Business French Research Articles

En bonne forme by Simone Renaud, Dominique van Hooff

succès) are generally entertaining and informative, although interference from background street noise will challenge comprehension for many students. Most students will find some segments too difficult to follow. Chapter 1 contains a list of fifteen questions based on a film trailer for L’auberge espagnole, in which very few of the questions actually correspond to any of the scenes shown in the clip. In chapter 2 a ninety-second film trailer for Ressources humaines does not correspond to the questions, which appear to be based on a twelve-minute scene from the movie. Chapter 6 contains a video activity for which no video could be found. Although many of the links included in the book’s Web site are useful resources for further research, a few are inactive, one links to Amazon.fr, another to Yahoo! France, and one takes students to a Web site that charges a fee to provide model letters. As the title indicates, one of the primary objectives of this book is to prepare students to find a job in the French-speaking business world. While some instructors may embrace this objective, others may find it overly limited and pragmatic, preferring a more comprehensive and in-depth overview of the French financial system including banking, the stock market, insurance, international trade, etc. and will thus feel more comfortable with another text. At least the number of viable textbooks for business French has now been increased, providing a wider range of choice. University of North Carolina, Greensboro David A. Fein RENAUD, SIMONE, and DOMINIQUE VAN HOOFF. En bonne forme 8th ed. Somerset, NJ: Wiley, 2007. ISBN 978-0-618-65644-8. Pp. 544. $122.95. This fully integrated intermediate French program is designed for students who have completed two to three years of French at the secondary level or an introductory French course at the post-secondary level. “Based on the conviction that a solid knowledge of French grammar is essential for solid acquisition of the language,” (back cover) En bonne forme, which is comprised of 22 chapters, opens with a Chapitre Préliminaire written in English that provides a review of introductory-level material and introduces French grammatical terminology used in the book. The rest of the chapters, written entirely in French to encourage greater acquisition of the target language, introduce grammar topics with thematic connotations by way of excerpts from contemporary French and Francophone literature representing a spectrum of authors from France, Canada, West and North Africa, and the Caribbean. Each chapter has the following structure: Vocabulaire, Français en Couleurs (introduces colloquial French pertinent to the chapter theme with an illustration, a cartoon, or a map related to the topic), Lecture, Grammaire, Suppléments de Grammaire (presents idiomatic expressions that appear in the readings or are related to the grammar topic), and Synthèse (contains contextualized and communicative activities and topics for written composition, reinforcing the use of the grammatical structures presented in the chapter through: applications, activités, and rédactions). Cross-references appear throughout the book to enable students to view the interrelationships between different grammatical structures. While a comprehensive French-English dictionary at the end of the book is useful , it would have been even more helpful to also include the English-French version of it, especially since the program is designed for a range of intermediate-level students whose language proficiency is still developing and would be reinforced by 416 FRENCH REVIEW 85.2 consistent and meaningful first language (English) support. In addition to the text, the program also includes resources for instructors, such as a Class Prep CD and companion Web site, and for students, such as an Activities Manual with audio and companion Web site. The Activities Manual expands upon the knowledge acquired in each chapter, helping students to become more fluent and more confident by providing opportunities for hearing, speaking, and writing in French. After reviewing the text and accompanying materials, I find them to be developmentally and language proficiency level appropriate for college/university French language learners at the levels ranging from Intermediate-Low through Intermediate-High, as identified by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking and Writing. I agree with the authors that “with...

