D’accord! 2: langue et culture du monde francophone, and: D’accord! 3: langue et culture du monde francophone

Abstract

Reviews 241 Methods and Materials edited by Frédérique Grim D’accord! 2: langue et culture du monde francophone. Boston: Vista, 2015. ISBN 978-161857 -867-9. Pp. 440. $74. D’accord! 3: langue et culture du monde francophone. Boston: Vista, 2015. ISBN 978-161857 -868-6. Pp. 440. $80. This new edition builds on the 2011 edition of D’accord! and now provides an online component. Specifically, D’accord! offers both an online student text, the vText, a virtual interactive text, as well as a Supersite. These two volumes provide a thorough introduction to all of the online and supplemental materials.Vista continues to develop the Supersite with more tools and better integration of the online and print components of the D’accord! program. The Supersite is designed so that teachers can use it exclusively for the administration of their courses if they choose—from grading and homework, to announcements and chat sessions. In addition, this Supersite provides editable lesson plans, banks of images and scripts, a PDF activity pack with extra activities for class time, and grammar slides. The most significant overall update to the Supersite is the ability for teachers to add their own content. They can upload authentic materials or create their own assessments, and the Composition Engine is a new tool that allows students to upload compositions and teachers to grade them online with in-line editing. This abundance of tools makes the Supersite essential for teachers and students. And though online homework and e-textbooks can no longer be considered innovations, Vista is taking them to a new level with new tools and an excellent integration of the online component with the hardcopy textbooks and teacher’s editions. The introductory materials in each edition guide teachers with clear visuals and concise instructions as to how to use both the textbook and the Supersite for optimal classroom results. Perhaps the most welcome feature of the introductory materials is the purposeful incorporation of the standards of language teaching, as seen in topics such as “Culture presented in context,”“Authentic cultural media and listening for Interpretive Communication,” and “Grammar as a tool not a topic.” In regard to the latter, the D’accord! series does for the most part present grammar communicatively, though occasional exercises are entirely form-based with little or no communicative element. This is a minor critique, however, because on the whole, grammar is wedded communicatively to the other elements of each chapter. This new edition also includes what Vista calls“a fresh approach to grammar”with an animated character, le professeur, walking students through grammar concepts in entertaining videos. The approach may not be all that new or “fresh,” but it is a useful addition. The grammar tutorials also have activities at the end that can be assigned and submitted for a grade. All of these tools and resources are presented online and throughout the teacher’s editions in the context of twenty-first-century language pedagogy. The introductory materials remind teachers of best practices (“Maintain the Target Language,” “Cultivate Critical Thinking,” and “Encourage Use of Circumlocution”). Teachers also receive tips on using performance assessments and following the instructional design of the books. The latter is broken down into six steps, the structure of each chapter: context, vocabulary, media, culture, structure, and skill synthesis and communication. The authors could have left this information in the introductory materials, but it is clear that they have intentionally structured the entire D’accord! series in order to provide teachers support and direction through every chapter. The teacher’s editions have full margins on almost every page, as opposed to other editions with more white space and shorter, less-frequent tips and reminders. The teacher’s marginal notes go beyond just ideas for supplemental activities. They bring up the 5 Cs on a regular basis, direct teachers to specific components of the Supersite, relate sections to other sections, and give media synopses and content explanations throughout . Though lesson preparation is always key, teachers have an abundance of materials, online and in print, that can greatly facilitate their preparation and shorten the time that they have to spend, from creation of lesson plans to grading of assignments...