Dans un contexte de mutation profonde de l'enseignement des langues étrangères aux États-Unis, caractérisé notamment par une diminution des effectifs, les départements de langues sont amenés à repenser leurs offres pédagogiques. Notre département a entrepris une initiative novatrice en développant deux cours distincts : Heritage French : Developing Foundational Skills et French for Global Studies and Economics. Cette communication propose une analyse critique du processus d'élaboration, de mise en œuvre et d'évaluation de ces programmes de niveau intermédiaire, chacun répondant à des objectifs pédagogiques spécifiques.
This session features a French Studies program at a small liberal arts university which, counter to national trends, has seen an increase in enrollments. The program’s new curriculum now focuses on the development of students’ intercultural competence and sense of legitimate speakership in French. We will first describe the program’s new capstone course and interdisciplinary project. A recent graduate will then present her capstone project: a translation of a previously untranslated text by Marie Curie.
Although Huguenots and their descendants are a minority in France, their history symbolizes resistance and freedom of conscience—values central to French identity. Yet, American students rarely encounter their story in French studies. This presentation demonstrates how historical novels can introduce students to this cultural heritage. It explores these texts as “lieux de mémoire” and provides classroom activities to engage with their themes.
Cette contribution propose le développement d’une plateforme numérique adaptative visant à optimiser l’apprentissage du français langue étrangère (FLE) auprès des apprenants hispanophones à l’Université du Nouveau-Mexique. Partant du constat que plus de 60% de nos étudiants sont bilingues espagnol-anglais, et que les approches pédagogiques actuelles ne tirent pas pleinement profit de ce capital linguistique, nous proposons un dispositif technologique innovant basé sur l’intelligence artificielle. Le projet vise à créer une interface interactive capable d’identifier automatiquement les zones de convergence entre l’espagnol et le français, permettant ainsi de personnaliser l’apprentissage selon le profil linguistique de chaque apprenant. L’originalité de cette approche réside dans l’utilisation d’algorithmes d’apprentissage qui analyseraient en temps réel les productions des étudiants pour identifier leurs points forts et leurs difficultés spécifiques, notamment dans les domaines morphosyntaxique, lexical et phonétique. Cette proposition s’appuie sur des recherches récentes en linguistique computationnelle et en didactique des langues romanes, tout en répondant aux besoins spécifiques de notre contexte d'enseignement. L’implémentation d'une telle plateforme permettrait non seulement d’optimiser l’apprentissage du FLE pour nos étudiants hispanophones, mais aussi de générer des données précieuses pour la recherche en didactique des langues assistée par ordinateur.
Maria Chapdelaine de Louis Hémon reconduit un imaginaire écologique propre à la pastorale, un genre littéraire qui exalte la simplicité et la pureté de la vie champêtre au détriment de la ville, présentée à tort ou a raison comme un générateur de pollution, sur le plan environnemental, et d’ambition, de cupidité et de corruption, sur le plan moral. Notre propos est de montrer comment la mise en poème de l’habitat, cet ensemble de procédés stylistiques qu’utilise l’auteur en vue de donner un corps et une âme à la nature, transforme celle-ci en un protagoniste de l’homme.
World language programs are facing unprecedented challenges as we approach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. Hundreds of K-16 French programs have been eliminated. The University of West Virginia is perhaps the most visible example. To complicate matters, world-renowned linguist and former French major John McWhorter declared that it's time to “stop pretending that French is an important language.” We can't control the circumstances or the conditions around us, but we can control our response. Controlling our response cements our “mindset of possibility.” Controlling our response gives us a chance to save our French programs and when we have a “mindset of possibility,” our options become limitless. In this workshop, we will (1) listen to your current situation, (2) provide potential solutions via examples of untouchable programs, and (3) discuss accessible funding opportunities and the creation of on- and off-campus partnerships to secure allies in our struggle.
