French Classroom Research Articles

Exposure Assessment of Allergens and Metals in Settled Dust in French Nursery and Elementary Schools

The aim of this study was to characterise the contamination in settled dust in French classrooms and to provide an overview of the influencing factors of dust contamination. Cat, dog and dust mite allergens and metals were measured in 51 classrooms at 17 schools. The concentrations of pet allergens in settled dust were generally low (mean value of 0.1 µg·g−1), with carpeted and rug-covered floors presenting higher dust and cat allergen concentrations. The highest metal loadings in dust were observed for manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu), while the lead (Pb) loadings were lower (16 ± 19 µg·m−2) and fell below the French guideline. Higher metal leachability was found for cadmium (Cd), Cu, Pb and strontium (Sr) at values of approximately 80%, which suggest that, in cases of dust ingestion by children, a large proportion should be assimilated through the gastro-intestinal tract. The intra-classroom and intra-school variabilities of the metal concentrations in settled dust were lower than the variability between schools. Classrooms with tiled floors had higher Pb loadings than classrooms with wood or vinyl floors. In addition, wet cleaning less than once a week resulted in greater loadings of Cu and Pb in the settled dust. Lastly, enrichment factors showed that metals in settled dust of classrooms were not only from the contribution of the natural background concentrations in soils.

Beyond the mirror towards a plurilingual prism: exploring the creation of plurilingual ‘identity texts’ in English and French classrooms in Toronto and Montpellier

In an age of transnational mobility, there has been a growing recognition of the need for both English and French mainstream classroom teachers to be trained to teach increasingly plurilingual student populations. In this article, I begin by describing the context for an exploratory comparative and collaborative ethnographic action research study in four English and French schools in Toronto, Canada and one school in Montpellier, France that engaged children as co-researchers of their lived plurilingualism. I analyse in particular the process of creating plurilingual multimodal books with students and teachers across the five different school cases. This paper focuses on the iterative ‘identity text’ creation process across all five schools by examining one plurilingual identity text from each case, along with students’ research conversations about their creative productions, and interviews with their classroom teachers and parents. Finally, I summarize five features of inclusive plurilingual pedagogy that emerged across the five cases and call for further collaborative research across English and French schools and scholarly communities investigating creative plurilingual language and literacy production in the twenty-first century.

Assessment of ventilation and indoor air pollutants in nursery and elementary schools in France.

The aim of this study was to characterize the relationship between Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and ventilation in French classrooms. Various parameters were measured over one school week, including volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, particulate matter (PM2.5 mass concentration and number concentration), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), air temperature, and relative humidity in 51 classrooms at 17 schools. The ventilation was characterized by several indicators, such as the air exchange rate, ventilation rate (VR), and air stuffiness index (ICONE), that are linked to indoor CO2 concentration. The influences of the season (heating or non-heating), type of school (nursery or elementary), and ventilation on the IAQ were studied. Based on the minimum value of 4.2l/s per person required by the French legislation for mechanically ventilated classrooms, 91% of the classrooms had insufficient ventilation. The VR was significantly higher in mechanically ventilated classrooms compared with naturally ventilated rooms. The correlations between IAQ and ventilation vary according to the location of the primary source of each pollutant (outdoor vs. indoor), and for an indoor source, whether it is associated with occupant activity or continuous emission.

La frase negativa en la película "Asterix en los Juegos Olímpicos"

Este articulo es el resultado de un trabajo de investigacion pedagogica en el aula de frances, realizado con estudiantes de primer ano de Traduccion e Interpretacion (Frances) de la Universidad de Murcia. Su finalidad consistia en analizar la estructura de la frase negativa en frances. Para ello, y debido al especial atractivo que suponen los medios audiovisuales para los estudiantes, la parte practica del trabajo se centro en los dialogos de la pelicula francesa “Asterix en los Juegos Olimpicos”. Entre los resultados mas relevantes podemos mencionar la ayuda positiva que este tipo de instrumentos ha supuesto para la motivacion de los estudiantes y para el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera desde el punto de vista morfologico.

