may be purchased or rented by students and instructors and offer the suggestion of organizing a film festival alongside the course in which the textbook is to be used. Outside of courses, this text may prove to be a valuable resource for those organizing film nights for French clubs or French and Francophone film festivals. The potential cost issues for students renting or purchasing films is also mitigated by the affordability of the textbook itself. University of South Dakota Kris Aric Knisely Oukada, Larbi, Didier Bertrand, and Janet Solberg. Controverses. 3rd ed. Boston: Cengage, 2016. ISBN 13 978-1-305-10578-2. Pp. 293. $150. Designed for students at the intermediate level, this eight-chapter text presents a variety of exercises that help students develop more sophisticated levels of oral and written expression. The materials available include a text (manuel), a Student Activities Manual (cahier d’activités), and online supersite. The bulk of grammar review is contained in the Student Activities Manual; most of the text is organized around contemporary and controversial topics such as globalization, immigration, and gender equality. The chapters are designed to encourage students to examine these topics from various points of view as they acquire the skills necessary to discuss and write about each topic.An interesting and unique aspect to Controverses is the incorporation of writing exercises. Chapters 1–5 guide students through the Hegelian model of composition: The students will practice organizing their thoughts into short compositions including thèse, antithèse, synthèse, and conclusion.As a result, Controverses serves as both an intermediate grammar text and a composition manual. This edition of Controverses excels with its use of technology. Students who purchase the text also have access to the course supersite, a gold-mine of supplemental teaching aids, MP3 recordings, flashcards, and grammar tutorials. Grammar reviews are included as podcasts, affording students the chance to focus on grammar deficiencies outside of class. These podcasts range in difficulty from the use of definite and indefinite articles to the use of the subjunctive. Each chapter includes a Web Activities section, which supports student research by providing a list of websites pertinent to the chapter theme. The supersite includes a section for instructors containing teaching suggestions, a grading key for the Student Activities Manual, and sample syllabi for instructors who are unfamiliar with the text. The length of Controverses makes it ideal as a primary text for an intermediate-level conversation and composition course.However,instructors may also find this textbook useful as an accompanying text for an intermediate or advanced grammar course. Undergraduate students will enjoy discussing the contemporary , controversial topics in each chapter while developing a deeper appreciation for French and Francophone culture. The vocabulary presented at the beginning of each chapter focuses on the chapter subject, which makes the vocabulary somewhat 294 FRENCH REVIEW 89.4 Reviews 295 limited.This may present a challenge for students who lack confidence in their speaking ability. Therefore, instructors may want to supplement certain chapters with short readings in order to expand vocabulary acquisition. Overall, this edition of Controverses is an excellent text that instructors will find very useful. The exercises in the text and accompanying cahier provide effective review and stylistic practice for students transitioning to classes that will require them to produce more advanced, argumentative papers in French. Jackson State University (MS) Tomaz Cunningham Thacker, Mike, and Casimir d’Angelo. Essential French Grammar. New York: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4441-6689-7. Pp. 464. $41. The authors leave no doubt regarding their position on the debate over how, or whether, to teach grammar. In the introduction, they express their “conviction” that “grammar is the key to attaining a real understanding of both spoken and written French” (xiii). Appealing to their “long experience of teaching and examining” (Thacker was director of the Language Centre at the University of Surrey for more than a decade, and d’Angelo was director of the Language Unit in the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge), they assert that “grammar plays a fundamental part in the learning process of students who aspire to higher levels of competence” (xiii). For those who prefer to teach grammar more implicitly...