a Lycée Professionnel in Aix (not one of my more fulfilling experiences) and run countless courses in business and professional English for various companies. My most recent job has involved adapting the Common European Framework of assessment for use within the IST, and trying to provide a meaningful programme for my pupils which bridges the gap between an intensive EFL programme and an ESL support programme. My particular interests are in the applications of NLP to the teaching of languages, as well as working with stories and theatre. I'm also very interested in language acquitision by the very young learners and am following my own son's bilingualism with great interest. As far as technology is concerned, I'm just beginning to spread my wings and I find the whole world of Internet fora and CALL projects very exciting, if a little intimidating I look forward to interacting virtually with many of you over the coming weeks!