DOCUMENT RESUME BD 111 200 FL 007 066 AUTHOR Walpole, Earl L. TITLE Cultural Understanding: French, Level One. Selected Cultural Concepts Which May Be Developed in French Level I. INSTITUTION Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, Hayward, Calif. PUB DATE 71 NOTE 97p.; For related document, see FL 007 065 AVAILABLE FROMAlameda County Education Center, Rm. 45, 685 A. St.', Hayward, Calif. 94541 ($3.50) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 Plus Postage. HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Awareness; *Cultural Education; Foreign Culture; *French; Instructional Materials; Language Instruction; Language Teachers; Manuals; *Second Language Learning; *Teaching Guides ABSTRACT This manual was prepared to instruct the language teacher on concepts of French culture to be taught in a beginning French class to students of any age. The cultural concepts are cross-referenced and intended to be used with five of the most widely used French texts. Certain deeper cultural concepts are meant to be used for longer unit presentation or activities. The first four chapters are devoted to definition of culture and examination of some cultural phenomena and the values of cultural study. Culture is defined as "the individuals role in the unending kaleidoscope of life situations of every kind and the rules and models for attitude and conduct in them..." It is noted that a cultural study should examine all aspects and be simultaneous with the beginning of foreign language study. The rest of the manual contains instructional essays for the teacher on 38 aspects of French culture from use of "tu" and "nous" to family and social life, restaurants and food, business customs, money, art and music, French geography, politics and religion. Each essay is followed by suggested instructional activities. A list of references and information sources is appended. 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FICHE ONLY HAS SEEN GRANTEO BY EDUCATION I WELFARE Ai-411E DA _LOU Arlie $ 6H-001S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION OF of tHE SUPT THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO TO ERIC ANO ORGANIZATIONS OPERAT OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM ING UNOER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NA THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN TIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS FURTHER REPROOUCTION OUTSIOE STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMIS SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER EOUCATION POSITION OR POLICY CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING: FRENCH, LEVEL I Selected Cultural Concepts Which May Be Developed In French, Level I Published Ly ALAMEDA COUNTY SCHOOL DEPARTMENT Rock La Fleche, Superintendent of Schools 224 West Winton Avenue Hayward, California 94544 ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Mrs. Virginia M. Birdsall, President William P. Burke, Vice President A. Anthe.iy Bilotti Robert E. Clayworth John J. Hagerty Ronald J. Motta Lee S. Simpson III Recommended by ALAMEDA COUNTY SCHOOLS PUBLICATIONS REVIEW BOARD 1971 2 c-lttt') FOREWORD It is not rare to hear a foreign language teacher say that language is the conveyor of culture. It is not our purpose to argue with that notion but rather to add to it the proposition that knowing words and phrases or even the structure of a foreign language does not necessarily mean that the learner understands the culture conveyed by the language. Among the important facets of cultural understanding are the following elements: situation in which the narration or conversation takes place, the particular vocabulary of the persons involved, the spatial and emotional relationships of the speakers to each other, the level of development of technology in the country where the language is spoken, the religion of the people, and visual products of the native speakers of the language Unfortunately, the student beginning the study of a foreign language is so involved in developing hislistening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skillsthat interesting, useful insights into tit., cultural understandings embedded in the language are lost or put off for later. Such an approach to languagz learning is sterile, superficial and of little interest to the majority of today's foreign language students. Cultural awareness, i.e., comparisons on a grand scale, can be gained through a social studies course. Through this approach to cultural understanding, the student compares his own culture with that of another land. But how much more fascinating and relevant when the cultural implications of a dialog being learned in the foreign language class are made to come alive as the students include arithmetic, intonation, posture and gesture. Then and only then can the