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Examines the role of exceptional schools in France that have produced famous personages such as Charles de Gaulle and Jean-Paul Sartre. The schools reviewed include L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration, L'Ecole Polytechnique, L'Ecole Normale Superieure, L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Saint-Cyr, and L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. (CK)

Examines the role of films as an instructional aid in class activities devoted to learning a foreign language as well as one's native tongue with the support of modern technology. One of the primary ways of using film to encourage learning is to interest the students in criticizing the film and then to expose them to published criticism of the same film. (16 references) (CK)

Focuses on the assurance by the Alliance Francaise of Paris of professional development of future teachers of foreign languages. The article describes the members of the Alliance as professors at the Foreign Language School of Paris with university training in such diverse fields as linguistics, modern languages, education, and philosophy. Their role and methods of teaching budding foreign-language teachers are described. (CK)

Examines the responsibilities of French teachers, including the promotion of cultural and linguistic pluralism, advancing the social value and positive image of the French language, upholding an enviable international position, and reinforcing the political role of international associations. (CK)

While planet Earth endeavors to transmit information instantaneously, cultural misunderstanding interferes with communication more than any language barrier. The article urges teachers of French to be cognizant of their role as cultural mediators. (Author/CK)

Focuses on the new French judicial certificate as a historic undertaking emphasizing the capability of the French language to take into account and highlight important points of contact between the business world and legal language. The article emphasizes that there is no true business career without legal horizons. (Author/CK)

Comments on the prevalence of the expression in France, "a foreign french language," used to designate a variety of activities and institutions devoted to the teaching and learning of French outside of France. The article emphasizes that to affirm the existence of a French language that is foreign to France highlights historical realities related to French. (four references) (Author/CK)

The debate over financing private education with public funds in France is chronicled, beginning with a review of the issues's history since 1848 and examining events leading to and following a demonstration on January 14, 1994. Legislative testimony of Victor Hugo, modern political cartoons, and data from a recent newspaper are included. (MSE)

A discussion of current problems in French education focuses on the need for increased cooperation between business and education at secondary and postsecondary levels. A number of related resources are reviewed, including sources of information for development of cooperative education opportunities and business linkages, and three books on varied topics. (MSE)

France's new Under-Secretary for Linguistic and Educational Cooperation within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs outlines his plans for the role the agency is to play. Issues discussed include French language instruction, cooperation with developed and developing nations, the role of French, cooperation at all educational levels, and agency management. (MSE)

Recent trends in French society are outlined, focusing on the decline of major institutions (the state, political parties, unions, education, and church), the decline of civic consciousness, the cult of money and competition, the cult of the media, evolution of social classes, and changes in the role of the family. (MSE)

Within the sphere of information, the term "interactive" has acquired a meaning that encompasses the usage of information networks and the end results of accessing the information. This article emphasizes that teachers of second languages can best meet the academic needs of their students by guiding their usage of computer information to enable them to achieve the desired result. (CK)

Focuses on factors influencing the mastery of a foreign language and one's native tongue. Both the child-mother relationship and the teacher-student relationship greatly influence the desire and propensity of an individual to acquire fluency in the language being taught. To learn to speak signifies a wish to use a language and become immersed in its vocabulary. (CK)

Focuses on the misgivings of language professors familiar with the LINGUA program due to a new development in European programs of teacher education. The SOCRATES program continues the previous arrangements of LINGUA while introducing some changes. This article analyzes the changes that have a direct bearing on the education of future teachers. (CK)

Discusses the advantages of travel and maintains that the spirit is continually energized to observe previously unknown things. The article argues that there is no better school for life than to witness the diversity of others' lives, habits, and tastes. (Author/CK)

A student exchange program in which Italian secondary students of French visited Lyon is described, including the impetus for the trip (a European Community initiative to promote international exchange), the search for an exchange partner institution, program design and planning, the trip itself, and evaluation of the effort. (MSE)

A brief discussion and description of one commercially available software package ("Pour Ecrire un Mot") for writing letters of various types uses the love letter as an example of the software's functioning. Answers to the prompting questions on the screen determine the few variable parameters of the text to be generated. (four references) (CNP)

France's Minister of Education and Culture favors a governmental language policy to provide the French with genuine communicative competence in other languages. His plan relies on four "D's": diversification, development, decentralization, and dynamic policy. A chart summarizes the 20 essential measures to be undertaken. (CNP)

A discussion of the need to promote mutual comprehension among speakers of Romance languages describes one university program in France and looks at the possibility of extending multilanguage instruction to secondary education. The potential, and problems, of trying to teach students listening comprehension in several related languages are examined. (MSE)

Presents various activities designed to foster the learning of a language. These include the use of everyday "street words" taught to advanced level students, the use of political speeches of French presidential candidates in order to familiarize advanced adolescents with political discourse, and the playing of cassette tapes and videos to enable students to discuss problems existing in the suburbs, such as the existence of graffiti. (CK)

It is suggested that it has become increasingly important to expose foreign students of French to the full expanse of French literary history, both for its richness and for its cultural value. Two teachers of French literature for foreign students discuss the rationale and elements of successful literature instruction. (MSE)

An analysis of recent French literature produces some frames of reference for understanding the "French identity," both for the individual and the nation. Included in the discussion are the issues of internal differences of conscience as they relate to group identity, the role of public opinion, and contrasts and comparisons with American culture. (MSE)

This section consists of six essays dealing with: (1) current trends in French linguistics; (2) French possessive pronouns; (3) contemporary French novelists; (4) "happiness" in France; (5) the Belgian playwright Michel Ghelderode; and (6) the pedagogical use of popular songs. (AM)

Discusses the problem of the British student of French confronted with French humor in classic and modern French literature. (AM)

Explores social changes which may account for changes in the type and prevalence of humor in French society. (AM)

Describes a guidance and information dossier compiled at the University of Lyon-II to assist foreign students working under an "au pair" arrangement. Explains how the dossier is used as instructional material in French language and civilization classes, suggesting that such training should take place in the country of origin. (MES)

Examines the type of materials available for area studies courses, finding that in general their contents, drawn from news media reports, are of low intellectual value. Proposes the utilization of data collected and analyzed by specialists and presents a sample unit on the levels of income and socioeconomic status in France. (MES)

It is proposed that the French press reflects and characterizes the variety of cultures of France and that sociological study can benefit from close examination of newspaper journalism. Two themes for study are proposed: current preoccupation with security, and the French portrayal of foreigners. (MSE)

Focuses on the accomplishments of Iris Schaedler, a blind coed from Liechtenstein who became exposed to the European cultural melting pot at the age of six. After receiving her bachelor's degree, she earned a diploma from a business school near Zurich, the first blind person from her country to receive such a degree. (CK)

Presents a controversy over the preparatory schooling of two-year-old children. The article argues that small children who attended "maternal schools" at age two years had achievements superior to those of children starting school at three years. (CK)

Efforts to reform education in France include proposed changes in teacher education and the teaching profession that are met with a range of responses from skepticism to hostility. The reactions leave the government little room for movement. (MSE)

An American studying for his master's degree in French in France reflects on the experience of advanced second-language learning. The discussion focuses on the stage at which interaction with others replaces formulation of sentences as the primary task and on understanding the power of word choice. (MSE)

As illustrated in media articles, France is in a political, ideological, and cultural identity crisis. Events within and outside Europe and world migration patterns have worked together to create a confusion of national role, destiny, citizenry, and traditional institutions. (MSE)

The concept of journalistic norms and recent French experience with this are reviewed. It is concluded that the press might be a reasonable arbiter between conservative institutional norms and recent rapid change in the French language. (MSE)