T’es branché? by Geneviève Desdevises Delfosse, Diana I. Moen

Abstract

Reviews 187 Desdevises Delfosse, Geneviève, and Diana I. Moen. T’es branché? St. Paul, MN: EMC, 2014. ISBN 978-0-82196-661-7. Pp. 602. $89. This textbook is designed for use in an AP course, but it is also suitable for fourthyear courses. Its six units and eighteen essential questions address the global themes that correlate to the AP exam themes and highlight Francophone cultures, literatures, and history.With a focus on ACTFL’s World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages objectives and interdisciplinary themes, T’es branché? promotes critical thinking and multiple literacies skills that are vital to successful global citizens. To support the alignment of World Readiness Standards with the Common Core Standards, the book provides an extensive grid that correlates unit activity outcomes to the standards. The Teacher’s Resources DVD contains textbook audio and scripts, workbook, and assessment manual.The instructor’s print edition provides additional communicative activities, games, technology integration suggestions, connections to cross-curricular subjects, references to Francophone culture and history, critical thinking examples, expansion options, and importantly,“Focus on AP”topics that help prepare students for the oral cultural comparison section on the exam. These key features are recent, relevant, and provide multicultural perspectives. Each of the six units is divided into three lessons. Unit learning objectives are presented in the“I can”NCSSFL/ACTFL global benchmark model. Each lesson’s structure follows the same design: Unit Opener, Vocabulaire actif, Narratives (audio and print interviews, blog posts, articles), Culture (tied to Narratives and unit theme), Structure de la langue (new and review grammar topics), À vous la parole (proficiency-based activities), Lectures thématiques (poems, songs, literary excerpts), Faisons le point (review of lesson theme and content), and Vocabulaire (endof -unit vocabulary list). This can become formulaic, but teachers are given options to vary the lessons and students know what to expect for each lesson. Reading selections encompass modern and classic Francophone literary excerpts, informational and cultural texts from the six themes, with guided supports and strategies to develop confident readers who can comprehend a variety of text types. The visuals in the book are current, attractive, and multicultural. However, the preponderance of cartoon images and text, along with a paucity of infographics, graphic organizers, and pagedesign variety, give the impression of a traditional text-laden book. Student editions are available in both print and e-book versions that are accessible on laptops and mobile devices.EMC’s website offers extensive support for both students and instructors, but it is not included in the basic adoption package. Passport, the web- and app-based learning platform, offers several components for e-assessments, feedback, student portfolios, project-based learning, performance-based tasks, and customized and preloaded tasks. Flipgrid allows instructors to create shared video prompts which students view and to which they reply from their phones, tablets, or computers. Additionally, iCulture videos provide engaging songs, news, and documentary-style videos for Francophone exposure beyond the classroom and textbook experience. Despite the text-heavy design, the overall attention to AP requirements, as well as current language learning philosophies, practices, and resources, provide the teacher and learner with a solid textbook and AP option. Mount Vernon High School (WA) Catherine Ousselin Fuchs, Catherine. La comparaison et son expression en français. Paris: Ophrys, 2014. ISBN 978-2-7090-1409-1. Pp. 208. 18 a. Belonging to the collection L’essentiel français, this text provides an informative in-depth but manageable study of the forms and functions of the comparison in contemporary French linguistic practice. The author has organized her study across two parts containing six chapters and an introductory chapter in total. Written in an accessible style, Fuchs’s book guides the reader through a vast range of categories for uses of the comparison: “l’inégalité,” “l’égalité,” “la prévalence,” “la préférence,” “l’alternative résolue,”“la similarité,”“l’analogie,” and “l’identité.” To provide a richer sense of the scope and organization of this volume, I cite a few chapter titles and headings: “Diversité des schémas d’(in)égalité,” “Le schéma canonique d’(in)égalité: la gradation [les configurations],” “la comparaison valuative,” and “la comparaison similative.”Before attacking these...