Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Franco law: a design model in Francophone context.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the curricular design and methodological approaches we use to teach French as a second language at the conclusion of the 3-year implementation process of the new French language program at Louisiana State University. Two key features were integrated in the curriculum: the teaching of grammar and culture. We embrace both explicit and implicit methods of grammar instruction in an effort to promote literacy, and we integrate the U.S. Francophone, i.e. French-speaking culture of Louisiana as a core feature in our program.

Introduction

In designing the new curriculum for the French language program at LSU, we first identified the three major problematic areas in the existing pedagogical framework, and then prioritize our program's teaching objectives. The preexisting program was driven by the remnants of the Natural Approach (Krashen & Terrell, 1983), where the teaching of grammar and culture were neglected components, and in many classrooms, French was no longer the medium of instruction. Krashen and Terrell's theory of language learning is based on the notion that language acquisition, including grammatical competence, occurs "naturally" as an unconscious process by exposure to comprehensible and meaningful input in the target language. This theory supports an implicit approach to teaching grammar which heretofore has not sustained the program.

The controversial topic of formal grammar instruction in second language acquisition has been a focus of much debate over the past few decades. In recent years, we have seen a resurgence of grammar teaching in foreign language classrooms as researchers continue to provide evidence that grammatical instruction is essential to second language leaming. Most scholars still consider implicit or unconscious knowledge of the L2 that is attained through frequent and considerable amounts of comprehensible input, to be fundamental in attaining communicative competence in the L2. It is the value in teaching explicit knowledge of grammar that remains the area of contention.

In deciding on the approach or approaches that will constitute the most effective pedagogy in meeting our objectives, we naturally seek approaches that are drawn on theories of teaching and learning and preferably, on empirical research on classroom teaching and learning. Although little empirical research has afforded us with findings on the effects of explicit grammar instruction in SLA, there have been a few studies whose findings support this more traditional method of grammar teaching in French. Harley (1989) found that students learning the French passe compose and imparfait in an immersion setting were not able to correctly produce these structures, but after intensive instruction, their accuracy in the use of these forms greatly improved. Scott (1989) found that students who received explicit instruction in French relative pronouns and the subjunctive, outperformed those who received implicit instruction in these structures. Most recently, Macaro and Masterman (2006) conducted a study to determine the value of a short intensive explicit grammar instruction prior to students enrolling in first-year French. They found that the group that received the intensive instruction performed significantly better in their grammatical knowledge and performance in production tasks than the group that did not receive grammatical instruction. In their meta-analysis of 50 studies on the effectiveness of L2 instruction, Norris and Ortega (2000) concluded that explicit instruction is beneficial and further, that the beneficial effects are durable. Finally, in their review of research on...