Twenty-second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The transition from an in-person course to an online format offers opportunities to try new teaching approaches in French. Narrated slide shows, video, audio clips, links to museums and to digital libraries can provide meaningful cultural contexts and transform the online classroom into a vibrant learning community. This paper examines the impact of cognitive and affective factors on student performance in a Reading and Writing French course. Based on current pedagogical research and classroom experience, the humanistic approach outlined focuses on students’ background knowledge, cognitive style, motivation and interest. I first look at several orientation and pre-teaching activities, advance organizers and the progressive integration of multimedia authentic materials as valuable strategies for building a broad base of knowledge with students. Secondly, I examine the effects of supplementing language instruction with study suggestions, online vocabulary and grammar components accompanied by self-correction activities and instructor feedback. Within the framework of a humanistic approach, establishing criteria for quality and quantity written participation in online discussions promote student engagement and encourage reflection on own performance.