Drawing on Vygotsky's insights on the sociocultural origins of development, we examine the French homestay as a site for learning, with a focus on the dinner table. Based on audio recordings of mealtime interactions, interviews, and field notes, we present two case studies of French language learners and their host families. "Amelia"…

In teacher training curricula, books are presented as an ideal material for building and enriching young children's language. Yet, the routine of reading at home with children is hardly ever mentioned. In this chapter, the author proposes analyses of story-reading activities from a usage-based and first language acquisition perspective. The goal…

This aim of this article is to contribute to the development of a socio-cultural model of emergent biliteracy that recognizes the dynamic interactions amongst two languages. The present field study took place in a French-German public Kindergarten class in Alsace, France, where students are in the initial process of learning to read in both…

This paper examines the resulting qualitative transformation of two students' metapragmatic awareness following a semester abroad in southern France--one of whom had access to a concept-based pragmatics instruction programme (expert-mediation), while the other followed a standard semester programme. The larger study from which these cases are…

This contribution gives an account of the results of an action research in which a task-based plurilingual programme was implemented with postgraduate students of Foreign Languages and International Business. Using a mixed-methods approach, combining questionnaire, interview and observation data, we sought to explore the degree to which the…

A drive for the development of European citizenship (EC) through Modern Foreign Language (MFL) teaching has existed for some time within the academic literature as well as policy institutions. Nevertheless, the views of MFL teachers on the role of MFL in developing EC have rarely been given a voice. This article presents the findings of a study…

A six-hour advanced level unit on French unions focuses on their role in French society, their origins, size, and comparison with those of other European countries, and also on more general topics of demography and the French school system. (MSE)

The two principal approaches of the historian and sociologist, one focusing on change and the other focusing on recurrence or continuity, are reconciled for the teacher of French culture to foreign language students. This is accomplished through an examination of the differential time structures of different social levels, an illustration that the…

Proposes a general framework of interpretation for addressing second/foreign language didactics. Argues that Francophonie (the French-speaking countries and communities of the world collectively) constitutes geopolitical spaces sharing linguistic, cultural, economic, and institutional constructions, but that it is culturally and linguistically…

A course on modern France designed for presentation in English at the college level uses four books to approach an understanding of the country through autobiography, philosophy, sociology, and history. Students with reading ability in French are assigned readings from French-language periodicals and others read from English-language periodicals.…

Twelve conference papers on cultural aspects of second language instruction include: "Towards True Multiculturalism: Ideas for Teachers" (Brian McVeigh); Comparing Cultures Through Critical Thinking: Development and Interpretations of Meaningful Observations" (Laurel D. Kamada); "Authority and Individualism in Japan and the…

English translations of articles in French in this issue include these: "Discourse Reported in the Print Media"; "Comparison of Register in Quebec and French Speakers"; "Method of Description of Specialized Verbs in View of Machine Translation Applications"; "Dialectal Areas in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande…