Le Littéraire dans le quotidien

Reviewed by Olga Vasile, Lecturer, CU Boulder on 7/1/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

"Le Littéraire dans le quotidien" is comprehensive relative to the pedagogical objectives described in its Teacher’s guide. It exemplifies a comprehensive teaching philosophy and methodology, but it is not a comprehensive manual for French language instruction. Modules are designed with a transdisciplinary approach that aims at developing linguistic, cultural and intercultural awareness primarily through reading, writing and peer editing.
Modules can be used to accompany and integrate a language manual (the manual of reference is "Français Interactif", http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/ ) but can also be adapted in other teaching and learning contexts.
Each module presents thought-provoking content and activities supported by a rigorous theoretical reflection on the objectives of language learning today, as well as on the methods to achieve these objectives.
Learning material comes from a variety of excellent sources: a variety of literary texts and other authentic written artifacts and audiovisuals. Non-traditional forms of written communication such as blogs are also part of the resources.
The author of "Le Littéraire dans le quotidien" provides essential and comprehensive contextual information to accompany her selection of texts thus making their reception more approachable.
Activities are well scaffolded, they support the development of students’ critical reading and writing abilities through independent reflection and collaborative construction of knowledge. A wealth of external written, audio and audiovisual resources that can be used to further elaborate on the topics presented.
The ancillary nature of this textbook might be seen as weakness. There are for instance some progression gaps from one chapter to the other. While the book provides links to explanations in "Français Interactif", and other external resources , in my view, it can be used as stand alone textbook only by students who already have a certain linguistic proficiency in French, or who need to consolidate beginners to intermediate linguistic knowledge.
Another limitation can be seen in the continuous shifting from one language to the other. This allow students to engage with content that goes beyond their linguistic skills, however I feel that the effectiveness of this strategy needs to be carefully examined. Possibly a less complex presentation could achieve similar results while allowing students to remain in the foreign language.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The quality of this textbook is high: content is accurate, varied and interesting, it is accompanied by a wealth of external written, audio and audiovisual resources that can be used to further elaborate on the topics presented. Supplementary material is also accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

As far as literary resources are concerned the high quality content is timeless, while when texts are chosen from current and not so current French and American TV programs, or blogs, the risk of resources becoming dated is higher, and most probably will require updating.
Unfortunately the links to some external resources are not always current, or the links are broken. Just to give an few example: in “1b. Comment?!” the specific link to the MIT Cultura project http://cultura.mit.edu/1999-fall-mit-int-21/ leads to a “page not found” requiring the user to take additional steps to find the desired content as "archived" material; similarly the movie “L’école pour tous” (p.8) is not accessible because the video: “[...] contains content from Studiocanal, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.”; in “09 La Technologie-composée-et-imparfaite” the source of the text “Le Crash” http://www.cettenuitjaireve.com/reves/2010/02/03/le-crash/ is not found.
I feel updates could be easily implemented when necessary.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear and accessible, however sometimes there is an overload of “directions” and “explanations”. This may be a burden on the teaching and learning process. Long explanation written in English, no matter how interesting, may have adverse effects on students cognitive load especially when considering their often limited attention span and class time constraints. In addition some student may find some explanation difficult to understand due to metalinguistic jargon.
With regard to texts and videos in the original language, some of them are linguistically beyond the level of the intended audience (beginners to intermediate students). The challenge therefore remains to establish how to use particular resources without relying on translation.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in providing high quality and varied literary and cultural stimuli, as well as well structured and guided learning opportunities.

Modularity rating: 4

While the text is designed with a progression in mind, each module can be considered self-contained and complete. It is also possible to use sub-sections of each module, however texts are organized around a well sequenced set of activities and partial use of these would prevent full mastery and exploration of a particular learning objective.
It would be necessary to plan the use of a module, or part of it, within a coherent program that reflects similar strategies of teaching and learning, as well as the linguistic level of the students.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The organization of each module is systematic and consistent, with an emphasis in the first chapters on methodological procedural instructions that is less prominent in later chapters.
Culturally relevant advanced organizers prepare the students for the reading, this is done in English in the first chapters and later on with a mix of explanations in English and French; in "Texts" a number of activities raise student awareness on formal aspects of the texts presented; the "Regardez de plus près" section is dedicated to close reading ; another section "Allons plus loin" provides opportunity for expansion. The writing section of each module includes a number of independent writing and peer editing activities that follow a well designed progression.

Interface rating: 4

I did not see any particular interface issue. I just feel however that the author of the text tries to accomplish too many goals in a single textbook, hence many potential deviations. This richness might feel overwhelming for some of today’s students.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors observed

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

"Le Littéraire dans le quotidien" presents predominantly, but not exclusively, Francophone texts from mainland France literature and culture. It presents a variety of social, historical, literary and overall multicultural realities. In line with its transdisciplinary approach, it juxtaposes Francophone and Anglophone texts to generate opportunities for intercultural understanding.

Reviewed by Nathan Rabalais, Assistant Professor, College of William and Mary on 2/1/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book is quite comprehensive. At the beginning of the book, the author goes into great detail explaining where to find other resources using Google docs and how instructors might adapt them to their course. The individual chapters are well contained. One suggestion would be to include a glossary for vocabulary at the end of the book.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not see any examples of inaccuracy in the book.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I don't believe that this book is at any particular risk to become "dated". I found the examples and cultural objects to be quite timeless. Even the chapter on technology carefully avoids using specific references to application/devices that could date the work. At any rate, this could always be remedied as it is one of the great advantages to OER resources.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is very clear. At times, I think even less direction could be used, particularly in the text directed to the instructor. The instructions for students begin in English and progress to more French later in the book. I think given the level of work asked of students, the instructions could be given in French earlier to get them used to working exclusively in the target language.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is very consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

One of the most attractive aspects of the book is its modularity. I can easily see using sections of chapters, particularly the material on folktales, in classes that I currently teach. Other content, like the section on the "passé simple" is very handy and clearly laid out. Since the instruction are integrated into the book (instead of in a separate "instructor's packet", etc.), it is easy to select passages for one's individual needs.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I particularly enjoyed the fluid and logical organization of the book. It hits on all of the relevant topics and issues that I look for in a textbook (travel, technology, culture, social issues, etc.) and the content is well paired with the grammatical/technical objectives in each chapter.

Interface rating: 5

I read in other reviews that there were a few broken links, but did not encounter any problems myself and assume that these have been repaired. The use of Google docs is intelligent and allows many institutions (like my own who already uses Google for all institutional e-mail, etc.) to seamlessly integrate the material with students' existing e-mail accounts. It also ensure that the interface will be kept up to date.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors that I could find.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The cultural component of the book is tactfully presented and integrated with the technical objectives of the book. The approach leaves room for the student and instructor to ask questions and think critically without project a bias or particular point of view. It also does a great job of bridging the cultural gap between francophone cultures when teaching U.S. students.

Comments

My main comment is not so much a criticism as a question. I'm still not sure how easy this resource would be to implement in my language curriculum, as it is not meant to replace a traditional language textbook (e.g. for 101, 102, etc.), but it is not well suited for advanced writing courses or 'conversation' classes. At least in my program, I think this book would be most useful as a companion to existing course materials on specific topics or grammatical points. This is not so much a criticism of the book itself, but rather a lack of a clear way to implement the book in a given course.

