La culture francophone

La culture francophone: Le monde à l’écoute is an innovative textbook designed for intermediate to advanced French courses that aim to introduce the Francophone world and its cultures in an authentic context. From Africa to the Caribbean, to Quebec, to Europe, it explores selected Francophone histories and geographies through a multitude of fascinating avenues, including: lively overviews of French-speaking countries, regions, or populations; excerpts of classic Francophone texts; discussions of prominent Francophone films, culinary dishes, music, public figures, vignettes of everyday life, and more. An array of engaging exercises offer rich opportunities to build language skills, as students become active participants in both language learning and Francophone culture itself. North American Rights Only.

Features:

• Coverage of 11 distinct Francophone regions or populations, including Cameroon, Senegal, Algeria, Morocco, Guadeloupe and Martinique, Haiti, Quebec, Belgium, and multicultural France

• A variety of classic literary selections from Ferdinand Oyono’s Une vie de boy to Ernest Pépin’s L’envers du décor

• Study of engaging, authentic feature films* such as Claire Denis’ Chocolat and Euzhan Palcy’s Rue cases-nègres

• A wealth of exercises, including pre- and post-reading activities as well as pre- and post-watching activities (among them, vocabulary-building activities; small-group exercises; oral presentations; comprehension, interpretation, and discussion questions; as well as composition exercises)

• Multi-sensory activities including introduction to, and recipes for, regional culinary dishes, as well as discussion of Francophone music

 * Films not included, but readily available from numerous vendors. Click here to see the list of films covered in La culture francophone along with information about where to watch or purchase the films online.

Additional Resources:

• Textbook Sample: click here to view a PDF sample of the text, including the complete Table of Contents, Preface, and Introduction.

• Sample lesson plans: click here to download a PDF of sample lesson plans for La culture francophone.

• Index of songs and audio recordings: click here to visit the La culture francophone title support page to listen to songs referenced in the text (YouTube music videos) and audio recordings (streaming mp3) of the au café dialogues.

• Films: click here to see the list of films covered in La culture francophone along with information about where to watch or purchase the films online.

Instructor resources: 

An answer key for the textbook (PDF only) is available to qualified instructors, click here to request a copy.

Reviews:

"Since 2013, with the revisions of the World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, the teaching of culture in the foreign language classroom has shifted from an instrumentalist approach to a focus on developing intercultural competence by understanding the three Ps (Products, Practices, Perspectives) and promoting meaningful cultural interactions. In such a context, La Culture Francophone stands out among its competitors when presenting Products (recipes, literary excerpts, or films). Furthermore, it prompts students to reflect on Perspectives and Practices through the section entitled Personnalité phare, La vie de tous les jours, and Au café, as well as through discussion and writing topics.
      "The authors approach the Francophone world geographically, selecting countries and cultural components form the African, the North American, and the European continent. In addition to discussion and writing topics, each chapter also contains sections providing geographical, historical, or biographical contexts and a variety of texts with pre- and post-reading activities, vocabulary exercises, and pre- and post-viewing activities. The textbook also incorporates guided research, discussion activities, and oral presentations encouraging students to refer to podcasts, videos, and web pages available on the publisher’s website without an additional fee. Overall, a textbook focusing on Francophone cultures and entirely written in French is an innovative concept, filling a gap in the typical university-level curriculum.
"The strength of La culture francophone can be seen in the quality selection of its cultural components as well as its variety. The focus, in turn, provides more freedom to instructors to structure their classes around the essential questions on which they would like their students to reflect."
      —Virginie Cassidy, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse in The French Review

About the Authors:

Astrid A. Billat is Associate Professor of Foreign Language and Literatures, Meredith College. She is also the author of Three Centuries of Spanish Short Stories (Focus).

Bénédicte M. Boisseron is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Montana.