The Heritage Speakers of Spanish (HSS) in college today were raised during the No Child Left Behind era and its politicized invalidation of Spanish. Now, they are a substantial demographic in French language classrooms. Uniquely, these spaces view Spanish bilingualism as an asset, providing a venue where HSS can navigate linguistic (in)security from their early education. This interactive presentation explores this process and how instructors can support HSS by promoting linguistic justice in the classroom.
In this session, participants will learn how students in a French conversation class designed and implemented engaging National French Week activities to promote French language and culture on campus. Emphasizing student involvement, this presentation will showcase how students can take the lead in creating and executing these activities as part of their coursework. We will explore a variety of event ideas, strategies for student engagement, and methods for integrating these activities into the broader curriculum. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of practical ideas and resources to celebrate National French Week and engage the wider campus community.
Presentation of curricular materials created for BU’s “Designing Antiracism Curricula” fellowship. Lessons include multiple modules on Francophone North and West Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, to be used across the four-semester language sequence with the aim of decolonizing the curriculum, better serving our diverse students, and deepening students’ awareness of non-Western francophone regions. The presenters will describe their process and their first year piloting the program. Presenters will provide sample activities and resources.
This session presents a French Embassy and FACE Foundation funded project that is creating an advocacy toolkit promoting advanced French study. We'll discuss how French studies develop valuable career skills, share how these competencies were identified by faculty from ten institutions, and present sample toolkit materials including a website and advising resources. Though university-focused, this project offers relevant insights for French programs at all levels.
Vous ne savez pas comment intégrer la prononciation dans vos cours ? Pas besoin d’être un·e expert·e ! Je vous propose un modèle/système simple et facile à intégrer à tous les niveaux pour inclure des éléments de prononciation liés avec des distinctions grammaticales. Ces activités développent la compréhensibilité des élèves, leur compréhension et leur apprentissage de la langue. Elles vont aussi augmenter la confiance en soi et la participation en classe.
The teaching of literature often centers on interpreting themes. This presentation aims to demonstrate how introducing stylistics can support the student’s literary interpretation. I will work with several short works, by Colette, Linda Lê, and Assia Djebar. Through these different examples, I aim to demonstrate that focusing on an objective linguistic aspect of the text opens up hitherto unsuspected paths for the student in interpretation—an amplifying, and rewarding, means of investigating the text.
The Commission on Colleges and Universities’ annual session will focus on collaboration with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. In conjunction with the office of Cultural Services, we will give higher education faculty an opportunity to articulate their concerns and learn about opportunities and support provided by the French Embassy.
Many American high school students dream of an extended stay in France. How can they do that, and what would their life be like were they to land in Paris for a year? Presenter shares how he plants and waters this seed with this senior project. All materials shared with attendees.
This presentation will reveal how anti-fat bias impacts those in French society who have been the target of discrimination based on body size. It will introduce attendees to the activists, bloggers, and influencers who are working to change perspectives and deepen understandings about size inclusivity and body diversity. Their experiences offer a more complete picture of the stigmatization that larger bodies have faced and continue to face in France.
The transformative assessment approach of standards-based grading (SBG) aligns student performance with the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards (Can-Do Statements and proficiency benchmarks), promoting transparent grading practices rather than penalizing mistakes or emphasizing task completion. Recent research and pertinent questions around student perspectives, homework, grading categorization, assessment anxiety, and varying challenges between secondary and post-secondary implementation will be discussed. Participants are invited to bring and share insights and experiences regarding SBG with the group.
Invite your students to plan a class trip to different Francophone regions using Airbnb.fr and other authentic sites. The tasks will whet students’ appetites for la Francophonie, reinforce communication around travel and housing and facilitate comparisons between the places they discover and “chez nous.” As a task-based assessment, the AirBnB project incorporates ACTFL’s recently updated world-readiness standards. Participants will leave the session with slides and links that can be easily adapted to their needs.