Reviewed by Tara Smithson, Instructor of French, Louisiana State University on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book was designed to complement first and second year language programs with a series of increasingly more challenging reading and writing exercises. While direct instruction of grammar is not the focus, each chapter reinforces different grammatical concepts by asking students to engage with them via the texts presented. Therefore, Le Littéraire dans le quotidien could serve as a companion book to another OER book, such as Le Français Interactif (which is referenced at several points), that covers language and grammar instruction. It could also be adapted to accompany other textbooks that introduce French students to basic grammar. Globally, I was impressed by the textbook's comprehensiveness. Le Littéraire dans le quotidien provides a thorough introduction to a variety of literary and popular genres such as poetry, instructional texts, travel writing, memoir, blog posts, jokes, letters, and aphorisms. Each piece of writing is contextualized with information about the author and time period, explanations of genre conventions, and a series of exercises that guide French language students through the reading and writing process. Thus, students have the opportunity to become more analytical readers as they annotate, discuss, and write responses to the text. Then they can further hone their writing skills by composing a creative text that responds or builds upon the genre highlighted in each section. LFDLQ could, however, benefit from a reference section with overviews of grammatical points so that it could function as a stand-alone text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not notice any instances of error or inaccuracy. One of the book's strengths is that it presents a variety of different registers, which I see as contributing to an accurate representation of the French language in its diverse usages. For example, in Chapter 1, the author presents the use of nouns as adjectives (e.g. Moi, je suis très café, mais lui, il est plutôt thé"). While this usage fairly common among native speakers, it is unusual to see it included in a textbook. I also liked that Luks proposes both formal and informal versions of everyday expressions (e.g. Ce n'est pas grave v. Pas de problème or Comment/Pardon v. Hein/Quoi?). On the other end of the spectrum, Chapter 10 familiarizes students with the passé simple, which is featured in Perrault's version of "Le Petit Chaperon Rouge." Generally speaking, the range of source material insures variety in register.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I found this book to be extremely culturally relevant and, consequently, high in interest. Since it was published fairly recently (2013), it does not suffer from the painfully dated references that plague many textbooks. Nor does it rely too heavily on allusions to "current events" that will no longer be current within a year's time. Aside from the pictures of authors, there are a limited number of photographs of people that would tie the book to the era of its creation. Instead, many of the images selected for the book are abstract and artistic in nature; thus, they lend themselves well to longevity. When the need arises, the text will be easy to update. The author also anticipates that certain links included in the texts may eventually cease to function and provides search terms in case this should happen.

Clarity rating: 5

Le Littéraire dans le quotidien is written in clear, accessible prose. Even though the book asks students to do sophisticated work as readers and writers, it does not burden them with excessive jargon in the process. It provides the appropriate terminology, furnishes lucid definitions, and helps students to assimilate the information through the use of well-chosen examples and follow-up questions.

Consistency rating: 5

The book provides a consistent format. First, students complete reading exercises (both individually and collaboratively) organized around 1-3 short texts. Then, they do writing exercises inspired by the genre of the the text they have just read. Finally, they fine-tune their work through peer-editing. As outlined in the table of contents, each chapter targets a form of "cultural knowledge and mindset" while also reinforcing "language use and strategies." The tasks students are asked to do vary in difficulty from chapter to chapter but generally remain level-appropriate. While the explanatory texts and questions are written in English in the beginning chapters, the textbook transitions towards additional use of French in the latter chapters.

Modularity rating: 5

I found this book's layout to be very attractive and user friendly. Information is presented in small chunks, with effective use of white space to allow the reader to mentally digest the material and annotate texts in the margins. Colored font sets off titles and key points, and text boxes highlight important pieces of information. The text is also image rich, with carefully selected artwork that reiterates the chapters' themes and acts as another point of entry for the material. On a similar note, the cover pages for each chapter were quite striking and would lend themselves to discussion. I also appreciated that the text includes links to relevant YouTube videos that present modern adaptations of some of the works (Le Hareng saur by Charles Cros, for example) as well as other authentic resources. While the format for each chapter is the same, each separate piece stands alone. It would be very easy to use select portions of LLDLQ in an intermediate language class or even a special topics course, such as "Business French."

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is organized logically and designed to align with students' progress through a traditional grammar book. That said, I did, at times, question the sequencing. While I found the activities based on Proust's questionnaire and Le portrait chinois to be high in interest and potentially very enjoyable for students, I think they would work better later in the book. Some of the model responses are somewhat sophisticated and use grammatical structures and vocabulary that would be inaccessible for most true beginners. If I were to use this textbook, I would probably do the "autoportrait" exercise from Chapter 4 before the questionnaire/portrait chinois since it is is not as abstract and could easily be written entirely in the present tense.

Interface rating: 5

I did not encounter any interface issues. The user guide that precedes the first chapter offers very clear instructions about how to use Google docs and forewarns of the potential formatting issues that can result when a Google doc is exported or saved as a Word document.

Grammatical Errors rating: 2

I did not encounter any grammatical errors, either in English or French.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Luks makes an effort to include a diverse range of texts and authors from different time periods, backgrounds, religions, and political orientations. In this respect, I especially appreciated Chapter 6 which examined the work of a Franco-Tunisian calligrafitti artist, El Seed, alongside of aphorisms and slogans from Mai '68. The author's choice to include a short excerpt from Kristin Ross's monograph on the strikes of '68 emphasizes that the political dimensions of the movement and workers' engagement in the strikes have been softened in French public memory, much in the way that Martin Luther King, Jr. has been de-politicized in American public memory. The excerpts from Chroniques de la dérive douce by Haitian author and Canadian national Dany Laferrière also add a more transnational dimension to the textbook. Most of the selections, however, are written by canonical French authors. Additional efforts to include work by Francophone authors could benefit this work. For example, the section that deals with fairy tales and fables could easily be paired a short "conte" by Patrick Chamoiseau or Cajun and Creole folktales from Louisiana collected by Jean Arceneaux. Engagement with issues of gender, sexuality, and disability could add another layer of cultural relevance to this text.

