Sons et sens: la prononciation du français en contexte par Anne Violin-Wigent, Jessica Miller, et Frédérique Grim

Abstract

each chapter are filled with insightful comments, philosophical meanderings about the many dimensions of culture, different definitions of culture(s) and thoughts on the difficulties involved in becoming culturally literate. The book contains the following chapters: Introduction; Languages—Cultures—Globalization; Mother Culture— Foreign Culture; Words and Ways of Saying Things; Discourse and Interaction; Alterity and Imagination; Culture: Pedagogical Challenges; and Afterword. This reviewer would have preferred shorter, more tightly organized chapters with a clearer theme, given the multi-layered approach of the book and the many references that Szende uses and weaves into his discussions. In addition, the dense prose could have used substantial editing. For example, there are many instances where a series of quotes from books and articles are strung together with little or no commentary or explanation by Szende; more substantive commentary by the author to help distill these ideas and insights would add considerably to the quality of the book. This volume is not one filled with information about the many habits and customs of daily life or one that takes a sociological, political, or anthropological look at second language culture but it is instead a book that forefronts the primary role of language in establishing cultural connections. As Szende states, “If culture basically represents what one should see, believe, know and say, in order to behavior in an efficient and appropriate manner, and in accordance with the members of a community, language appears as the natural gateway to a culture” (40). In a short review, it is difficult to provide a résumé of the main ideas of a book as expansive as this one. However, Szende’s Afterword provides useful summary statements. For example, he states that “Culture is not limited to language, but it is largely expressed through the language that puts it in words” (382) and later cautions readers that “The cultural lends itself with difficulty to the exercise of inventory”(387).Thus,even if Szende did not provide concrete paths to the teaching of a second culture,he did offer overarching principles that can help a teacher, educator or researcher unpack the mysteries of how we learn and how we teach another’s culture. Ohio State University Diane W. Birckbichler Violin-Wigent, Anne, Jessica Miller, et Frédérique Grim. Sons et sens: la prononciation du français en contexte. Washington, DC: Georgetown UP, 2013. ISBN 978-1-58901-971-3. Pp. 386. $80. French second and foreign language (L2) instruction has traditionally been pervaded with the ideology of the standard (Étienne and Sax). However, the view that languages are dynamic and heterogeneous and should therefore be treated as such in instructed L2 settings is gaining widespread acceptance (Geeslin and Long). Sons et sens generally embraces this latter view and is thus very timely. From a pedagogical perspective, this textbook is extremely well designed. The Focus on FormS approach adopted in these 15 chapters is very effective at directing students’attentional resources 230 FRENCH REVIEW 89.1 Reviews 231 toward the target features and provides a wide selection of relevant practice activities. In addition to treating key phonetic elements that are common to all varieties of French (e.g., syllable stress, enchaînement), the authors have also opted to address a number of socio-phonetic variation phenomena (e.g., optional schwa deletion) raising students’ awareness to the fact that French is a highly diverse language which varies according to geographical, social, situational, and medial contexts of use. In addition, the content of each chapter is embedded in a cultural topic which will likely appeal to learners. However, from a sociolinguistic perspective, there are a few terminological issues with this textbook. The authors present français standard, français international, and français de référence as equals. Yet, work by Guérin informed by Koch and Oesterreicher clearly illustrates that standard French is only a situated realization of a national variety of French, one that is typically found in formal monological oral or written communicative situations. It is therefore inaccurate and misleading to refer to Swiss or Belgian French as instances of regional non-standard varieties. Moreover, to my knowledge, there is no consensual description of what constitutes français...