Three presentations focus on how to engage students in experiential learning through French for Special Purposes. Dr. Andrea Jonsson shares recent meaningful collaborative activities in France in which students work with community organizations in a popular Serve-Sustain-Learn program. Suzanne Cook describes her university’s evolution of a gen-ed course on Sustainability in the French-speaking world into a sustainability-focused French-International Business study abroad that focuses student sustainability initiatives in the luxury industry. Both model high-impact project-oriented practices. Finally, E. Nicole Meyer contributes fresh interactive exercises that reinforce the importance of cybersecurity to everyday practices and future career possibilities as well as an update on the commission’s activities. All three promote ways that all can include fun, meaningful French for Specific Purposes activities into their programs to increase student interest and learning.
Discover strategies for integrating a daily/weekly culture segment from 46 francophone countries into your French classroom. This session includes a supplemental activity to expand on francophone culture as well as tips for organized lesson preparation across multiple classes. Enhance your teaching with practical approaches to bring the richness of francophone culture to your students.
This session will explore the many facets of la Francophonie readily available to us via daily technology. Access to often free French-language resources allows us to come closer than ever before to recreating a surround-sound experience, traveling virtually to French communities both around the world and closer to home, and embracing a novel conceptualization of “le Français chez nous.” We will sample a variety of listening, reading, writing, and speaking exercises designed around the integration of contemporary French news clips, music videos, podcasts, TV shows, and films. Reflections will be shared with regard to scaffolding activities appropriately for different levels from middle school through university courses, and participants will be invited to contribute to an ongoing database of shared links with accompanying exercises for future use.
This session will explore teaching environmental stewardship in faith-based French classrooms through the documentary, LE CIEL ET LA TERRE which can engage students with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The presentation will demonstrate how the film bridges theological perspectives on creation care with global sustainable development objectives. Teachers will learn to inspire discussion and ecological consciousness. The presenter will offer activities (intermediate, advanced) and an IPA (advanced) that connect faith-based ethics with actionable environmental protection.
This presentation will address the "Comparisons" standard from World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (French), which can be found in pages 43-48 of the manual. In two concurrent sections of a university-level course on contemporary Francophone literature, the professors challenge their students to investigate migration patterns from the global South (specifically Senegal, Rwanda/Burundi, Guadeloupe, and Cameroon) to Metropolitan France. The students are then invited to compare these literary crossings - push factors, demographics, modes of travel, safety, success rate, etc. - with similar migration patterns towards the US. The goal of this comparison activity is to understand what motivates people to embark on such transnational crossings in hopes of finding a better quality of life. A selection of students from both sections will be invited to share their findings at the AATF convention in Chicago.
What comes to mind when you think of a boxer? Mike Tyson or Mohamed Ali? In the short documentary "Salma the Boxer" you'll meet another type of boxer: a 14-year-old Moroccan Muslim immigrant who challenged the preconceived notions surrounding her. Salma's compelling story provides a rich listening comprehension experience for novice to advanced learners, encouraging discussion about identity and immigration. Participants will leave with lesson plans in hand!
Cette communication présente l’organisation d’un festival de cinéma universitaire issu d’une collaboration entre le Champs-Élysées Film Festival et l’Université de Chicago. Elle propose divers modèles pour créer un espace d’échange culturel autour du cinéma francophone indépendant en classe et en dehors. Les aspects budgétaires, la sélection et l’intégration pédagogique des films, ainsi que les événements filmiques et leur impact sont notamment abordés. Cette initiative favorise une approche immersive de la langue et de la culture.
How to enhance a French class with a virtual partnership? This session discusses a sample project conducted at the presenter’s institution. In it, a college class in the US partnered virtually with a High School class in France. Presentation points include project rationale, course units, course goals, oral and written assignments designed to meet ACTFL goals, as well as student feedback. The presentation concludes with the benefits, limitations, and future of this virtual partnership.
