This paper describes one approach to focusing on Connections, one of the five Cs from the World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, as a means of exposing introductory language students to culturally diverse authentic texts through drama-based pedagogy. Our approach focuses on an instructor working within an established departmental…

Students gain a lasting impression of a course and of the instructor on the first day of class (Lang, 2019). In asynchronous online or hybrid classes, the equivalent of the first day of class is the Start Here module. This orientation module should contain essential information about class expectations and technology requirements and provide help…

In this design case, we present an instructional design project that resulted in a French language learning game development system. What we describe here is not the game itself, but rather the pedagogical intervention that created what the design team termed a mobile "application farm," which in turn produced the game. The term…

The query of language education policies in Algeria appears to be among the most crucial issues involved in current language research. It is believed that Algeria absorbed heavy colonial impact not only in its social life but also in its educational policy. The present paper attempts to deeply describe foreign language policy in Algerian education…

Three-dimensional synthetic worlds introduce possibilities for nonverbal communication in computer-mediated language learning. This paper presents an original methodological framework for the study of multimodal communication in such worlds. It offers a classification of verbal and nonverbal communication acts in the synthetic world "Second…

In 2002 French faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock began the process of curricular revision to prepare for the challenges of a standards-based French major. After five years of experience and positive evaluations from students, faculty are gratified that the number of graduates in French has increased. However, new challenges have…

This paper describes an upper level foreign language course designed to enable students to "learn about conversation" as both a universal and culture-specific form of talk, and to "learn to converse" at an advanced level and in culturally appropriate ways with speakers of French from France and Francophone countries. Students…

The following courses of study in French at the primary level are described and evaluated: (1) "En Avant" (E. J. Arnold, 1966), (2) "Repondez s'il vous plait" (Copp Clark, 1975), (3) "Pour les Tous Petits" (Carleton Board of Education, 1974), (4) "Dansons la Capucine (Clarke Irwin, 1973), and (5) "Le…

A course (Learning a Second Language) is described that focuses on the experience of learning a second language: the communicative approach that led to learner-centered practices; course materials, objectives, and content; a learning guide to help students organize self-teaching activities; and learner reactions to the course. (23 references)…

The Canadian National Core French Study's (NCFS) views on what culture is and how it should be taught is examined and compared with more traditional approaches to the teaching of culture. Implications for educators are discussed in light of the NCFS recommendations and other theoretical positions on the teaching of culture. (six references)…

Describes a continuing education course for French teachers in Germany, based on various kinds of games which are played by the teachers and then used in the classroom. (AM)

A teacher's experiences in acquiring realia (mostly food-related) for her junior high school French classes are described. The collection of realistic props proved to be both a small adventure in itself and the source of a rewarding change in classroom instruction. The use of a simulated store, in which students bought and sold the imitation food,…

Describes a secondary level program designed to teach basic German to low-ability students who have previously studied French. (AM)

The student of English as a second language in the French school system is confronted with morpho-syntactic and lexical difficulties when he or she reads texts on the university level. In addition to these difficulties, the method of approaching the text may also prove to be a problem. A method is outlined to help the student achieve an active and…

Outlines a technique using articles from "Le Francais dans le Monde" to teach reading comprehension and theory simultaneously to teachers of French as a second language. Describes a program in Italy using this approach. (MSE)