French Classes Research Articles

Opinions and suggestions of prospective teachers on the teaching of speaking skill in French: The case of Bursa Uludag University

In this study, student views on how speaking should be taught in a beginner’s French class as a foreign language are analyzed. To achieve this, a survey was carried out among the prospective teachers studying at the Department of French Language Teaching of the Faculty of Education at Bursa Uludağ University, at the end of the Fall 2011-2012 semester. The survey consisted of three open-ended questions. A total of 62 volunteers participated in the survey. The questions were: 1. Which methods and techniques should be used for effective French teaching? What approaches must be used to select these methods and techniques to make students more active and productive inside and outside the classroom? 2. How should the following four fundamental language skills be taught in French language teaching: a. Speaking; b. Reading; c. Writing; d. Listening; 3. Which assessment method(s), e.g. exams, should be used in French Language teaching and how should these methods be used? The link to the Google Docs survey was sent to students via electronic mail. In this survey, the students were asked to respond to the questions and share their opinions in Turkish. This study analyzes the students’ views on how the subject of the second question, speaking skills, should be taught. In this qualitative survey based on the screening model, the views were classified under various topics after undergoing content analysis and discussed in comparison to the literature. The findings were then interpreted and presented as a situation assessment.

Bite Out Your Tongue

Bite Out Your Tongue

Greening the information desert

AbstractParents and prospective parents who speak a language other than English in New Zealand are in something of an information desert when it comes to how and why they might go about raising their children bilingually. While the official languages, Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, have special status among the languages of New Zealand, other languages are viewed very much as the responsibility of ethnolinguistic communities. To support the intergenerational transmission of minority languages in New Zealand, research-informed material has been created for dissemination in a website, an associated Facebook page and a series of lecture-workshops for parents and professionals which have been made available in digital form in this website. Workshops continue to be offered to professionals such as speech-language therapists, early childhood educators, midwives, doctors, and nurses who work with families with young children. Questions asked during these workshops help to select the myths about multilingualism we need to address in this outreach to irrigate and green the information desert. Already, a bilingual French class and a Swedish playgroup have been set up as direct results of the parents’ workshop events. Individual parents have reported feeling empowered to persevere in their efforts to raise their children as speakers of their language. Invitations to contribute to education programs for the professionals who work close to young children are beginning to arrive.

Virtual Reality in the Teaching of FLE in a Brazilian Public School

Considering the emergence of digital information and communication technologies in the contemporary educational context, this work aims to explore the possibilities offered by Virtual Reality (VR) headsets in the school environment, and also to verify how they can contribute to foreign language teaching and learning. The motivation of this work is a result of a pedagogical practice experience carried out by the researcher during French classes in a Brazilian foreign language teaching project in public schools. This pedagogical practice later became the subject of their master’s research, which is currently being conducted in the same educational context in two French language classes. The main objective consists of verifying to what extent VR can contribute to foreign language teaching/learning, focusing on the four linguistic competences and motivation. The methodology of this work has a qualitative nature with some quantitative results, and is characterized as Action Research, as the researcher participated in the activities. These activities consisted of using Google Cardboard, a VR headset, to present interactive 360° videos and tours of real places. The preliminary results show that activities with VR can promote a high level of motivation and engagement, also contributing to the development of the four linguistic competences.

‘The porcupine was a feast’: The Tastes of Luxury and Necessity in Ruby Langford Ginibi’s Storytelling

This paper brings Bourdieu’s concepts of the tastes of luxury and necessity into dialogue with the alimentary habitus that Bundjalung woman Ruby Langford Ginibi records in her lifewriting. The paper argues that Langford Ginibi’s alimentary disposition has much in common with the taste of necessity that Bourdieu attributes to the French working class. The analysis identifies two further characteristics of her relationship to food that Bourdieu does not describe: an emphasis on recounting the adverse material circumstances in which meals are procured and prepared, and a practise of indiscriminate eating in which foods are deemed uniformly and reliably desirable. The paper finds that, despite some public censure, Langford Ginibi maintains much of her habitus as she accrues social, cultural, and economic capital. It concludes that maintaining and valorising the taste of necessity and its associated habitus may be read as a positive strategy that seeks to restructure the colonial field from below.

