Le Maghreb par Laure Boivin et Manfred Overmann

Abstract

Reviews 223 learning outcomes, a list of what students will learn to reach outcomes, strategies, and the introduction of the tâche finale, or culminating activity of the unit. This is a good way to explicitly state what students can expect to learn, and how they will get there. Today’s students are driven by practical implications of foreign languages, so they will likely appreciate that information from the beginning. Each unit is comprised of a thematic lesson where students make assumptions based on images in the book and complete auditory discretion exercises from the DVD-ROM. These lessons are followed by vocabulary and grammar presentations, and then speaking and reading activities. The tâche finale is the opportunity for students to put the lessons learned into practice in a real-life situation.After every four lessons, there is a bilan communication section that gives students the opportunity to view the information again and add to each of the previous units with an increasingly complex set of exercises. The book is ambitious in the amount of content, but it also seeks to prepare students for the A1 certification, so it must be vast in scope. The book is practical as it is clearly organized and follows logical sequencing. It is user-friendly and visually stimulating. The DVD-ROM hosts a wealth of resources for students and instructors. There is audio paired with the lessons of both the book and the workbook along with videos that follow the lessons. In addition to the videos for each unit, there is a section on société where important cultural lessons are presented. I particularly like that the videos are available with or without subtitles for varying degrees of mastery. The promotional video also mentions the online resources through a course management system which is increasingly useful as students are becoming more autonomous in hybrid and online courses.While I did not have access to all of the instructor resources, the promotional video alludes to the testing resources being adaptable to entire classes or individual students, which can be an additional advantage for the program.All in all, I find Nickel! 1 to be a complete resource for instructors wishing to prepare students for the A1 and emerging A2 levels of DELF, and as such a fairly true representation of its marketing claims. However, it would be potentially overwhelming as an introductory book for many programs in American universities. I can see this book as a potential resource for an intermediate program where the skills are reviewed. Eastern Kentucky University Randi L. Polk Boivin, Laure, et Manfred Overmann. Le Maghreb. Stuttgart: Klett, 2014. ISBN 978-3-12-597093-9. Pp. 120. 22 a. Conçue pour des cours avancés, cette anthologie littéraire se compose de 33 fiches comprenant chacune un document authentique accompagné d’activités pédagogiques. Les extraits proviennent d’œuvres variées d’auteur-e-s d’expression française du“Petit Maghreb” (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie) sans toutefois inclure la littérature “beur”: textes littéraires (poèmes, contes, romans), essais, chansons, bandes dessinées, entre autres. Cet ouvrage privilégie une approche communic’actionnelle qui combine communication et action par le biais de tâches à effectuer en petits groupes ainsi qu’une démarche interculturelle destinée à familiariser les apprenants avec les cultures étudiées. Le corps du livre s’articule autour de trois grandes parties, chacune débutant par une courte introduction suivie de la présentation des fiches pédagogiques pour les enseignants, organisées selon cinq rubriques: objectifs; transversalité (avec autres matières étudiées); compétences (méthodologie et communication); pistes pédagogiques, informations complémentaires; solutions. Les documents authentiques et les activités de classe qui s’adressent aux apprenants ne viennent qu’après la série complète des fiches pédagogiques. Leur exploitation comprend des annotations en français (très peu en allemand), une activité préliminaire orale ou “Approche”; des activités de compréhension autour du texte; puis un exercice de communication et de réflexion intitulé “Pour aller plus loin”. Cette lectrice aurait préféré que chaque fiche précède son document bien...