Competing Desires and Realities: Language Policies in the French-Language Classroom

Angela Giovanangeli

doi:10.5130/portal.v6i1.844

Abstract

French language policy has historically centred on ways French can be considered a dominant and influential language. It has done this since the Middle Ages, by allowing the French language to serve as a political tool. On an international level, language was a way of subjugating conquered peoples (former colonies). It promoted France’s international status (by the 18th century French was the diplomatic language of Europe). On a national level, the French language was one of the ways governments were able to centralise political power (suppression of regional languages).  One of the ways French language authorities have promoted the use of language has been through education policies and the way language is taught in schools. For example, the French language was imposed on the colonised territories of France through teaching in missionary schools. Within France, stringent laws were adopted, in particular during the nineteenth century, allowing the French language to replace local languages in schools. In France today, language policies continue to exist and to have an influence on the way we view language and society. One of the main priorities of French language policy is to protect the status of the national language in particular with respect to the increasing use of English as a global dominant language in areas such as science, technology, tourism, entertainment and the media (Nunan: 2007, 178). Consequently, France has adopted policies to respond to this linguistic climate. This has implications on the way the French language is taught both within France as well as outside of France.   This paper will examine some of the policies and agencies created over recent years that affect the French language. It will also identify some of the consequences these policies have on the teaching of language. Finally it will argue that a space has been created within the language classroom that attempts to find a compromise between the language policies of the French government and the realities of spoken French in society.

Highlights

One of the first concepts I teach a beginner level French language class, in an Australian university context, is that nouns in French have genders: they are either masculine or feminine
In part addressing the dearth of studies on language teaching and language policy, in this essay I argue that a space is created within the language classroom that requires a negotiated compromise between the language policies of the French government and the idiomatic realities of contemporary French society
My discussion here is not exhaustive; but it does present some of the significant challenges I encounter as a language teacher of French contemplating how French language policies affect the teaching of the French language elsewhere in the world

Summary

Introduction

One of the first concepts I teach a beginner level French language class, in an Australian university context, is that nouns in French have genders: they are either masculine or feminine. As a language teacher I have to explain to students that the French sometimes use words that reflect female professional titles even though they are not officially acknowledged in the formal references of the French language.

Results

Conclusion