Enseigner la grammaire française en classe de FLE : Quelles méthodes faut-il adopter ?

Grammar is considered as a very important skill for teaching /learning of any foreign language. Its acquisition allows the learner to become familiar with the functions of the language and to develop their language skills. This research consists of four parts. The first part analyzes the term grammar and its signification. The second part gives an overview of the place of grammar in different methodological approaches. The third part contains a questionnaire intended for Jordanian learners. This questionnaire aims to collect the opinions of our students concerning the teaching/learning of French grammar. Finally, in the fourth part, we observe the means and the methods that could facilitate the acquisition of French grammar by an Arabic speaking public of Jordan. This research and our questionnaire aim to answer some questions such as: What status/rank does French grammar occupy in a class of French as a foreign language? According to our students, what methods should be adopted to teach French grammar in the class? Why do Jordanian students encounter problems in acquiring French grammar? What are the possible didactic proposals that can help us improve the teaching/learning of grammar in a class of French as a foreign language?

Playing with Possibilities: Drama and Core French in the Montessori Elementary Classroom in British Columbia, Canada

French as a Second Language (FSL) is not often a popular subject among Canadian elementary and high school students. Negative attitudes and low motivation for learning French contribute to attrition at the high school level. In this article, an alternative teaching approach is applied to the Canadian FSL context at the elementary school level in the province of British Columbia. This action research study conducted in 2010 investigated the outcomes of using a drama-based approach to instruct Core French to 12 year-old students at a Montessori elementary (public) school in British Columbia, Canada. Ten students worked with a teacher/researcher twice a week over a six-week period, using drama strategies and improvisational activities to practice and improve their French language and literacy skills. The use of drama strategies proved motivational for the students who participated with enthusiasm and expressed a desire to continue learning French through drama. The action research approach allowed the students a greater degree of autonomy as their feedback was used to develop lesson content. Engagement in their own learning contributed to improved student attitudes towards attending French class. Ways of further implementing this teaching approach in elementary classrooms needs to be the subject of future research.

Межкультурное воспитание студентов вузов с использованием инновационных педагогических технологий

The research considers the problems of educational activities implemented in higher education institutions. The importance of educational work with young people is confirmed by fixing its specific goals and objectives in the relevant regulatory instruments of the Russian Federation. The author focuses on the need for cross-cultural education of modern youth due to modern challenges such as the widespread international cooperation, student exchange programs. The paper presents the results of a study aimed at determining the efficiency of innovative educational technologies applied to develop the cross-cultural competence of students. The research describes the practices of the Institute of Foreign Philology and Regional Studies at North-Eastern Federal University related to the cross-cultural education of students in French classes. It identifies that extracurricular activities play a significant role in this process. It is concluded that innovative educational technologies contribute to the development of a multicultural multilingual personality, and a well-managed educational activity makes it possible to meet the need of the personality for self-fulfillment.

How can video feedback be used in physical education to support novice learning in gymnastics? Effects on motor learning, self-assessment and motivation

