For first year learners, the material explores the French language and culture by following the lives of real students from the University of Texas who have participated in the UT Summer Program in Lyon, France. In addition, there are interviews with native French speakers, as well as scenes of day-to-day interactions in France.
Type of Material:
First year French Course
Recommended Uses:
Classroom, Online, Independent use
Technical Requirements:
Media player
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Listening, speaking, reading and writing at the first year level of French language can all be enhanced through the materials in Le français Interactif.
Students at all levels can make cultural inferences and comparisons from the in-country videos and the native speaker/ UT student interviews.
Target Student Population:
First year learners of French
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
None
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The layout of this resource is in chapters/topics similar to those of a traditional language textbook. In addition to culture topics, there are resources for learning the alphabet, grammar, vocabulary items, and videos with vocabularly in context.
While the primary audience is the University of Texas French language community, Le Français Interactif provides access to a wealth of high-quality language materials to a truly worldwide audience. The materials are complete, correct and extremely engaging. The student actors in the series show an enthusiasm for learning French that makes a real case for study abroad.
Concerns:
None
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
For college-age learners, viewing videos of other college-age students using the target language is intrinsically interesting and engaging. This is perhaps the most attractive aspect of the site: language and culture presented in engaging context for the intended learning population.
The program builds on tools previously created by the University of Texas at Austin, such as the famous Tex's French Grammar. (See MERLOT peer review). Since the themes of Le Français Interactif are those that are common in any first year French book, it is possible to have students use its videos when covering such themes as fashion, gastronomy, media and communication, among other topics.
Concerns:
none
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The design is clean and the site is beautifully constructed. Navigation is clear and intuitive. There are also numerous links to additional support sites. The UT technology group is developing similarly sophisticated language materials in other languages as well, notably the German Deutsch im Blick is coupled with Grimm's Grammar, just as the French materials are teamed up with Tex's French grammar. Both programs make novel use of cartoons and creative text with audio.
Le Français Interactif gets high marks for usability and effective use of technology.
Concerns:
None
Other Issues and Comments:
None
Creative Commons:
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