Letting French Students Hear the Diverse Voices of Francophony

Abstract

This response to Jean‐Marie Salien's editorial “Québec French: Attitudes and Pedagogical Perspectives” (MLJ, 82, 1998, pp. 95–102) deals with linguistic variation—particularly as it exists in Québec—and aims at familiarizing students of French as a foreign language in the U.S. with variation in that language. The article stresses how important it is for French teachers to have an accurate understanding of the French spoken in Québec. A characterization of Québec French should include the different varieties spoken, recognize sociolinguistic differences, and acknowledge the functional effectiveness of all varieties. To acquaint American learners of French with language variation, it is appropriate to expose them to the varieties that can be found in neighboring communities, such as Québec. This exposure can begin early so that learners will be able to recognize local particularities and variation. The use of a “pedagogical norm” is advisable, however, in guiding the learners’ own usage, because attitudes toward linguistic variants can produce negative reactions to nonnative speaker use of these features.

Emphatic ne in informal spoken French and implications for foreign language pedagogy

“…those often not presented in learner textbooks) should become the sole or primary focus of L2 education. Rather, Valdman's (1992; 2000; 2003; see also Auger 2003; Auger and Valdman 1999) approach of “managing variation” in foreign language education seems more realistic and practical. As Train (2003) notes, “The central notion [of Valdman's approach] is one of ‘managing [ gérer ] variation, rather than eliminating it, through a principled selection of variants to be codified in a pedagogical norm” (p. 10).…”

A Hidden Curriculum in Language Textbooks: Are Beginning Learners of French at U.S. Universities Taught About Canada?

“…According to the Cost of Living Survey reported in the 2006 Worldwide Rankings from Mercer Human Resource Consulting (Mercer, 2006), Canadian cities show a substantially lower cost of living index relative to those of France. If learners are going to benefit from study abroad in Québec, they need to be exposed to Canadian French from the beginning of their study of French (Auger & Valdman, 1999; Valdman, 2000). All of the textbooks analyzed for this study contained examples of lexical differences between the French of France and that of Québec, but, aside from the extensive CD–ROM materials in Paroles , opportunities to hear spoken Québécois French were largely missing.…”

Variable Omission ofnein Real-Time French Chat: A Corpus-Driven Comparison of Educational and Non-Educational Contexts

“…Instead, it seems more realistic and feasible to adopt the approach described by Valdman (1992Valdman ( , 2000Valdman ( , 2003; see also Auger, 2003;Auger & Valdman, 1999). According to Train (2003), Valdman's approach incorporates variation in FL pedagogy by means of the notion of pedagogical norm, a necessarily partial description of the language for the purposes of teaching, but one firmly grounded in the observable language practices and attitudes of native speakers, as well as to a certain learnability on the part of the non-native speakers.…”