ABSTRACTBackground: Much of the existing research concerning the use of video feedback (VFB) to enhance motor learning has been undertaken under strictly controlled experimental conditions. Few studies have sought to explore the impact of VFB on the skill learning experience of the students in a structured, school-based physical education (PE) setting. Most of those studies have only used qualitative approaches to implicate the potential value of VFB to enhance skill acquisition, students’ engagement or self-assessment ability. Using a quantitative approach, the aim of this study was to investigate effects of using VFB on motor skill acquisition, self-assessment ability and motivation in a school-based learning environment (structured PE programme) with novice children learning a gymnastic skill.Method: Two French classes of beginners took part in a typical five-week learning programme in gymnastics. During each of the five, weekly lessons participants carried out the same warm-up routine and exercises. The experimental group (10 girls – 8 boys, 12.4 ± 0.5 years) received VFB intermittently when learning a front handstand to flat back landing. VFB was given after every five attempts, combined with self-assessment and verbal instructions from the teacher. The control group (12 girls – 13 boys, 12.6 ± 0.4 years) received exactly the same training but was not given VFB. In order to assess progress in motor skills, the arm-trunk angle (hand-shoulder-hip) was measured in the sagittal plane just as the hips formed a vertical line with the shoulders. Motivation was assessed using the Situational Motivation Scale questionnaire (Guay, F., R. J. Vallerand, and C. Blanchard. 2000. “On the Assessment of Situational Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS).” Motivation and Emotion 24 (3): 175–213), and self-assessment ability was measured by self-perception task scores.Results: Statistical analysis of arm-trunk angle values showed significant differences only for the VFB group between the fifth lesson and all other lessons. Between lessons 4 and 5, the arm-trunk angle value increased significantly from 146.6 ± 16.9 degrees to 161.2 ± 14.2 degrees (p < .001; ES = 0.94). Self-assessment scores improved significantly for the VFB group between lesson 1 and lesson 2 (p < 0.01, ES = 1.79) and between lesson 4 to lesson 5 (p < .01, ES = 0.94). Amotivation decreased significantly for the VFB group between lesson 1 and lesson 5 (3.06 ± 1.42 vs. 2.12 ± 0.62, p < .001, ES = −0.89).Discussion/conclusion: Our quantitative data, identifying key movement changes as a function of experience in a structured PE programme, were congruent with outcomes of previous qualitative research supporting the role of VFB. This study highlights the potential relevance of using VFB in fostering motor learning, motivation and self-assessment during a PE programme with young children. Future pedagogical research is needed to examine the ways students could use VFB technology for greater self-regulation, with the potential to deliver appropriate movement feedback, based on different levels of experience in students.

Multilingual and monolingual children in the primary-level language classroom: individual differences and perceptions of foreign language learning

ABSTRACT Existing research suggests that being multilingual may convey advantages for additional language learning. However, little research to date has examined the role of multiple languages in primary-school classroom settings and in foreign language learning in particular. We investigated the learning of French by children with English as an additional language (EAL) aged 8–9 in England. The EAL children and their monolingual peers were tested on their achievement in French, their metalinguistic awareness and associative memory. Their attitudes to languages and language learning were assessed. Two French classes were observed and teachers interviewed in order to document their approach to teaching French to a mixed-language class and their perceptions of the multilingual nature of the classroom. Our findings suggest that the EAL children’s multilingualism is not drawn upon as a potentially facilitative tool. English appears to be the only medium and the primary aim of instruction, with other languages assigned a subordinate role. The EAL children performed similarly to their monolingual peers on all measures, with level of English correlated with most measures. We argue that while an egalitarian treatment of all children is clearly desirable, it would be equally desirable to utilise the presence of other languages as a resource.

ACTIVITÉS LUDIQUES EN CLASSE DE FLE INSPIRÉES DE L’OULIPO

Cette recherche a pour objectif de proposer des activités ludiques pour la classe de français langue étrangère (ou une autre langue), inspirées des techniques d’écriture créative proposées par l’Oulipo. Ces activités relèvent de la production écrite basée sur une contrainte d’ordre alphabétique, syntaxique, sémantique ou numérique et peuvent avoir n’importe quel texte comme point de départ. Nous présentons ici trois activités: « l’homoconsonantisme », « la traduction antonymique » et « le tireur à la ligne ». Nous avons testé ces activités dans des cours particuliers et à l’IIEF de Strasbourg. Par la suite, elles ont été mises en place par deux enseignantes de FLE dans leurs cours à l’Université de Novi Sad et à l’Institut français de Novi Sad. Nous donnons dans cet article. la description détaillée de ces activités ainsi que leur mise en place. L’enquête et les données statistiques recueillies auprès des enseignantes et des apprenants ont confirmé notre hypothèse que ces acticités avaient de quoi nourrir les pratiques pédagogiques dans l’apprentissage des langues.

Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the USS Essex ed. by Katherine Bentley Jeffrey

Reviewed by: Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the USS Essex ed. by Katherine Bentley Jeffrey Charles Wexler Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the USS Essex. Ed. Katherine Bentley Jeffrey. ISBN 978-0-8071-6224-8, 274 pp., cloth, $38.00 In Two Civil Wars: The Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the USS Essex, Katherine Bentley Jeffrey explores the journal of William L. Park, a gunner on board the ironclad USS Essex. Here Jeffrey has not only unearthed this contemporary account, the first published diary from this converted steam ferry, but also why Park penned his memoir in a book originating from an antebellum Louisiana Catholic school. The end result is a well-researched edited work that reveals the journal's original owners. Jeffrey has determined that the journal originated as a French composition book from St. Mary's Female Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Founded by Ohio-born Matilda Victor in 1855, the school attracted both Catholic and Protestant students, among them the book's original owner, Celeste Repp. Born in 1846, Repp lived with her grandparents before she attended St. Mary's in 1859. Here, she learned from Jesuit Father Darius Hubert, who taught French classes. Jeffrey has analyzed and translated the few French compositions Repp wrote in the book in 1859. Her handwriting analysis suggests that a second student acquired the book before Louisiana's 1861 secession disrupted matters. Hubert joined the 1st Louisiana and spent four years with the Army of Northern Virginia. Victor kept the school open until Union forces occupied Baton Rouge. Then, she shattered any local ties when she openly supported northern soldiers, and the school soon shuttered. Jeffrey argues that while Victor fled northward, her school's teachings lived on through Repp. The young woman joined Sisters of Mercy in 1868, and after taking her vows as Sister Mary Euphresia, she taught black children in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Repp's journal, though, did not remain at St. Mary's. At some point during the 1862 Union occupation, William L. Park, a gunner onboard the ironclad USS Essex, acquired it. Born in Scotland in 1836, Park first joined the Royal Navy during the Crimean War before moving to Canada. He worked as a commercial sailor on the Great Lakes before he arrived in Chicago in September 1861. Then, patriotic fervor swept up Park's friend Andrew Waterman, who convinced him to enlist. On September 25, 1861, the two joined the Western Gunboat Flotilla for a three-year term. While Waterman died at Fort Henry, Park survived and fought on different warships, most notably the Essex. Jeffrey explicitly notes her uncertainty as to whether Park immediately transferred his writings to this journal or did so after his enlistment ended, but she clearly details the differences between this contemporary account and his later, more expansive memoir (236–37). [End Page 323] The Park journal is a straightforward recollection of daily experiences. Park accurately depicted the dangers of naval combat onboard steam powered warships, including boiler explosions, which occurred for example on February 6, 1862, when the Essex helped capture Fort Henry. The released steam scalded many onboard, including Capt. William David Porter, brother of David Dixon Porter. Park participated in most major western naval battles, including Island No. 10, the fight with the Confederate ironclad Arkansas, Port Hudson, and the Red River campaign. Park also highlighted the increasing use of guerilla tactics and torpedo deployments against local Union forces. Jeffrey supplements Park's entries with extensive annotated notes, which while at times distracting provide needed background on key events, ships, and important personnel. The book suffers at times from Jeffrey's ambitious efforts. Her inclusion of both Victor and Hubert makes this a story of four rather than two Civil Wars: a unionist headmaster, an immigrant sailor swept up in patriotic fervor, a Confederate chaplain who served with his charges, and Repp's fragmented life in the Mississippi Valley. Juggling these narratives means she does not fully develop how these four fit within larger...

