And ever shall be? A model for teaching French as a foreign language in South African tertiary institutions

• Main Author: Everson, Vanessa Marguerite
• Other Authors: Wardle, David
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Subjects: Languages and Literatures
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8227

Includes abstract. === Includes bibliographical references (p 335-371). === The assumption underpinning the thesis is that the current teaching of French at South African universities caters imperfectly for learner needs and fails to reflect pedagogical practice and learning theories appropriate to the twenty-first century. Firstly, so as to contextualise that teaching, the Western European legacy of secondand foreign-language teaching is examined briefly from earliest times to the latter part of the twentieth century. Particular attention is given to changes in practice and learning theories over time with the aim of understanding the roots of the teaching of French while detecting possible lasting influences on that teaching. Secondly, current practice (curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment) at fourteen South African universities offering undergraduate courses in French is analysed critically against the backdrop of more recent learning theories; these are found to have little resonance in current practice. The analysis informs the model which is then proposed for the teaching of tertiary-level French at South African institutions. The starting point for the model is the acknowledgement that in South Africa French is a foreign language and must be taught as such. Consideration is given to the learning environment, as well as to ideology and constraints which exert influence on the teaching of French. With the proposed model a certain concept of language, society and learning/teaching strategies is advocated, while the roles of the learner, teacher, didactic material, and the mother tongue are clearly positioned within that concept. The model proposes a pedagogy and curriculum, which are learner-centred, taskarticulated and outcomes-based and which are anchored in constructivism and democratising ideology. Finally, reasons are given as to why the adoption of such a model would add value to the teaching of French at South African universities.