Socioeconomic background, gender and subject choice in secondary schooling

Background: The desirable extent of curriculum choice to be offered to students remains a central policy question in England. Previous studies of the impact of the introduction of a common curriculum for 14–16 year olds in 1988 have suggested that some gender differences were narrowed as a result. These studies examined subject choice either in terms of students' ex ante preferences in advance of enrolling for subjects or in terms of ex post aggregate data on examination entries. There is some conflict between the evidence provided by these two sources. One possible reason for this conflict could be that existing ex post evidence does not examine the interaction between student characteristics or the effect of school-level variables. Purpose: This study aims to identify effects of social class and gender on subject choice for 14–16 year olds in England over and above effects that are attributable to students' ability. Effects that operate at school level are separated from those that act at the level of the individual. Sample: The sample is drawn from the schools that participated in the Yellis system for providing analysis of the examination results achieved by 16-year-old students. The sample of 664 schools and 112,412 16-year-old students was selected by including all schools who had participated in the Yellis project for at least five years during the period 1994–2002. All of the sample schools were participating in the scheme in 1998, the year for which a cross-sectional analysis is presented in this paper. Design and methods: Statistical (probit) models are used to investigate effects of student and school characteristics on the probability of a student entering for examination in each of six option subjects: Business Studies, French, Geography, German, History and Home Economics. The models take account of levels in the data and identify interactions between the student characteristics. Results: After taking prior ability into account socioeconomic background effects, taken together, exert a stronger effect than gender on the likelihood of entering for examination in history. Socioeconomic background effects are also stronger in the case of business studies. The effect of socioeconomic background is stronger for females than for males. There are also strong social effects operating through the characteristics of the cohort of students at the school. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals has a significant effect on the probability of entering for examination in geography, German or History. Conclusions: In so far as the results from this study can be compared with previous research they support the conclusions of previous ex post studies rather than ex ante studies in terms of gender preferences in subject choice. This might suggest some difficulty in generalising from the kind of ex ante data gathered previously. The evidence of the effect of socioeconomic background at individual and school level suggests that current policy aiming to increase subject choice within and between schools will deepen differences between the subjects studied by students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Language teaching

Language teaching

Innovative methods in specialised lexicography

Translators who translate from English into French in the field of retailing are fortunate since they can dispose of Jeanne Dancette's and Christophe Rethore's (2000) Dictionnaire analytique de la distribution. Analytical dictionary of retailing, Les Presses de l'Universite de Montreal. In this review article we intend to convince the reader of the qualities of this terminological dictionary, the content of which is based on an intelligent analysis of the needs of potential users: translators. We will relate our analysis to the discussion of the similarly remarkable Dictionnaire d'apprentissage du francais des affaires (DAFA) (2000) by Jean Binon, Serge Verlinde, Jan Van Dijck and Ann Bertels, a learner's dictionary aimed at those who want to learn business French.

DAFA: an Innovative Learners' Dictionary of Business French

DAFA: an Innovative Learners' Dictionary of Business French

Remote Teaching with Digital Video: A Trans‐national Experience

This paper analyses the psychological, technical, administrative, organisational, institutional and general pedagogical problems encountered during Phase 1 (the trial phase) of a trans‐European distance‐learning project. Using basic‐rate ISDN videoconferencing for remote interactive tutorials, Phase 1 involved the University of Wales Swansea and HEC Liège (Belgium), and provided practice in business English for Belgian students and business French for UK students of French and Business. The difficulties which have arisen during the phase have been many and varied, and not all could have been easily predicted from a review of the research literature. Solutions to some of them are suggested.

CALL IN CONTEXT: FRENCH MEANS BUSINESS

Increased student numbers and declining fee income have focused attention on the need for efficient and innovative teaching in British universities. Meanwhile, a number of initiatives have encouraged a policy of integration of IT into the teaching and learning process. It is, however, far from clear what pedagogical rationale is appropriate for advanced language teaching, especially when materials development and research into applied pedagogy are undervalued. Studies have also shown that levels of grammatical knowledge and communicative competence in both first year and final year students in British universities vary greatly, and, more seriously, are in some cases indistinguishable. The CALL software produced by government‐funded consortia is intended to help remedy this situation, but more than a ‘remedial’ strategy is required if investment in hardware is to be justified by demonstrable outcomes. For this to happen, we have to see how the overall ‘learning environment’ has been modified by economic forces and develop appropriate strategies for countering the negative aspects of change. The experience of designing, delivering and refining the systems and materials involved in delivering a ‘French for Business’ course is then generalised with a view to showing how new thinking about the nature of university teaching might be combined by the development of more effective CALL programs for advanced language learners about to enter the world of work.

Videoconferencing in a language learning application

Can videoconferencing substitute for face-to-face contact sufficiently well for collaborative task-based learning to take place at a distance? The paper reports on the use of videoconferencing in the context of remote users' learning of a foreign language. Video-mediated communication was placed at the centre of an integrated system for the learning of business French, and students used it in performing collaborative role-plays, leading to the joint enactment of a communication task (such as the setting up of a subsidiary company in the Nord Pas de Calais). Observations of the system in real use are reported, and some positive conclusions are drawn about the potential role of videoconferencing in language learning.

