Monday, September 7, 2009

UQAM To Offer English Courses

Unable to attract enough foreign students for courses in French ( Why? One may ask) the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) is trying a novel approach. This fall the university's l'École des sciences de la gestion (ESG) will be offering six science courses in English.

Get ready for a new skirmish in the eternal Quebec war to defend the French language.

Already Mario Beaulieu of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (SSJB) has said that 'the bilinguisation of UQAM is unacceptable.'

Michel Laporte, first vice-president of the Syndicat des professeurs de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (SPUQ), the union that represents the school's professors, says that the move contradicts the mission of integrating immigrants to francophone culture.

Look for fireworks before this one is over, it's happened before.

When John Abbott College decided to abandon courses in aeronatics, CEGEP Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil decided to offer English language courses in aircraft maintenance as well as French at it's affiliated school based at St. Hubert airport.
l'École nationale d'aéronautique de Saint-Hubert will offer English courses to English students only, those coming out of the English school system.

It seems like a sweet arrangement, the school could use the extra students at the underused airport. The whole arrangement makes eminently good sense. But for language crusaders it was a dastardly attempt to pry the door open to bilingualism.

Back to the UQAM offering classes in English;

Is it an admission that foreign students just don't see French as useful in the business world?

It is a sad commentary that the school can't even attract foreign French students to the business program, considering that they benefit from reduced tution, because they are francophones.

3 comments:

  1. How have you determined that anyone can "benefit from reduced tution, because they are francophones"?

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  2. To anonymous, you've misquoted the author. He was refering to foreign French students, not just anyone, who benefit from reduced tuition fees. It is true - there is an agreement between the governments of Quebec and of France, whereby all French nationals pay the tuition fees normally reserved only for Quebec residents or Quebec-born persons. That is, any other foreigner, will pay an international fee, while French nationals will pay the domestic fee (which persons from non-Quebec Canada will not benefit from).

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  3. Spanish schools Madrid-ESL – Language studies abroad has won awards for arranging language study trips across in excess of 40 countries on behalf of international students just like you.

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