Comments

At first I was skeptical about the book's format because it assumes the regular use of English in class and incorporates translation exercises. Admittedly, this approach runs somewhat counter to my training and usual methods as a language teacher. The benefit, however, from diverging from the full immersion model is that it creates space for students to develop another level of critical awareness about the target culture and their own. On a practical level, I would be interested to know how this text is combined with a more traditional grammar-based class since curricular demands often edge out enrichment activities at the early levels. A sample syllabus would be a useful resource to link to. Personally, I can imagine this book working well as a creative writing course for intermediate level students. Overall, I found that Le Littéraire dans le quotidien offered an inventive approach to the study of literary texts that encourages students to develop a more sophisticated awareness of themselves as language learners. I also appreciated the wide range of texts included and the attention accorded to how contexts and conventions shape a piece of writing's meaning and reception. The primary documents in the final chapter (journal entries and correspondence from a French prisoner of war during WWII) are particularly worthy of note

Reviewed by Jerry Parker, Instructor, Southeastern Louisiana University on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text covers most topic covered in an beginner and/or iintermediate. A lot of the topics are in a logical order and/or have a communicative connection. However, there are some topics that seem to be awkwardly placed which makes it hard for professors to teach them. For example, chapter 1 and 2 can be used in my French 101 course, but chapter 3 can only be used in my French 102 course. Chapter 1A corresponds to chapter 1 of my course and Chapter 1B corresponds to chapter 2 of my course. However, chapter 3 and 6 both correspond to topics that I cover in French 102, chapter 8.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not see any errors

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

I actually did learn a few things from this text. The contents are very excellent and relevant to how students should be using the language.

Clarity rating: 5

Great! Language is understandable for beginning students, but challenges students to learn new terms and phrases.

Consistency rating: 3

Excellent. However, there is no clear theme of this text. It seems to be a mixture of forms of art, but I am not 100% clear.

Modularity rating: 3

It is very easy to divide and edit this book to my liking, however, the topic arrangement is very award.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Topics could be easier to move around. There are certain chapter that can easily move then there are others that cannot. Try doing a content analysis of textbooks to see the order they typically present grammar and restructure this text to match that format.

Interface rating: 5

creative

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No errors

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

This book is entirely too eurocentric and this is the main reason that I will not be using it. It also has multiple negative aspect that contribute to students hidden curriculum of cultural knowledge. While the cultural topics are interesting they are hoesntly not relevant to my students. I do not think any of them (except the art majors) care about graffiti. Dually, there is no reason that Martin Luther King Jr and Maya Angelou are mentioned in this text, but not Maryse Condé, Aimé Césaire, Leopald Senghor, Alexandre Dumas, Raphael Confiant, MAriama Ba and others from the Caribbean and Africa-- where they actually speak French!

Comments

Excellent text overall, I think with some editing, and piloting, and curriculum alignment this will be an excellent contribution to teaching material in French! There are not many of these out there, but teaching are constantly looking for a way to have students apply the grammar in a meaningful context.

Reviewed by Raluca Romaniuc, Term Assistant Professor of French, George Mason University on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text does what is sets out to do, namely it offers students a new, literary-infused way of developing their reading/writing skills. Although some opportunities exist for incorporating listening and speaking activities, these are not overall the focus of this text.
There are numerous resources offered for supplemental texts and/or the study of grammatical points, however the grammar is not explained in the pages of this textbook. The instructor would have to provide extra materials detailing grammatical concepts.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Excellent choice of reading/writing activities. The original pieces of text are in French, while the prompts, indications, explanations, are in English. Clear, easy to follow language throughout.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The textbook proposes a fresh take on the acquisition of reading/writing skills: inductive reasoning, student-led exploration of linguistic resources, authentic texts and tasks, development of interpersonal and intrapersonal writing modes. The chapters are easy to use independently, to be reorganized according to the proposed learning objectives.

