La Chaise Berçante
(Continued from Page One)

Reviewed by Maggie Sokolik, Ph.D.
UC Berkeley, College Writing Programs
sokolik@socrates.berkeley.edu

The Experience (continued)

The beginner's instructions set out a structured step-by-step method for using the disk. (Retour allows the student to return to the previous screen, and imprimer allows the student to print a copy of the screen for future reference.) If a student chooses intermediate-level, instead of beginner, the default screen is in French. The instructions are less structured, although they still recommend that the student first view the movie animation without narration. Advanced and Francophone students are given different learning activities, and are instructed to choose any feature they wish to explore.

The more advanced students are also reminded about the narration of La Chasse-Galerie, which is done both in standard and Canadian French.

Figure 3. La Chasse-Galerie
(Click for larger version)

The language activities are generally of the standard type, including exercises in oral and written comprehension, matching tests, and sentence reconstruction. Although these activities are sound, they lack some of the creativity of the rest of the disk. However, for students or instructors who are more comfortable with standard exercise types, this part of the program provides some familiar formats. One problem with completing some of the activities is the difficulty finding information on diacritical marks! This affects all of the activities that require the student to write. I recommend printing the read-me file (lisez-moi), which does include this information. It is not found elsewhere on the disk.

The cultural material is the true strength of the program. Paintings, folk dances, songs, and slides all give a rich cultural context in which the narrative is situated.  Figures 4 and 5 give examples of cultural elements in the program.

Figure 4. Cultural element: Dance
(Click for larger version)

Figure 5. Cultural Element: Song
(Click for larger version)

Finally, a multimedia glossary (over 1000 words) is available.   Students can search for words by letters of the alphabet, hear their pronunciation, see images, and, importantly, get common collocations of the words. (Choosing s/a/h gives the students synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. Dérivés explain the origin of the word. In this case, tuque is from a city near Quebec named La Tuque.)

Figure 6. Lexicon
(Click for larger version)

Conclusion

Narrative has long been an effective medium through which to teach language and culture. Seeing this program reminded me of what is missing from so many others: a sense of story and culture. While not all multimedia developers can be so lucky as to have access to Academy-Award winning animation, or a team of writers and producers of great skill and talent, a respect and understanding of the strength of story requires none of these things.

This CD-ROM is no doubt aimed at the immersion and bilingual courses in Canada, where French is an official language. However, any French language course or student learning independently could benefit from the richly layered experience that the creators have set out. Indeed, French language programs that honor the multicultural, multi-continental element of French language learning should have this disk in their library.