“Vous avez un petit accent”: Enseignement de la prononciation aux apprenants de Français langue étrangère

Dans le présent article, l’auteure se propose de passer en revue les concepts concernant l’enseignement de la prononciation en classe de Français langue étrangère ainsi que quelques recherches – faites sur des publics slaves – qui pourraient se montrer utiles pour le contexte slovène. Dans la dernière partie, elle analyse les contenus phonétiques de six manuels généralistes, utilisés en Slovénie : deux pour enfants, deux pour adolescents et deux pour grands adolescents/adultes. Elle part de l’hypothèse que les contenus proposés ne suffisent pas toujours pour remédier aux difficultés de prononciation des locuteurs slovènes, hypothèse qui est finalement confirmée. Elle conclut en donnant quelques pistes pour un enseignement plus authentique.

Strah je znotraj votel, okrog pa ga nič ni – kaj pa pri tujih jezikih? Strah pred tujim jezikom pri pouku francoščine kot tujega jezika v Sloveniji

Strah pred TJ je eden od najbolj vplivnih psiholoških dejavnikov pri učenju TJ in je glede na pomembnost precej slabo raziskan, četudi bi njegovo boljše razumevanje nedvomno pripomoglo k bolj prilagojenemu in učinkovitemu učenju TJ. Strah pred TJ se spreminja z govorčevo starostjo in nivojem znanja. Z zbiranjem in analizo 152 vprašalnikov ter s štirimi intervjuji profesoric francoščine kot TJ na dveh slovenskih gimnazijah in na Filozofski fakulteti UL so bili določeni najpogostejši vzroki za pojav strahu pred TJ ter skupino učencev glede na starost in znanje, ki ima z njim največ težav. Rezultati so zelo jasni: pojav je med učenci francoščine v slovenskem šolskem sistemu zelo pogost. Med dijaki prvih letnikov, maturanti, študenti dodiplomskega študija in študenti podiplomskega študija, so se maturanti in študenti dodiplomskega študija izkazali za najbolj problematične. Te ugotovitve spodbujajo razmislek o tem, kako olajšati oz. odpraviti preučevani pojav pri slovenskih učencih francoščine kot TJ.

Similarities and dissimilarities in the teaching of English and French in a dual language instructional setting

ABSTRACT This study investigates the relationships between the observed quality of classroom teaching assessing Atmosphere, Instruction, Management and Student Engagement, (AIMS, Roehrig, A. D., and E. Christesen. 2010. ‘Development and Use of a Tool for Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness in Grades K-12.’ In Innovative Assessment for the 21st Century, edited by V. J. Shute, and B. J. Becker, 207–228. New York, NY: Springer), and growth in reading and listening comprehension across grade 4 in typical English-French dual language learners. For the majority, (67%), English was a first language (L1), for 16% French was an L1. N = 332 children in 36 classrooms were assessed on reading and listening comprehension measures and observed in the fall and winter semesters in English and French. Results showed that, overall, ratings of AIMS sub-scales did not differ markedly across English and French classrooms. Classroom teaching quality ratings were not, however, correlated across English and French classes. AIMS ratings in either language for Atmosphere were reliable and relatively stable between fall and winter, as was Management in English. AIMS ratings predicted growth in classroom-level variance in reading and listening for English and French both concurrently and longitudinally. These results suggest that there are broad, stable commonalities in effective teaching in English and French classrooms that can be validly and reliably observed. Practically, such observations of (majority) second language teaching quality can facilitate assessment of student needs and mentoring and development needs of teachers.

The Effectiveness of Video‐Based Shadowing and Tracking Pronunciation Exercises for Foreign Language Learners

AbstractThis exploratory classroom study investigated the effects of two video‐assisted pronunciation interventions on the French pronunciation of 12 males and 7 females (n = 19) enrolled in a fourth‐year high school French class. Interventions occurred three times per week over a semester and required participants to repeat what they heard while watching subtitled, cultural videos in French—both during class and in self‐directed computer‐lab exercises. Researchers assessed the improvement in pronunciation performance using pre‐ and posttests consisting of both read‐aloud and oral free response tasks. Statistically significant improvements were observed on both tasks, with the most striking on the read‐aloud task. Participants’ perceptions of interventions were also examined using both qualitative and quantitative surveys, which indicated that students appreciated the authenticity and learning autonomy of the self‐directed exercises. Findings suggest that distributed practice through culturally contextualized, video‐based interventions may offer an engaging way to incorporate explicit pronunciation instruction into the high school classroom.

