French as a schooling language

Teacher(s)

Bibauw Serge; Hambye Philippe;

Language

French

Main themes

The aim of this course is to study and understand the features of the language and discourse that are specific to school culture. The aim is to grasp the central place of written language, and more specifically of scripturality, in teaching-learning practices at school, in order to measure the impact of the familiarity with this medium of instruction on the quality of learning and on the educational trajectory of students, and its relationship with their socio-cultural profile. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Understand the concept of langue de scolarisation (educational language), grasp the phenomena this concept refers to, and the role they play in teaching-learning practices in schools;
2	Take a critical look at a variety of teaching methods to assess the extent to which they contribute, explicitly or not, to developing students' mastery of the educational language.
This learning unit contributes to the development and command of the following skills and learning outcomes of the ELAL programmes (ELAL learning outcomes): 1.6, 2.6, 3.5, 5.3.

Content

The first part of the course will focus on understanding the concept of French as a language of instruction. It will begin with a theoretical introduction aimed at presenting the concept of language of instruction and situating it in relation to related concepts (literacy, scripturality, etc.). These concepts will then be used to show how they can help identify and understand students' academic difficulties. In a third stage, various teaching tools (lesson plans, textbooks, assessment tools) will be analyzed to examine the extent to which they contribute to or detract from the language of instruction.
The second part of the course will examine specific pedagogical and institutional devices designed to promote the development of the language of instruction in various school contexts. Particular attention will be paid to devices designed to integrate, assess, and teach the language of instruction to newly arrived migrant students (NAMS), in particular the Dispositif pour l'accueil et la scolarisation des primo-arrivants (DASPA) in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Various tools for diagnosing and teaching/learning the language of instruction will be analyzed.

Teaching methods

Lectures based on reference articles and case studies.

Evaluation methods

The course assessment will be based on two elements:

• Active student participation in the course (15% of the final grade). Student participation will be considered active if they complete the required readings, participate in collaborative annotation, and are able to answer questions about them and draw relevant lessons for the course from the readings in question.
• A written assignment that will be presented and defended orally (85% of the final grade).

In the case of assessment in the September session, the participation grade taken into account in the June session will be maintained.
Rules relating to the use of AI and plagiarism
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), if used, must be used responsibly and in accordance with academic and scientific integrity practices. Scientific rigor in both academic works requires both the verification of information and citations (consulting source articles, checking citations, and cross-referencing the results of several tools to limit bias) and the traceability of results and procedures (clearly indicating which tools were used, at what stages, and with what precautions). The use of AI must therefore always be reported in a precise and detailed manner.
Whether reported or not, the presumed use of AI tools will be considered non-compliant with academic standards when it leads to:

• citing bibliographic sources to support statements without having consulted the sources in question and/or without there being a close link between these statements and the ideas developed in these sources, or
• including references in the bibliography that have not been verified or that are completely non-existent.

Similarly, throughout their work, students must demonstrate a perfect command of the rules of bibliographic referencing; at the risk of being suspected of plagiarism (see https://uclouvain.be/fr/etudier/uss/lutter-contre-le-plagiat.html), they must ensure that they

• do not copy a text without quotation marks and/or without mentioning the source; 
• do not reproduce a graph, data, illustrations, etc., without mentioning the source; 
• not to rephrase or summarize an author's original idea without citing the source; 
• not to translate, in whole or in part, a source without citing it.

This definition supplements the one given in Article 107 § 2 of the RGEE and constitutes a specific provision within the meaning of § 3 of the same article. Students who do not comply with the guidelines set out above are liable, in the event of irregularities or plagiarism being detected by the jury, to academic sanctions as detailed in the RGEE (section 7).

Online resources

Course readings, resources, and assignments will be managed via the course's Moodle space: LFRA2004 Français langue de scolarisation.

Faculty or entity

> ELAL