La culture francophone: le monde à l’écoute par Astrid A. Billat, Bénédicte M. Boisseron

Abstract

exercises. The book is not intended for the complete beginner, but it might be useful for a beginning teacher who is looking for exact words to help explain to students “why it is like that in French.” La Salle University (PA) Leonard Marsh Billat, Astrid A., and Bénédicte M. Boisseron. La culture francophone: le monde à l’écoute. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2016. ISBN 978-1-58510-392-8. Pp. 325. Integrating culture in language learning is one of ACTFL’s goal areas to improve students’progress towards proficiency, as an emphasis on culture promotes an understanding of the relationship between a foreign language and the three Ps (Products, Practices, Perspectives) of the target culture. Since 2013, with the revisions of the World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, the teaching of culture in the foreign language classroom has shifted from an instrumentalist approach to a focus on developing intercultural competence by understanding the three Ps and promoting meaningful cultural interactions. In such a context, La culture francophone stands out among its competitors when presenting Products (recipes, literary excerpts, or films). Furthermore, it prompts students to reflect on Perspectives and Practices through the sections entitled Personnalité phare, La vie de tous les jours, and Au café, as well as through discussion and writing topics. The authors approach the Francophone world geographically, selecting countries and cultural components from the African, the North American, and the European continent. In addition to discussion and writing topics, each chapter also contains sections providing geographical, historical, or biographical contexts and a variety of texts with pre- and post-reading activities, vocabulary exercises, and pre- and post-viewing activities. The textbook also incorporates guided research, discussion activities, and oral presentations encouraging students to refer to podcasts, videos, and web pages available on the publisher’s website without an additional fee. Overall, a textbook focusing on Francophone cultures and entirely written in French is an innovative concept filling a gap in the typical university-level French curriculum. Yet, while focusing on university students with four semesters of French and Advanced Placement credit as a targeted audience, this text misses an essential element to language learners of all levels. Indeed, there is no inclusion of linguistic components to assist students in progressing towards a higher level of proficiency. For instance, while many activities call for students to share their feelings about a societal issue, there is no review or practice of the necessary grammatical expressions and lexical items that would allow learners to practice their language skills during intercultural interactions. Similarly, when students are asked to write a letter or a poem including a specific literary device, they are expected to already be familiar with the forms and expressions required to achieve their tasks. While the text provides excellent resources on cultural content, the absence of language activities 196 FRENCH REVIEW 91.1 Reviews 197 directly connected to three Ps thus requires careful planning from instructors. They will need to evaluate how to integrate language learning in a way that demonstrates best practices and responds to ACTFL guidelines for each of the selected readings. Nevertheless, the strength of La culture francophone can be seen in the quality selection of its cultural components as well as its variety. This focus, in turn, provides more freedom to instructors to structure their classes around the essential questions on which they would like students to reflect. University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Virginie Cassidy Butzbach, M., C. Martin, D. Pastor, et I. Saracibar. Décibel. Paris: Didier, 2015. Méthode de français A1. ISBN 978-2-278-08107-3. Pp. 95. Cahier d’activités A1. ISBN 978-2-278-08120-2. Pp. 66. Méthode de français A2.1. ISBN 978-2-278-08336-7. Pp. 106. Cahier d’activités A2.1. ISBN 978-2-278-08347-3. Pp. 66. Méthode de français A2.2. ISBN 978-2-278-08337-4. Pp. 106. Cahier d’activités A2.2. ISBN 978-2-278-08350-3. Pp. 95. This three-part series is designed for middle school but could be used at the secondary level as supplementary resource. It is leveled A1, A2.1, and A2.2 under the Common...