Fiona Moreno is not from France. But the French-speaking, Ph.D. student from Switzerland, says she was and still is startled by how confidently people deem her to be French, solely based on hearing her accent. The realization that many people aren’t aware of the diversity of the Francophone world prompted her to found the Francophone Community Partnership.

Through it, the University of Pennsylvania graduate student brings together French language learners at Penn and students from the Francophone diaspora at the Henry C. Lea School in West Philadelphia for hour-long language practice and cultural exchange sessions.

The pilot program launched at Gregory College House in February with support from Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Initially, nine Penn undergraduates were involved in the program, which Moreno coordinated.

The participants from Lea ranged in age from 10 to 16 and represented countries from France, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Senegal to Mali, Guinea, Benin and Niger.

As word of the program spread, younger students eager to speak French with more people, invited their older siblings to join them in the FCP.

“Some of these kids know more about France than I do, having been raised in Paris,” Moreno says. “Some also speak a much better, richer French than mine. This is the kind of biases that the Francophone Partnership Program seeks to address.”

Moreno taught beginner to advanced French at Penn for two years before starting her French & Francophone studies Ph.D. program in 2013. In its pilot phase, the FCP was part of the French programming at Gregory College House where Moreno served as a graduate assistant and program director. The student team included both Gregory residents and non-Gregory volunteers who’d been referred to the program. This fall, the program will become independent from Gregory and officially open to all Penn students.

Penn students involved in the FCP provide support with English language development while learning about the diversity of Francophone cultures and the French language from the Lea participants.

Some of the youngsters are recent immigrants and proficient French speakers. Others are heritage French learners, first- and second-generation immigrant children whose parents speak the language at home. By challenging their Penn peers to engage in French conversation, they’re learning the value of being multilingual.

Moreno says that, before she met with the Lea students, she gave them a questionnaire to assess their language levels and learn more about them.

When asked to tell the beginning of his favorite story, one 14-year-old participant wrote from memory, a powerful and stylistically complex poem by Guinean writer Camara Laye.

Moreno says that the student’s writing sample was one among many that confirmed the relevance of a peer teaching format.

“The ‘What do they need?’ approach [to teaching] presupposes,” Moreno says, “that the kids need something, but what about the many things they have to offer? These are kids who may excel at math or literature, who know much more than their tutors/mentors, yet feel that their knowledge is not deemed relevant in a U.S. context. Magic happens when allegedly needy students are consistently recognized as rich of assets and talents.”

Audio of the FCP participant’s multilingual work and Penn student accounts of what they learned from one another is posted on a FCP SoundCloud page, as well as on the program’s Facebook page.

Rising senior Kaustubh Deo from Seattle, Washington, reflects that being a participant in FCP challenged him in new and different ways that complemented his French studies at Penn: “I already know how to take notes and handle group work. Attempting to teach French to a 12-year-old, however, deviates from the traditional classroom experience offered at Penn. I've learned a host of skills that are helping round out my academic and personal development.”

At a final potluck dinner at the end of spring semester, Moreno watched as Lea participants introduced their respective partners to their mothers while Penn students did their best to communicate with the parents in French despite language-learner anxiety.

All involved, from the Lea staff and students to participants from Penn, hail the program as a success. Moreno says none of what was achieved would have been possible without the commitment of a “wonderful Penn student volunteer team, awesome Lea participants and highly involved members of the staff at Lea.”

“It has been such a pleasure to have Fiona and her team working at Lea,” says principal Jennifer Duffy.

She plans to replace Spanish with French as a specialist class offering. When the new French instructor is hired, the FCP team will work to ensure that the program activities complement the French course content.

“The FCP provided an opportunity for collaboration with our French-speaking community that has been tremendous for our students as they learn -- re-learn! -- to value the language and culture that adds to Lea's wonderful diversity,” Duffy says. 

Two Penn students who were FCP volunteers during the spring semester will return to the program as Netter Center-paid work-study students serving as FCP program assistants.

The FCP will continue to develop the Little Francophone Library established within Lea’s library this year with the support of individual donors and the Penn Libraries.

Moreno says the program is seeking motivated French-speaking or learning volunteers. More information is available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-n4JSYke-n7PCZ-PaezfmGBShuB8rDR3dzeQnewGJS0/viewform?c=0&w=1.

A fall information session is planned. The date will be announced on the FCP Facebook page.

In recognition of her work as a French program director at Gregory, particularly the creation of the FCP, Moreno was awarded a Certificate of Excellence in Teaching from the Department of Romance Languages last semester and honored with the School of Arts and Sciences 2015 Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Graduate Students for her work as a French instructor at Penn.