consideration as a primary text in courses for advanced undergraduate learners: an extensive set of engaging, well-considered activities, a good review of the essential points of French grammar, and a balanced focus on skill-building, all in the context of a diverse and varied presentation of culture. Texas Tech University Joseph Edward Price PONS, CATHY, MARY ELLEN SCULLEN, and ALBERT VALDMAN. Points de départ. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2013. ISBN 0205879861. Pp. 400. MyFrenchLab with Pearson eText $175.80. As a ten-chapter version of the best-selling elementary text Chez nous, the second edition boasts flexibility in pedagogical approach and desired student outcomes . Thus, its key features allow users to adapt the program to different contexts . A new design, art, and user-friendlier format offer rich visuals that vividly depict the Francophone world, as well as grammar explanations in English, reference sections, and plenty of online resources. Expansive textbook, student activity manual, and online activities serve to maximize self-instruction and customize practice at home. Furthermore, the abundance of visual and oral texts online and the capability to upload external files to MyFrenchLab enables instructors to modify pedagogical tools and techniques. These resources are particularly compatible with courses that utilize the ‘flipped classroom’ approach in order to foster more interaction in class. In this case, class time focuses on talking with the grammar rather than talking about grammar. The principal sequential change entails moving the chapter treating food (formerly chapter eight) to chapter three. This modification increases opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons. It also exposes students to useful grammar like -ir/-re verbs and the partitive sooner, while grammar previously covered in chapter three (expressions négatives and le comparatif ) feels more accessible to students during the second half of the program. Nevertheless, some instructors may consider the content/vocabulary move of studies and professions (formerly chapter three) to chapter eight a drawback, since students also connect French to their real lives through conversations about university life and academics. The major change is substantive new content. Approximately one-third of the cultural notes and skill-building activities (lisons, écoutons, observons, parlons, écrivons) are new or revised with additional topics, updated information, new texts, and video clips, and most notably, new authentic tasks. The alterations to the scope and sequence certainly play a role in the development and evolution of the overarching philosophy behind Points de départ. Though the first edition aligned itself with the National Standards, acknowledged as a set of desired outcomes for foreign language instruction (the “Five C’s”), the second edition enhances this communicative approach with features that arguably tout literacy and task-based learning as organizing principles, devoting more attention to learning outcomes with process-oriented approaches. The previews for reading skills in the lisons sections not only provide/promote background information but now also introduce strategies, and guide and check comprehension while reading. Essentially, the authors have chosen new texts or revamped existing passages that better support literacy-based language teaching; the reading passages and accompanying activities help students see the texts not just as structures and vocabulary, but more importantly as valuable linguistic information 1242 FRENCH REVIEW 86.6 that reflects culture. The reading tasks and subsequent writing in écrivons sections also “help students develop an awareness of appropriate style” (xiv) as they are exposed to a variety of Francophone writers and genres. As of chapter five, personalized discussion questions that follow each skills development section (and the vie et culture passages) are in French, thus offering further opportunity for task-based skills development through oral story telling. Students can recount personal anecdotes based on the readings. This promotes development of productive and receptive skills: the students who tell their stories refine speaking, while those who listen hone aural comprehension. Ultimately, the primary strength of the new edition may be the promulgation of textual engagement and literacy in the target language at an elementary level. Some instructors would likely prefer that activity directions and questions be in French before chapter five in favor of a more immersive experience; however, despite initial activities being in English, they still encourage students to think analytically in/about their native language...