Exploring French language and culture instruction at an Algerian university: insights from L1 students’ perspectives

Abstract

Nowadays, it is imperative to comprehend the relationship between intercultural communication and international representations of cultures and nations. This study focuses on exploring the representations that Junior Algerian students hold concerning the French language as well as culture, in order to apprehend students’ attitudes towards the language in question, identify pre-existing stereotypes, and eventually promote a more competent understanding of the culture associated with the language. Through surveys’ responses by 130 juniors at the University of Oum El Bouaghi who have undergone a year of training in French Civilization, researchers attempt to comprehend the impact of the programs followed on the potential reconfiguration of these representations and to identify the relationship of these future educators with the French language. The researchers adopt a descriptive-analytic approach to evaluate the effects of this on students’ conceptions and associated images, concerning the French culture as a whole. The responses exhibited less positive associations with France compared to the French language itself, revealing a positive shift in stereotypical images of French culture among university students. Adopting an intercultural dimension to investigate this underscores the need to prepare learners culturally as well as linguistically in order to effectively interact with different cultures.