Indoor–outdoor behavior and sources of size-resolved airborne particles in French classrooms

Indoor and outdoor airborne particles were monitored with a 5-s time resolution in three elementary schools presenting different site typologies (rural, urban, and industrial) in the North of France. We studied the influence of the children's activities, outdoor sources, temperature and relative humidity on particle mass concentrations and particle mass–size distribution, and estimated cancer risk regarding particle composition.The indoor weekly mean PM10 mass concentrations during teaching hours varied from 70 to 99 μg m−3, exceeding the French daily recommended value of 50 μg m−3, implying a potential impact on the respiratory system. However, fine particles (<2 μm) were always below French daily recommended value of 25 μg m−3 applied to PM2.5.The results showed that children's activities impacted the suspended coarse fraction (2–10 μm) more strongly than the fine one (<2 μm). The mass distribution of indoor PM10 was extremely variable in association with occupant's activities in classrooms whereas the outdoor one seemed to be only lightly variable. During lessons, average concentrations of indoor PM1, PM1–2, PM2–5, and PM5–10 increased respectively by factors of 2.9, 3.1, 8.7 and 33.8 compared to unoccupied periods.Indoor sources from continuous emission and occupant's activities may lead to lower density of indoor PM10 compared to outdoor ones.The estimation of some potential carcinogen elements such as As, Cd, Cr, and Ni in indoor PM2 showed low concentrations in the range of 0.11–1.71 ng m−3. Consequently, the cancer risk of these elements was estimated to be not significant for long-term exposure to both children and teachers.

Investigating Communicative Models in French as a Foreign Language Classroom: Methodological Issues

This paper outlines some methodological challenges in investigating communicative models of teachers and students in French language classroom in some Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast metropolis - Ghana. The data collection procedure for this study focused on natural setting, use of objective views on the Ghanaian belief systems in the investigation process in order to structure the research and to avoid manipulating the study variables. The database consisted of classroom activities as well as extensive interviews with some old students on a year abroad linguistic programme in University of Strasbourg, France. The results showed that language usage in the French classroom was controlled by teachers. However, strategies used by teachers could contribute to effective language teaching if cultural dimensions were taken into consideration.

Obstacles and opportunities for literacy teaching: A case study of primary core French classrooms in Ontario.

More and more, Canadian educators are being told that literacy development can occur across subject areas of the curriculum. Few studies have focused on whether this applies to core French as a second language (CF). This article reports on a study investigating the literacy teaching practices of Ontario primary core French teachers (n = 3), focusing mainly on the practices of Christine, whose activities, strategies and perspectives highlight the potential for CF instruction to echo literacy principles taught in homeroom English (L1) classrooms, and for both languages to benefit. Context-specific constraints identified by all participating teachers will also be discussed.

Language Awareness in the French Classroom

Language Awareness in the French Classroom

Elemental characterization and source identification of size resolved atmospheric particles in French classrooms

Indoor airborne particles were chemically characterized to identify their major sources in 3 elementary schools presenting different site typologies (rural, urban, and industrial) in the North of France. The sampling campaigns were conducted simultaneously indoors and outdoors during 2 weekly periods successively in each school, in presence and absence of pupils.The indoor weekly mean PM10 mass concentrations in presence of pupils varied from 72.7 to 85.3μgm−3, generally exceeding the WHO guidelines. The presence/absence PM10 ratios confirm the PM10 concentrations raise during children’s activities. Their presence leads to an increase of elemental concentration (ngm−3) but does not influence the elemental distribution in the different particulate fractions.Crustal elements represent an important portion (7–10%) of the indoor PM10 mass, mostly driven by the Ca content (4.4–7.2%) due to the use of chalk. The trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, …) are enriched in the fine fractions (70–100%) compared to the coarse ones. Crustal elements (Al, Ca, Ti, Sr, …) present higher concentrations in the coarse fractions (40–60%).Elemental ratios and Cluster Analysis confirmed different particulate metal sources from the school surroundings. Among these sources, re-suspension dust, traffic, and marine aerosols were observed in all schools. Mixed anthropogenic sources were identified in urban and industrial sites, and petro-chemistry was only evidenced in the school near the industrial zone. Indoors, these outdoor anthropogenic particles represent the only sources of trace elements evidenced during this study.

Classroom Climate and Student-to-Student Interaction in the Post-Secondary French Classroom

This article examines the role of classroom climate as it is generated by student-to-student interaction, rather than instructor-to-student interaction in the post-secondary French classroom. Using an instrument originally developed to measure classroom climate in native language public speaking courses, classroom climate in a beginning postsecondary French class and in an advanced French conversation class is measured and compared. Classroom climate scores are also compared to performance as measured by final course grades. Based on results of the literature review and the present study, this article also applies findings from research in small group dynamics to the language learning classroom.