Exploring Symbolic Competence: Constructing Meaning(s) and Stretching Cultural Imagination in an Intermediate College-Level French Class

Author(s): Etienne, Corinne; Vanbaelen, Sylvie | Abstract: This study, conducted in a 300-level college French class with15 students, builds on previous research on symbolic competence (Kramsch, 2009, 2011). Using a film scene and a “Semiotic Gap Activity,” we examine how students construct meaning. What do students prioritize? What do they bring from their past symbolic representations? Are they aware of their own perspectives? What do they gain from the activity? Students were divided into three groups. Each group worked on only one component of the scene (soundtrack and script; subtitles; or scene without sound) and stretched its imagination to answer a questionnaire about the meaning of the scene compensating for the semiotic gap. Groups shared their findings before they viewed the original scene with all components present. Finally, students responded to a Post-Viewing Questionnaire . Data originated from answers to the questionnaires and instructor’s notes. Findings showed students’ minute description of their component. However, when constructing meaning and filling the gap, they appealed to myths deeply rooted in their schema of French culture, which contradicted their actual observations. In doing so they often confidently positioned themselves as knowers of both cultures. We discuss pedagogical implications and make suggestions to continue developing students’ semiotic awareness and symbolic competence.

The French Spring and the Crisis in Europe

The French working class has declared 15 September as day of action against the hated anti-Labour Law imposed by decree of the Valls–Hollande social-liberal regime. It is a continuation of the epic struggle of March–June 2016 that shook France and all of Europe. Although it is too early to make predictions about the immediate future of the social conflict, a comprehensive historical materialist assessment is necessary and urgent, especially to counter the superficial impressions that have dominated commentary on both the right and left. From the entire political spectrum, few can contest one undeniable fact: after the ‘French Spring’ of 2016 nothing can be the same in France. This core member of the European Union and indispensable partner of Germany, and consequently of the entire European Union, is in a protracted crisis.

Coping with the Training of Muslim Leaders in Belgium

Since many years, the training of the imams has been put at the center of the policy agenda in several European countries. Because in Belgium religion classes are part of the compulsory program of pupils, the training of imams is coupled with the training of the professors of religion. Recently, proposals to organize these trainings by universities have been submitted to the political arena. These proposals aim at introducing on one hand, classes of French and Dutch languages and, on the other hand, classes on Belgian society and legislations. As such an issue is under the competence of regions, debates and proposals diverge significantly in Flanders and in the French-speaking part of the country. The paper analyzes the challenges for dealing with this issue in the two parts of the country. It analyzes the positions, the controversies and the proposals of state and non-state actors involved in this debate. The author stresses how the state plans to organize these trainings and how the state justify its intervention in an issue that usually is a domain of competence of the hierarchy of the “Church” or the self-organization of the Islam.

The effects of teaching songs during foreign language classes on students’ foreign language anxiety

Foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) has been the subject of several studies aimed to optimize learning of a foreign language in the classroom. However, few studies provide specific curriculum-based methodological strategies to be used in the classroom in order to lower the anxiety level. In this article, two experimental classes of 8th-grade students participated in a 5-week intervention program aimed to teach French as a foreign language through music during the regular French classes. One class had a higher anxiety average (ExpHi) compared with the other (ExpLo). The self-reported level of anxiety of the two experimental classes was compared after the intervention program with the self-reported level of anxiety of two control classes with similar levels of anxiety (CtrHi and CtrLo). The study also compared the opinions of students from the experimental classes regarding their overall experience of the foreign language classes. Findings indicated that teaching songs during FL classes was perceived as an enjoyable experience by students from classes with both high and low anxiety; however, this teaching method decreased the FLCA average of classes of students with rather high anxiety, but not of the ones with a rather low anxiety.