Clarity rating: 5

The author does a good job of presenting new grammatical terms and of explaining literary forms. New concepts are briefly explained, with examples, and guidance is offered for supplementary reading/resources.

Consistency rating: 5

The same pedagogical sequencing is used for reading/writing activities throughout the textbook. These steps take students from making inferences about the author/text to a first reading, followed by a session of social or collaborative reading, to a close reading of the texts' linguistic, stylistic nuances. The last stage of the reading task is designed to offer a more in-depth interpretation of the text, while preparing students for the ensuing writing task.

Modularity rating: 5

Modular use of the chapters is possible to fit a diverse range of courses and teaching styles.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The sequencing of chapters and topics follows an increasing level of complexity/difficulty. Within the chapters, the reading activity precedes the writing of the first draft, followed in turn by peer editing before a final version is reached.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free from errors or distortions, easy to read and work with.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text approaches the French and Francophone culture from different angles and guides students in their discovery of new modes of seeing/thinking. From poems to blog posts and from fairy tales to love letters, French culture is explored and explained.

Comments

With its approach of teaching the language/culture through the literary, the textbook could be successfully used in second year French courses. While the reading and writing are beautifully presented, with plenty of in-class and outside-of-class practice ideas, the teacher will need to compensate for the lack of aural/oral practice to ensure all 4 skills are worked on. The language of the textbook and that required in many of the activities is English. It would be difficult to use this textbook in an all-French classroom context, where the target language is used at all times. Certain grammatical concepts are presented briefly, in passing, which means that the instructor would have to provide explanations and examples/exceptions, as needed.

Reviewed by William Holley, Adjunct, Northern Virginia Community College on 6/20/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Le Littéraire dans le quotudien offers instructors and students a set of tools that will help them to use readings and culture in lower division courses. The textbook does offer a fairly comprehensive approach to the readings, offering readings for the first year, with each main reading comprising a chapter of the text. These chapters are established in phases, to help orient the reader with the theme of the reading and to push the reader to continue and engage with the language. The stages are as follows; Préparation, Première lecture, Regardez de plus près, and Allons plus loin.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of the textbook appears to unbiased, the readings draw from a variety of sources (poetry, short story, blog posts, etc.) but they do not seem to convey and particular ideology or bias.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Since the reading passages within Le Littéraire dans le quotidien were chosen for way in which they represent the French language and culture, the information contained within should be fairly pertinent in years (decades) to come. At particular risk, however, is the chapter on technology. The reading itself is fairly timeless, but some of the ancillary material presents terms that may become outdated.

Clarity rating: 5

The structure of the chapters in Le Littéraire dans le quotidien is such that each begins with a presentation in English, in an effort to orient the reader with the ideas to follow. Subsequent sections are fairly easy to understand. As it is noted in the introductory sections, there is no answer key to the readings. One advantage to this is that instructors will need to read the passages as well, forcing them to resolve anything that they may have found unclear during in-class sessions.

Consistency rating: 5

This textbook remains consistent (in format and substance) throughout the chapters presented.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter can be used as a stand-alone module for a first or even second-year French course. The text itself would not be a good stand-alone book for a first-year course, but it can serve as a dedicated reading/writing text to compliment speaking and listening.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The textbook is logically organized, though some chapter could be switched around with little to no disturbance to the flow of the material.

Interface rating: 3

Within Le Littéraire dans le quotidien, there are often several hyperlinks per chapter to external sites and sources. A few of these are no longer active or have since been moved. Everything within the textbook .pdf (images, text passages) was clear and discernible.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not see any noticeable errors in grammar (French or English).

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The passages in Le Littéraire dans le quotidien are primarily drawn from a French centered framework. By incorporating more francophone individuals, it could enrich the cultural relevance of the text as a whole. However, this was not the aim of this project. Nevertheless, build within the project is the opportunity for others to create additional chapters/modules, making it possible for those who may wish to have another French-speaking culture represented, to do so and to share it with others.

Comments

I anticipate that I will be using some of the readings, activities, and discussion from this textbook. While I do not recall it being specified in the preface, I feel this textbook is best suited for a face-to-face course, and it would benefit from some modifications for those who wish to integrate some of the material into an online French course.