students listen, speak, read and write with understanding. Only then does language leave the realm of esoterica and enter the real world as relevant learning The goal of this publication is to provide the foreign language teacher with a useful reference regarding cultural information which may be included in whole or in part to aid in motivating students, especially during the beginning phase of theirstudy of French. This guide was approved by the California State Department of Education as a County School Service Fund Project. It was approved for county-wide distribution by the Publications Review Board of Alameda County and by the Alameda County Board of Education CONTENTS I. CULTURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING 5 U. CULTURAL PHENOMENA 10 III. VALUES OF STUDYING A FOREIGN CULTURE 17 N. HOW TO TEACH CULTURE 18 CULTURAL CONCEPTS 1. TU AND VOUS 2. HOMES IN FRANCE 3. THE FRENCH FAMILY 24 4. NAMES 24 5. TITLES OF ADDRESS AND RESPECT 26 6. STREET ADDRESSES 26 7. SCHOOLS 28 u. SPORTS 31 SOCIAL AMENITIES 35 10. THE FRENCH CALENDAR 37 11. DATING 3$ 12. PLAYS AND MOVIES 38 13. FRENCH TIME/AMERICAN TIME 40 14. LA CUISINE FRANcAISE 42 15. EATING HOURS IN FRANCE 48 16. RESTAURANTS 49 17. MONEY IN FRANCE 50 18. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 51 19. SHOPPING 52 20.BUSINESS HOURS AND CUSTOMS 54 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 21. USING THE TELEPHONE 54 22. VACATIONS 54 23. TRANSPORTATION 56 24. CARS AND LICENSES 58 25. STREETS, ROADS AND HIGHWAYS 59 26. SYMBOLS OF FRENCH LIFE 60 27. COLORS 61 28. RADIO AND TELEVISION 63 29. LES FETES E1 LES ANNIVERSAIRES 63 30. ART AND MUSIC 68 31. THE PRINTED WORD 72 32. RELIGION 73 33. PROVENCES ET DEPARTEMENTS 74 34. LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS 75 35. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 76 36. THE CAPITAL CITY 78 37. THE FRENCH VILLAGE 82 38. GEOGRAPHY OF FRANCE 83 APPENDIX 37 4 -"` .t.-it 1 i;-`:.:41.11ri.. 'il',\N.?lit%.k.,.., 7..4_........,...,,,,,,t. ,-eatNik or . NY;TrYmic-- IL -0 ---r-1'Pte fit,Iv.. opr. Lille Amiens Le Havre Rouen Reims Verdun Caien Evreux Metz ® Epernay. Nancy. PARIS mwRENNES/ Troy Vannes e Mans o Orleans ;44 Tours ./,IDur antesa 3 utri clunie oiti7Montlucon Geneve Trionon La Rochelle. Bellap,\\\G' Clermont\ Ferran&\ \\\{Riom \..21,.\\\71 , .Al ertville \Sir ETIENN Moutiers nobl can dc M Voun II III ournon' Rodez \sai \LeVigan Bayonne Marseille pignan CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING Language teachers generally agree that learningamodern foreign language involves the mastery of the four basic skills- listening, speaking, reading and writing. In the past, this area of culture, or cultural understanding, has been much less clearly defined than the area of the four basic skills, particularly in the Level I French texts widely used in California schools. Some Level I French materials have consciously excluded cultural understandings in order to focus the student's complete attention on the structures to be mastered. The inclusion of cultural understandings is most significant, however, at the earliest stages of language instruction. The population of foreign language classes decreases sharply with each succeeding year of advancement, producing larger and more numerous classes at Levels I and H, with relatively few students at Levels III and IV. Cultural concepts, then, are communicated only to a relatively small number of students, unless this is accomplished at the earliest phases of language instruction. It is possible, too, that some teachers of French Level I may not be well enough acquainted with the culture of French-speaking people to be able to present pertinent cultural understandings to the attention of their students. This manual has been prepared, therefort,, to bring to the teacher's attention some of the concepts of French culture, in a systematic arrangement, which may be taught as part of the study of that language. The content of any text is generally written for a specific age group, i.e., if a beginning text is to be used with fifteen-year-old students, the content will probably vary in degree of sophistication from that to be used with ten-year-olds. However, the underlying subject matter is often very similar; each text might include units on food, the family, greetings, shopping, etc. The cultural understandings in this manual, therefore, might be used in part or in toto in any beginning French class, regardless of the text being used. We are indebted in the preparation of this manual to Dr. Reid Scott for the groundwork he has laid in the publication of Cultural Understanding, Spanish Level I. In addition to the similarity if our format to that of his manual, we are in his debt for the research accomplished and presented in the introductory section. Much of that work is duplicated here.