West
Virginia Needs French
AATF
ADVOCACY FACT PACK FOR WEST VIRGINIA
IMPORTANT CONSULAR ADDRESSES
Closest Belgian Consular Representative
Mr. Elie Loos, Counselor and Consul
Embassy of Belgium
3330 Garfield Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
Consular office hours 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Phone (202) 333-6900, Fax (202) 338-4960
E-mail: washington@diplobel.org
Regional Canadian Consulate
Consulate General of Canada
HSBC Center, Suite 3000
Buffalo, NY 14203-2884
Tel: (716) 858-9500
Fax: (716) 852-4340
Email: bfalo@international.gc.ca
http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/buffalo/
Quebec Trade Representative
Québec Government Office
805 15th Street, N.W.
Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
United States of America
Phone: 202 659 8990
Fax: 202 659 5654
Email: qc.washington@mri.gouv.qc.ca
http://www.gouv.qc.ca/portail/quebec/international/usa/delegations?id=bureaux.washington.coordonnees
Consulat General of France in
Washington DC
4101 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Telephone: (202) 944-6000
Fax: (202) 944-6166
http://www.consulfrance-washington.org/spip.php?rubrique=2
WEST VIRGINIA'S FRANCOPHONE DEMOGRAPHY
5,730 native speakers of French, French Creole or French Cajun living
as residents of West Virginia and about 27,000 residents claiming
French or French Canadian ancestry.
WEST VIRGINIA'S FRANCOPHONE PLACE NAMES
Fayette County, Fayette, Fayette Heights, Fayetteville, Racine,
Marfrance, Ronceverte, Frenchburg, Montpelier, Belle, French Creek,
French Lick, Robinette, Premier, Nemours, Chevaux De Frise, Graux,
Rosemont, Lavalette, Brabant, Nicolette, Letart Falls, Frenchton,
Despard, Montcalm
IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL
ADDRESSES
West Virginia AATF
Michael D. Lastinger, President
Foreign Languages/Chitwood Hall
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506-6298
E-mail: mlasting@wvu.edu
Christopher McClung, Secretary-Treasurer
E-mail: cmcclung8@aol.com
West Virginia College and University
French Programs
Fairmont State University
http://www.fairmontstate.edu/academics/FrenchProgram/default.asp
Bethany College
http://www.bethanywv.edu/index.php?cID=105
Marshall University
http://www.marshall.edu/language/
West Virginia State University
http://www.wvstateu.edu/foreign%5Flanguages/
West Virginia University
http://french.forlang.wvu.edu/
Wheeling Jesuit University
http://www.wju.edu/academics/mol/
Shepherd University
http://www.shepherd.edu/university/english/
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE IN WEST VIRGINIA
Alliance Francaise de Fairmont State College
Présidence :Mme Valerie IVES
French Department Locust Ave.
FAIRMONT, WV - 26554
vives@mail.fscwv.edu
Centre associé
Nearest French Meetup
Pittsburgh French Meetup (89 members)
http://french.meetup.com/77/
Foreign Languages in West Virginia:
The West Virginia Department of
Education became the 2nd state to join the Partnership for 21st Century
Skills. The Partnership bolsters a strong global awareness focus and
creates opportunities for greater dialogue related to world language
initiatives and international education. The West Virginia Foreign
Language Teachers’ Association is an organization that provides
language advocacy in the state.
Policy 2510 states that students in the Professional Pathway must earn
two credits in the same foreign language to graduate. This same policy
requires high schools to offer a minimum of three levels of one foreign
language. The policy also requires middle schools to offer a foreign
language course, in the same foreign language, for students in grade 7
and grade 8. The teaching of foreign language is encouraged at the
elementary level.
In August of 2008, the West Virginia
Higher Education Policy Commission implemented a new policy that
requires students to complete two credits in the same foreign language
in order to satisfy undergraduate admission requirements for West
Virginia public four-year colleges and universities.
A revision of the 21st Century
Foreign Language Content Standards and Objectives for West Virginia
Schools (Policy 2520.7) was approved in July 2007 and became effective
July 1, 2008.
The state offers and facilitates
online virtual courses in Spanish 1A/1B at the middle school level and
Spanish 1 & 2 at the high school level. Other language courses in
Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin and advanced levels of Spanish
are offered through contracted providers outside of the state. A select
number of rural schools utilize distance learning technology in order
to collaboratively deliver language instruction.
West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers Association
http://www.wvflta.org/
International Baccaleureate Programs in West Virginia
South Charleston High School
http://schs.kana.k12.wv.us/
1 Eagle Way
South Charleston, WV 25309
(304) 766-0352
West Virginia representative to National Council for State Supervisors
of Languages
Robert Crawford
rcrawford@access.k12.wv.us
West Virginia Department of Education
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E
Building 6 - Room 318
Charleston, WV 25305
Phone: 304-558-2691
Fax: 304-558-6268
The Education Alliance of West Virginia
name of the State Scholars Initiative in West Virginia, offering a
challenging diploma for those not in the standard college preparatory
curriculum (one including two years of foreign language study).
