#OnYGo

Reviewed by Steven Daniell, Professor of French, Associate Provost, Texas Wesleyan University on 3/26/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The scope of the text is appropriate for the intended duration (i.e., 2 semesters / 3 quarters). It also includes information related to groups who are somewhat marginalized (non-binary, non-European ancestry, etc.).

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This particular aspect looks solid. I especially like introducing the levels of vocabulary (familiar, standard, formal) from the very beginning. American speakers don't always grasp the difference intuitively beyond adjusting usage for friends/siblings vs. grandparents/teachers.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The inclusion of vocabulary related to non-binary students is especially welcome. In the past, I have reached out to high school teachers, in particular, to find out what they might know in this area.

Clarity rating: 4

While I find the text to be perfectly clear, I can't really see it through the eyes of a first-gen college student who may have never studied languages before. I don't think I'll have any problems presenting the material in class and helping the students work through it, in any case.

Consistency rating: 5

The text does a good job of organizing the material thematically, and presenting different topics in a thorough way that addresses the grammatical and cultural aspects of the target language.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is organized similarly to other French language texts in that the material builds on itself. While the order of presentation may vary slightly from text to text (e.g., does it introduce être before or after avoir; definite articles before or after indefinite ones), the foundational material must be presented for anything afterwards to make any sense.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

#OnYGo follows a logical order of developing, reinforcing, and building upon the material. Since I teach at a university on the semester system, nine chapters may be a little awkward for finding a natural dividing point. I'm sure there was some reasoning behind it--I imagine having to do with the selected chapter themes--so I'll probably split the text 5/4, and see how the students perform.

Interface rating: 5

I have seen no issues with the interface, at least on a laptop. It is in pdf format, and the links to ancillary materials in a Google drive seem to work well. The one thing I've noticed is that the font doesn't distinguish between upper-case I and lower-case L. This actually creates a little confusion in the introduction of iel / Iel.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No issues here.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

As I mentioned before, I like that marginalized groups of all sorts are visible in this text. The text also addresses from the beginning ways to avoid cultural faux pas that Americans can blunder into, especially Americans who haven't traveled abroad.

Comments

I find that the text addresses the five skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, culture) thoroughly from the very beginning. The # chapter titles (as well as the overall text title) are kind of cute, but not in a negative way. Links within the pdf to the Google documents, including audio and video documents, should make it much easier to integrate the lessons: such an improvement over the dreaded language lab work that I had to suffer through as a student, and try to enforce as a younger instructor.