Learning language at UofL more than conjugating verbs
September 17th, 2007
This engraving of French explorers on the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) was published in 1797. It is one of several by Duché de Vancy, official artist for the Jean-Francois de Lapérouse expedition, that Greene will use in class. The expedition disappeared without a trace. (Courtesy of the French Naval Archives, Vincennes, France.)
Some graduate and advanced undergraduate students studying French language at the University of Louisville this fall will learn about 18th century maritime exploration and ideas of cultural diversity that were prevalent in that century. They’ll read 200-year-old maritime reports, watch movies and read philosophy. They’ll also interact via the Internet with French archaeologists.
What does all of this have to do with learning to speak French?
Everything. Learning a foreign language at UofL is more than studying vocabulary, grammar and literature. It also includes the study of history, culture and civilization.
“It’s important to remember that learning a language isn’t just about learning standard phrases and how to navigate a foreign menu,” said UofL French professor John Greene, who is teaching the course called La découverte de l’exotique au 18e siécle (Discovering the Exotic in the 18th Century).
“Ideally, learning a language should make a student feel at home in another culture.”
The American Association of Teachers of French recently named Greene the best post-secondary French teacher in the United States. He also received a curriculum development award from the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies for his new course.
Greene is drawing on his research interest in the 18th century to teach students about French exploration and how it fit with contemporary concepts of the exotic, the noble savage and gender roles.
His course will include a focus on French explorers Louis-Antoine de Bougainville and Jean-François de Lapérouse. Both are well-known in France, he noted, but hardly known outside of that country.
“Students studying their voyages not only develop their French-language skills, but learn something about French culture and French cultural heroes,” he explained. The course also offers a way to discuss how questions of diversity are not only relevant today, but also how they were treated more than 200 years ago.
Greene’s approach is not new to UofL. Since 2001, the Department of Classical and Modern Languages has incorporated more civilization and cultural studies into French and Spanish curricula, something the Modern Language Association started advocating in 2006 to address the U.S. language deficit.
CML revamped its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in Spanish and French “to offer a more skills-based and practical curriculum centering on improving students’ language ability and cultural awareness for a changing world,” said Augustus Mastri, Italian professor and acting department chair.
Both languages have seen an increase in the number of majors. The number of French majors, he said, has increased 30 percent in the past academic year alone.
“By graduating more linguistically qualified students, and with faculty who receive recognition from major national professional organizations…CML is going in the right direction,” Mastri said.
Related Links
Classical and Modern Languages
Modern Language Association recommended curriculum changes
Course description: La découverte de l’exotique au 18e siécle
