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The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL; french: le Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane) is Louisiana's Office of Francophone Affairs (french: Agence des affaires francophones). It is a state agency whose multiple legislative mandates include developing opportunities to use the
French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in No ...
in tourism, economic development, culture, education and international relations. CODOFIL is governed by a board of 23 members and administratively placed within the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development's Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, overseen by the
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. CODOFIL is the only state agency in the United States whose purpose is to serve a linguistic population. Today, CODOFIL's role is to promote and support French immersion and French as a second language in education; it acts as a partner to the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), whose role is to manage Louisiana's school districts. CODOFIL continues to recruit and sponsor French, Belgian and Canadian associate teachers as per its accords with those countries, who are placed alongside local teachers upon LDOE's recommendation. CODOFIL encourages Louisiana Francophones to continue transmission of the state's heritage language via its scholarship program (providing opportunities for pedagogical advancement) and the Escadrille Louisiane program (which allows non-native speakers to perfect French at the Université de Rennes in exchange for a minimum 3-year teaching commitment of French in Louisiana). CODOFIL has also worked to instill pride in all Louisiana Francophones in their linguistic identity rather than to uphold one variety of French language or another.Shane K. Bernard, The ''Cajuns: Americanization of a People'' (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2003), pp. xx, xxii–xxiii, 18–19, 33–34, 83.


Mission and vision

The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana's mission is to "work toward the creation of an eco-system that permits the development of French in the economic, educational, cultural and professional sectors and in which
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...
's French and Creole speakers are valorized in their cultural and linguistic identity." It seeks to "provide access to economic, educational, cultural and professional opportunities in French to all Louisianians." CODOFIL endorses revitalization of the French language in Louisiana through French immersion programs in schools, and CODOFIL does this by inviting French-speaking teachers from French-speaking communities around the world to Louisiana. In order for schools to have teachers for the immersion program, schools must send requests for teachers to CODOFIL first, then CODOFIL select teachers from the list of applicants that fit with the schools' criteria for the immersion program and send them to teach the immersion programs there. CODOFIL also endorse Cajun Music Festival as a way to promote Cajun culture through Cajun music and keep the Cajun tradition alive.


Board

CODOFIL originally consisted of a chairman and an advisory committee, all appointed by the governor of Louisiana. Today it is administered by a president, an executive director, and a board of as many as 23 non-paid directors. In addition to the governor, various Louisiana organizations nominate and select board members, who serve for a term of four years.


History

The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) was established in 1968 to promote the preservation of French language and culture in Louisiana. The Louisiana state legislature has greatly shifted its stance on the status of French. Since the passage of Legislative Act No. 409 in 1968, the Louisiana governor is granted the authorization "to establish the Council for the Development of Louisiana-French" and that the agency is to consist of no more than fifty members, including a chairman. The name was soon changed to CODOFIL and was granted the power to "do anything possible and necessary to encourage the development, usage and preservation of French as it exists in Louisiana". James R. Domengeaux, a former state legislator and former United States Congressman of ethnic French descent, was the driving force behind CODOFIL's creation. A semi-retired attorney at the time, Domengeaux began his crusade for restoring French in Louisiana after Senator Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr., of Lafayette obtained passage of an "urge-and-request" resolution for Louisiana school boards to help reverse the decline of the use of the French language within the state. Domengeaux traveled around Louisiana to gain support for his campaign to make Louisiana a bilingual state through French language education. By the spring of 1968, Domengeaux had gained enough interest from the public and support from officials, to present his plan to the legislature. Legislators, such as J. Burton Angelle of Breaux Bridge voted to create CODOFIL, and the measure was signed into law in July 1968 by Governor John McKeithen. The law empowered CODOFIL to "do any and all things necessary to accomplish the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language ... for the cultural, economic, and tourist cbenefit of the State."


Criticism

Although CODOFIL aims to promote the French language and culture in Louisiana, this does not come without controversies among critics in Louisiana. A common criticism is that CODOFIL emphasizes education in
Standard French Standard French (in French: ''le français standard'', ''le français normé'', ''le français neutre'' eutral Frenchor ''le français international'' nternational French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It ...
over the local
Louisiana French Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisia ...
for economical purpose over cultural purpose. Critics claim that not only do CODOFIL attempt to homogenize the type of French dialect through inviting foreign Francophone teachers over relying on local French-speaking Cajuns and Creoles for the French language immersion program, CODOFIL also homogenizes French culture in Louisiana by prioritizing a Cajun identity over Creole identity when it comes to Louisiana's Francophone identity. Despite this, a survey conducted on the French immersion program shows that a majority of the teachers in the immersion program support integration of Cajun culture and Louisiana French into the curriculum, with 69% saying yes to teaching Cajun or Louisiana French into the curriculum, and 72% for Franco-Louisianan cultural aspect relating to the Louisiana French language, although the issue still remains for
Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole ( lou, Kréyòl Lalwizyàn, links=no) is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the state of Louisiana. It is spoken today by people who may racially identify as White, Black, mixed, and ...
, with 90% of the teachers in the survey say no to integrating Creole into the curriculum in contrast to Louisiana French. Another criticism of CODOFIL's approach on cultural revival through festivals comes from critics such as the musician James Bau Graves, who view that CODOFIL commodifies
Cajun culture The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
through music festival and cultural activities and conserving it for tourism instead of preserving it. Graves views that the commercialization of Cajun culture prevents it from preserving because it hinders any attempts for the culture to adapt to the modern era, and homogenizes Cajun culture to a commodity. On the other hand,
Barry Jean Ancelet Barry Jean Ancelet (pseudonym Jean Arceneaux; born 1951) is a Cajun folklorist in Louisiana French and ethnomusicologist in Cajun music. He has written several books, and under his pseudonym Jean Arceneaux, including poetry and lyrics to songs. E ...
views that the commercialization of Cajun culture allows more exposure to tourists and the international community. Ancelet views that exposure of Cajun culture to the outside allows appreciation from the international community and helps cultural preservation and revitalization possible by bolstering cultural pride and funding for the community.


See also

*
French in the United States The French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. Roughly 2.1 million Americans over the age of five reported speaking the language at home in a federal 2010 estimate, making French the fourth most-spoken language in th ...
*
List of language regulators This is a list of bodies that consider themselves to be authorities on standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism and prestige, and typically publish pre ...
*
Language revival Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, o ...
*
Acadiana Acadiana ( French and Louisiana French: ''L'Acadiane''), also known as the Cajun Country (Louisiana French: ''Le Pays Cadjin'', es, País Cajún), is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that has historically contained mu ...
* Curtis Joubert * Armand Brinkhaus


Sources


External links

* {{Portal bar, United States 1968 establishments in Louisiana French-American culture in Louisiana Francophonie Language regulators Louisiana law Cajun language Cultural promotion organizations French language in the United States Humanities organizations Languages of Louisiana