Perspective-Taking and Meaning-Making through Engagement with Cultural Narratives: Bringing History to Life in a Foreign Language Classroom

The MLA Report (2007) accords considerable weight to the role of culture in a transformed approach to language education in the U.S. and outlines “one possible model” for developing transculturalunderstanding that involves the interpretation of the “cultural narratives” inherent in all forms of cultural representation (p. 238). How exactly students might be engaged in interpreting cultural narratives in the foreign language classroom, though, remains to be further specified, imagined, practiced, and studied. Moreover, expanding this model of culture-in-language education to include active production and negotiation of meaning around cultural narratives, in addition to interpretation of these, has important pedagogical and learning implications. This paper highlights how engagement with historical narratives is a natural site for the kinds of interpretive and meaning-making practicesthat foster the deep cultural learning discussed in the MLA’s report. Reporting data from an ethnographic, discourse-analytic study of a university-level French classroom, this paper illustratesthat through the instructional environment created by the teacher and through the students’ engagement in class activities, many rich opportunities for perspective-taking from multiple points ofview were made available to students, ultimately weaving a dense web of meanings around French experiences of World War II. Close analysis of excerpts from classroom interaction show how aconstellation of instructional features and patterns of student engagement allowed the class to access the repertoire of more or less plausible storylines attached to this historical period and to practice with interpreting perspectives embedded in cultural texts. Interview data further highlight both the challenges and great potential of inviting multiple perspectives and voices into culture pedagogy in the foreign language classroom.

Effectiveness of a Guided Inductive Versus a Deductive Approach on the Learning of Grammar in the Intermediate‐Level College French Classroom

Abstract: This study investigated how to present grammatical structures to intermediate‐level French college students. It compared the effects of a guided inductive and a deductive approach on short‐ and long‐term learning of 10 structures. A mixed‐methods design was adopted to assess learning of the structures and to investigate preference of approach. Performances in both conditions were measured through a within‐subjects design featuring a pretest/posttest and immediate posttreatment tests. A questionnaire assessed students' preferences and relationships between preferences and performance were examined. Findings indicated a significantly greater effect of the guided inductive approach on short‐term learning. The long‐term findings and the relationship between preferences and performances were not significant. Analyses indicated that students who preferred explanations of the rules performed better with a guided inductive approach.

Acting the Dreyfus Affair: History and Theater in the French Classroom

As a professor of French Studies, I had often wished to develop a course in which students could mount a play in French. Its pedagogical value seemed obvious: performing in a foreign language and managing a theatrical production could help students increase their knowledge of French society while improving pronunciation and vocabulary. However, my lack of expertise in the theory and practice of theater stymied me. I had also often longed to teach a course about the Dreyfus affair. The story of a French officer falsely convicted of selling military secrets to the Germans, which tore apart French society for a decade, it contains plenteous teachable issues about France: nationalism, anti-Semitism, the birth of intellectuals, treason and raison d'état, the rise of the modern press and public opinion, the separation of church and state, Third Republic politics, military justice, Franco-German rivalries, and even handwriting analysis. But I doubted that a French department would welcome a whole course just on the Dreyfus affair.

Toward activity-centered literacy: teaching and learning Korean literacy in a multilingual montreal context

Based on a three-year ethnographic study, in such nested contexts involving six Korean-immigrant families, one regular French classroom, one private English institute, and one Korean church in Montreal, Canada, this study explores how the literacy practices and strategies of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners were influenced and shaped by the literacy objects and practices of their social environments. By implementing a qualitative research methodology, interviews, surveys, observations, and conversations with Korean-Canadian parents and teachers plus the author’s own teaching experiences at a Korean school were used. Using activity theory, this qualitative study identifies two distinct orientations to literacy teaching and learning in the lower primary grades depending literacy objects such as from written language-centered literacy to student-centered literacy. On the basis of this study, the author proposes an activity-centered approach to literacy emphasizing the development of the creativity of teachers and higher mental functions (i.e., concept formation) in young CLD children through the development of interactive and collaborative learning environments, so-called literacy-based and concept-oriented playful activities.