Districts included so far are Braxton, Monroe, Ohio and Wood Counties
http://www.educationalliance.org/StateScholars/StateScholars.asp
FRENCH MOMENTS IN WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY
1669 - Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle explored the Ohio Valley,
landing several places in West Virginia.
1740 - French-born trapper and Indian trader James Le Tort established
a trading post near the current border of Jackson and Mason Counties.
1749 - On August 18, French explorer Celeron de Blainville planted a
lead plate along the Ohio River at present-day Point Pleasant, claiming
the territory for France.
1749, Louis Bienville de Celeron sailed down the Ohio River, claiming
all of the
lands drained by the Ohio River for King Louis XV of France, burying
lead plates along the route with an inscription claiming the land for
France. One of them is in Ohio County.
1755-1763: The Delaware, Mingo, and Shawnee sided with the French
during the French and Indian War.
1756 - Battle of Cacapon in the French and Indian War. It was between
Colonel George Washington’s Virginia Regiment and French and
French-Allied Indians.
1823 - French-born educator and civil engineer, Benoit Claudius Crozet
resigned from his duties at West Point to become Principal Engineer and
Surveyor for the Virginia Board of Public Works. In this capacity, he
worked in what is now West Virginia, and was instrumental in the
conception of The Northwestern Turnpike, a key Appalachian crossing.
1846 - French immigrant Joseph H. Diss DeBar (designer of the Great
Seal and Coat of Arms of West Virginia) arrived in Doddridge County
1859 - On January 10, President James Buchanan appointed Democrat
Charles Faulkner of Berkeley County as American Minister to France
WEST VIRGINIA IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
West Virginia: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/state_reports/west-va.html
World Trade WV
http://www.worldtradewv.com/members/wvdo.php
Charleston & Wheeling West Virginia (BuyUSA) - Useful Export
Resources
http://www.buyusa.gov/westvirginia/56.html
WEST VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
http://www.wviff.org/
Impact of trade in West Virginia
http://www.uschamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/.../IOT07WestVirginia.pdf
West Virginia Trade News
http://trade.einnews.com/westvirginia/
Trade Makes West Virginia Strong
http://www.geography.vt.edu/vga/data.html
Advantage Valley
http://www.advantagevalley.com/
West Virginia Trade News
http://trade.einnews.com/westvirginia/
In 2006, the total value of West Virginia's exports to its top 25
trading partners was approximately $3,225,000,000, but what is the role
of countries where French is an official language?
#1. Canada
$923,000,000
#2. Belgium
$313,000,000
#13. France
$81,000,000
Nearly 41% of West Virginia's trade dollars from this group was made
from exports to Francophone Countries.
How does this same scenario work out in 2008 exports. Looking again at
West Virginia's 25 top trading partners, we see have $5,267,000,000
export revenues.
#1. Canada
$1,286,000,000
#4. Belgium
$323,000,000
#7. France
$290,000,000
Total Francophone $1,899,000,000
Therefore, in the growing export market of 2008, over 36% of West
Virginia's trade dollars was made from exports to Francophone
Countries. In that same context three out of West Virginia's top
trading partners were countries where French is an official language.
Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated
3.7 percent of West Virginia's total private-sector employment. Over
one-sixth (17.0 percent) of all manufacturing workers in West Virginia
depend on exports for their jobs. A total of 806 companies
exported goods from West Virginia locations in 2007.
Advantage Valley Trade delegation preparing for trip to France
http://charleston-west-virginia-economic-dev.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
Canada-West Virginia State Trade Fact Sheet 2008
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/washington/commerce_can/2008/wv.aspx?lang=eng
In 2008, Canada–West Virginia trade supported 37,000 U.S. jobs.
Canadians made more than 248,100 visits to West Virginia, spending $11
million
The following figures come from a database measuring the value of
two-way trans-border surface trade between West Virginia and all
Canadian provinces between September 2006 and September 2007:
All Canadian Provinces to West Virginia:
$1,316,449,015
West Virginia to All Canadian Provinces
$1,127,401,114
Foreign Investment
In 2007, foreign-controlled companies employed 21,100 workers in West
Virginia. Two of the top five investing countries have French as
an official language. Foreign investment in West Virginia was
responsible for 3.6 percent of the state’s total private-industry
employment in 2007. Currently, there are over 310 foreign companies in
West Virginia .
As of 1995, 166,974 acres of West Virginia agricultural land were owned
by foreign investors.
Some of the foreign-owned companies in West Virginia are Rhone-Poulenc,
BASF, Aristech, Consolidation Coal, Wheeling-Nisshin Steel, Miles and
EIMCO Coal Machinery.
DIRECT ADVACACY IN WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia Department of education
http://wvde.state.wv.us/
West Virginia Board of education
http://wvde.state.wv.us/boe/
West Virginia Legislature - Senate Members
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Senate1/members/senmemview.cfm
West Virginia Legislature - House Members
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/House/members/delmemview1.cfm
Advocates should read carefully West
Virginia education-related legislation for the past few years, and find
out what has been done to implement new measures.