Teaching a French Oral
Communication course online:
Resources, challenges,
and students perceptions
Solène Inceoglu
Australian National University
2016 FATFA-SAFTA
Background
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Pronunciation instruction has been shown to improve some aspects of second language (L2)
learners’ pronunciation
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Empirical studies have been conducted in laboratory settings (e.g., Thomson, 2011)
In traditional language classrooms (e.g., Saito, 2012).
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Increasing demand for online course delivery (e.g., Goertler, 2011)
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How online pronunciation instruction can affect second language speech development.
How can we teach pronunciation / oral communication online?
What are some resources? What are the challenges? How do students perceive the course?
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Setting
• Technical university in the US (East coast)
• Minimum language requirement: 2 semesters of French
• 16 students enrolled
– US English, Chinese (x2), Spanish (x2), Arabic (x2) Malay, heritage learner from Haiti.
– Majors: Game design, Engineering (mechanical, software, electrical, industrial),
Biomedical science, International business
• 16-week semester
• Mostly asynchrounous
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Goal of the course and requirements
- will have developed oral fluency and accurate pronunciation in French and increase their abilities to communicate orally on
familiar and unfamiliar topics.
- will hear and understand spoken French with greater ease.
- will know how the sounds of French are produced and how they differ from their native language.
- will be familiarized with spoken French, the differences between oral and written French, language registers and
dialects/regional accents.
- will have a better knowledge of French and Francophone culture though exposure to authentic media.
- will have reviewed grammar and vocabulary through exposure to diverse topics (videos, podcasts, texts…).
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IPA assignments
Speaking tasks
Listening tasks
Pair work (x3)
Midterm oral exam
Final group project
Final oral exam
10%
20%
15%
15%
10%
20%
10%
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Resources: Camtasia: screen recorder and video editor
Weekly recorded lessons on:
Syllable, stress, intonation
Liaison and enchaînement
Occlusive, fricative, liquid consonants
Oral, nasal, semi-vowels, schwa…
+ socio-cultural focus
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Resources: “Conversations”
Importance of interaction in SLA +
method of assessment.
Mock face-to-face conversation
 Promote listening and speaking
 Enhance spontaneous speech
 Audio-visual benefits (vs. audio
recording)
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Resources: Conversations
Students’
names
Students’
names
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Facebook: cohort
Video-recorded self
introduction at the
beginning of the
semester:
 Promote a sense of
cohort (classroom
experience)
 Assess students’ oral
skills
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Facebook: class management
Facilitate pair work / group project
management
Class announcements
(also on class website and per email)
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Facebook: generalities
General feedback
to the class re
pronunciation
errors
Reminders
Technical issues /
questions raised by
students
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Pair work oral assignments
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3 assignments (+/- 10 min)
Different partner each time
Different topics (related to weekly focus)
Some prompts already provided + students’ input
Recorded and sent to instructor (software)
- scheduling, partner not showing up
+ connection with classmates, someone new each time, oral practice
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+ office hours
Skype: midterm and final oral exams
Possible because of small group (#16)
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Face-to-face conversation  interaction + negotiation of
meaning/form
Students not showing up (forgot)
Technical issues / bad quality
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Weekly homework handout
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IPA transcription
Listening comprehension
Phonetics question
Prompts for pair work...
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Time management!
Save as pdf – correction /
feedback with Drawboard
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Final project
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Select a movie extract (about 5minute long)
Transcription
Dubbing activity: Be able to
synchronize one’s speech with the lip
movements of the actors/actresses
(fluency and accuracy)
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Difficulties:
monitoring progress
group work
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Students’ perceptions at the end of the course
I think my comprehension of
transitions between words and
when to apply and not apply
them has improved vastly
Polishing up on
vowel/consonant
pronunciations
OUI
Oui, un peu
Oui,
beaucoup
I think that I can speak
faster and more correctly
when reading something
I feel I have especially
improved on keeping
certain consonants silent
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Students’ perceptions: difficulties with liaisons and enchaînements
Week 1
Week 16
53.3%
35.7%
28.6%
14.3%
13.3%
7.1%
6.7%
Je ne sais
jamais les
utiliser
14.3%
Je sais
toujours
très bien
les utiliser
Je ne sais
jamais les
utiliser
Je sais
toujours
très bien
les utiliser
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Students’ perception of online courses
Very
comfortable
Not comfortable
at all
• Time flexibility
• Possibility to
review lectures
• Not feel shy in
front of classmates
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No immediate feedback
No face-to-face interaction, awkwardness
No possibility to learn from classmates’ errors
Possibility to get lazy (not attendance)
Easy to forget due dates
Technical issues
Not comfortable
at all
• Very specific
feedback
• Less stressful
setting
• Time flexibility
• Go back and forth /
review lessons
Very
comfortable
• Miss going to class / no face-toface
• No possibility to ask for
immediate clarification (lecture)
• Group work difficult to manage
• Easier to focus in class
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Beyond the classroom...
When recording myself in general and listening to my own voice
and seeing my face sometimes I hate listening to it again. Also
would hate listening to my own voice so I would be very
intimidated and hesitant. This class gave me confidence
in my voice, not only for French but in general and
that's something I can take with me for the rest of
my life. As a future interpreter, this is very
important to me. Alors, merci, merci beaucoup! :)
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Merci!
Contact info: [email protected]
The Australian National University
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