Scaffolding Inclusion in a Grade 8 Core French Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study (Enhanced)

This article reports on two components of a micro case study of a Grade 8 Core French teacher's experiences in meeting the various learner needs in her classroom. Using sociocultural theory (SCT) to unite the constructs of special education and second language (L2) education, this analysis explores the role of both global and discrete teaching strategies in balancing curricular expectations with student needs. Results suggest that the creation of an inclusive classroom environment in this classroom context is likely linked to a teacher's ability to implement known effective practices for L2 education, as these strategies seem to naturally scaffold many of the needs of the students who are included. Further, the teacher's beliefs about supporting a wide range of student needs within this classroom are also revealed as a key influence in this process.

Scaffolding Inclusion in a Grade 8 Core French Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study

This article reports on two components of a micro case study of a Grade 8 Core French teacher's experiences in meeting the various learner needs in her classroom. Using sociocultural theory (SCT) to unite the constructs of special education and second language (L2) education, this analysis explores the role of both global and discrete teaching strategies in balancing curricular expectations with student needs. Results suggest that the creation of an inclusive classroom environment in this classroom context is likely linked to a teacher's ability to implement known effective practices for L2 education, as these strategies seem to naturally scaffold many of the needs of the students who are included. Further, the teacher's beliefs about supporting a wide range of student needs within this classroom are also revealed as a key influence in this process.

Language difference and identity in multicultural classrooms: the views of ‘immigrant‐background’ children in French and English primary schools

This article examines the views of ‘immigrant‐background’ children on their own linguistic and cultural ‘differences’ within the different educational contexts of primary classrooms in France and England. With the increase in and changing composition of immigration in Europe, the integration of populations from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds has become a central issue for European societies. Whilst most studies in France and England tend to focus on immigrant children in secondary schools, this study looks at immigrant children at primary level, in an attempt to ‘hear their voices’ and explore their perceptions and experiences, in a comparative perspective. Findings based on focus group interviews and participant observation in an English and French classroom, suggest that despite contrasting models of integration, the way ‘immigrant‐background’ children mediate ‘difference’ as part of their identities as pupils present similarities between the two countries. There remain, however, strong differences between the two national classrooms, which could be attributed to the different contexts and approaches to multicultural differences in France and England.

Enhancing Deep Learning: Lessons From the Introduction of Learning Teams in Management Education in France

Drawing from the reflective teaching and learning practices recommended in influential publications on learning styles, experiential learning, deep learning, and dialogue, the authors tested the concept of “learning teams” in the framework of a leadership program implemented for the first time in a top French management school ( Grande Ecole). Qualitative feedback and personal observations on the implementation and outcomes of using this new learning paradigm reveal that although the steps from teaching to learning initially tested for MBA students in the United States are widely accepted, there were unexpected obstacles and opportunities in setting up the model in France. Some of these differences can be attributed to culture, particularly to immensely different educational philosophies that shape attitudes and norms within French classrooms and to the notion of learning itself, which is normalized by the social expectations of careers in management forged in French history. This article provides the theoretical basis of the particular learning model tested, describes the conditions within which it was implemented in one French Grande Ecole , and reports unexpected obstacles and favorable outcomes of the teaching/learning experiences from a cross-cultural perspective. The authors conclude with recommendations on implementing learning models across cultures.

Producing Multimodal Picture Books and Dramatic Performances in a Core French Classroom: An Exploratory Case Study

In a Grade 9 core French class, the teacher designed a multi-stage project in which students composed original children's stories in French; illustrated their stories to produce picture books; then, in groups, adapted one group member's story into a play script; and, finally, dramatized the scripts for children from the local French immersion school. The teacher's assertion was that by investing in multiple literacy tasks for authentic and interesting purposes, students would increase their French language awareness and proficiency, including their literacy skills. This article is an exploratory study of that claim: it reports on the context of the classroom project; the tasks designed; the data-collection and analysis procedures; and the themes and implications that emerged with respect to written, visual, and dramatic modes, and with respect to student investment in learning.

Teaching Evolution in Primary Schools: An Example in French Classrooms

Teaching evolution in primary schools is important for spreading evolutionary knowledge and scientific methodology. Through constructing simple interrelationship trees, pupils gain scientific knowledge, scientific methodology, and argumentation skills. Activities conducted in French primary schools are described in this paper.