Review. Parlons affaires: An Advanced Course in French for Business. Rouxeville, Annie

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Parlons affaires: An Advanced Course in French for Business. By ANNIE ROUXEVILLE. Sheffield Academic Press, 1993. 234 pp. Pb £14.95, $24.95. ELISABETH LILLIE ELISABETH LILLIE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTERCOLERAINE Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar French Studies, Volume XLIX, Issue 2, April 1995, Pages 242-a–242, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/XLIX.2.242-a Published: 01 April 1995

Review. French for Administration, Business and Commerce: An English-French Glossary. Ritchie, Adrian C.

Review. French for Administration, Business and Commerce: An English-French Glossary. Ritchie, Adrian C.

Active‐Learning Approaches to the Business French Course: The Business French Research Paper

ABSTRACT Active‐learning and proficiency‐oriented activities using meaningful contexts encourage students to participate, to apply classroom knowledge to practical problems, and to acquire the integrated skills that are essential to the student's personal and professional future. Inclusion of a business research paper written in stages and eventually shared with the whole class provides such active‐learning opportunities.

REVIEWS

REVIEWS Get access French for Administration, Business and Commerce: An English-French Glossary. By ADRIAN C. RITCHIE. Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1993. viii + 241 pp. Hb £15.95; Pb £7.95. AIDAN COVENEY AIDAN COVENEY UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLANDBRISTOL Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar French Studies, Volume XLIX, Issue 2, April 1995, Pages 242-b–243, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/XLIX.2.242-b Published: 01 April 1995

Stratégies pour enseigner le français des affaires aux étudiants de gestion en Angleterre

Business French is taught to (EURO) BABS students. The strategies make it possible to teach Business French within the framework of the French language. The aim is to acquire a good knowledge of everyday language which is complemented by some idea of business language. Although the study of language remains a priority, this very language provides the basis for acquiring knowledge which will lead on to further specialisation. The process of learning Business French has to be interesting, amusing and active ; the lexis and structures of the language must become part and parcel of the student’s linguistic baggage. Amongst the strategies adopted, the analysis of advertising has pride of place because language, especially French business language, is a means of communication as well as providing the base for the expression of a culture. With the help of certain activities described in this article, the term Business French becomes synonymous with energy and motivation.

Acquisition d’un lexique en français des affaires

Vocabulary has not always been considered by linguists and learning teachers in years past. As regard our field : Business French, there is a widespread awareness of the importance of vocabulary. We are not talking about going back to rote learning of word lists like before or overestimating the specificity of such lexicon. We must admit that vocabulary is one of the components making up communicative competence ; however, the question is how to deal with it. If we consider language acquisition, we see that, in fact, learners’ difficulties lie in the comprehension of metaphore belonging to lexical fields different from the general vocabulary, rather than in the specific discourse itself. We will focus our research on this problem as well as on the starting of strategies to improve the aforementioned competence. Therefore, we are basing ourselves on recent theories that prove the role of psychological, sociocultural and cognitive factors in the processes of learning and remembering.

The Art of French Business Letter Writing: Our Modern Form of “Préciosité”

ABSTRACT French business letter writing is characterized by its convoluted and somewhat antiquated figures of speech. The practice of that exercise can be enhanced through the help of cultural references that can be found especially in 17th century literature and civilization. In its linguistic patterns, for instance, one recognizes a search for balance and harmony combined with baroque and almost “precieux” elements. As a vibrant part of the humanistic curriculum, French for Business offers students the opportunity to discover in its discourse reflections of a rich cultural tradition.

Collins Business French

Collins Business French

French for Business

French for Business

French for Business and International Careers

French for Business and International Careers

Launching a Business French Course: Networking with New Partners

Launching a Business French Course: Networking with New Partners

French for Business: Assignments

Designed for students on applied courses and for those requiring a practical course for business purposes, this book is structured around 12 business assignments, supported by a range of authentic materials, which are graded according to difficulty. A book/cassette is also available. The authors also wrote French for Business.