Contemporary French cinema and the langue de passage: From Dheepan to Welcome

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Gemma King
Keyword(s):  
Complex Network ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
French Language ◽  
French Cinema ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Post Colonialism ◽  
French Films

In contemporary films like Dheepan (Jacques Audiard, 2015) and Welcome (Philippe Lioret, 2009), effects of (post)colonialism, immigration and globalisation transform French spaces into multilingual ones, in which language use is impacted by a complex network of spheres of influence. This article offers a new approach to understanding the place of the language in French films about border-crossing in today’s Europe. It paraphrases terminology from Abdellatif Kechiche’s La Graine et le mulet to examine the films Dheepan and Welcome, in which the French language is crucial to migrants’ survival, but in temporary and conditional ways. Finally, the article analyses how French co-exists alongside other languages such as Tamil, English, and Kurdish in such films, and proposes a new term for understanding the use of language by shifting and migrating subjects: the langue de passage.

The French Way

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kuisel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
French Language ◽  
French Cinema ◽  
Free Markets ◽  
Technology Sector ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
The U.S

There are over 1,000 McDonald's on French soil. Two Disney theme parks have opened near Paris in the last two decades. And American-inspired vocabulary such as “le weekend” has been absorbed into the French language. But as former French president Jacques Chirac put it: “The U.S. finds France unbearably pretentious. And we find the U.S. unbearably hegemonic.” Are the French fascinated or threatened by America? They Americanize yet are notorious for expressions of anti-Americanism. From McDonald's and Coca-Cola to free markets and foreign policy, this book looks closely at the conflicts and contradictions of France's relationship to American politics and culture. The book shows how the French have used America as both yardstick and foil to measure their own distinct national identity. France has charted its own path: it has welcomed America's products but rejected American policies; assailed Americ's “jungle capitalism” while liberalizing its own economy; attacked “Reaganomics” while defending French social security; and protected French cinema, television, food, and language even while ingesting American pop culture. The book examines France's role as an independent ally of the United States, but he also considers the country's failures in influencing the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. Whether investigating France's successful information technology sector or its spurning of American expertise during the AIDS epidemic, the book asks if this insistence on a French way represents a growing distance between Europe and the United States or a reaction to American globalization. Exploring cultural trends, values, public opinion, and political reality, this book delves into the complex relationship between two modern nations.

Factors predicting classroom WTC in English and French as foreign languages among adult learners in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110540
Author(s):  
Elvira Barrios ◽  
Irene Acosta-Manzano
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
French Language ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Relative Standing

This study aimed to identify associations and predictors of willingness to communicate (WTC) of adult foreign language (FL) learners and whether they are contingent upon the FL being learned. To this end, our research investigated learner variables associated with WTC in adult FL learners of English and of French in an under-researched field of WTC studies in Spain. More specifically, the following variables were studied: gender, age, level of multilingualism, perceived relative standing in the class, language proficiency, teacher’s use of the FL in class, out-of-class foreign language use (OCFLU) and the two emotions of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). Of the 9 independent variables examined, FLCA and language proficiency were found to be predictors of the WTC of both English and French language learners; additionally, enjoyment was found to be a predictor of WTC of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and OCFLU, of learners of French as a foreign language (FFL). Our findings indicate that the construct of WTC needs to be further studied as research may produce dissimilar results depending on the instructional setting, population and foreign language. Pedagogical implications for language teaching practices seeking to enhance adult FL learners’ WTC were also drawn from the study results.

scholarly journals Test de Français Laval-Montreal: Does It Measure What It Should Measure?

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Romain Schmitt ◽  
Shahrzad Saif
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Target Language ◽  
French Language ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Formation Initiale ◽  
Teacher Training Programs ◽  
Language Needs

This article reports on a study conducted as part of a larger investigation of the predictive validity of the Test de Français Laval-Montreal (TFLM), a high-stakes French language test used for admission and placement purposes for Teacher- Training Programs (TTPs) in major francophone universities in Canada (Schmitt, 2015). The objective of this study is to examine the validity of TFLM tasks for measuring language abilities required by tasks common to the Target Language Use (TLU; Bachman & Palmer, 2010) domains in which preservice teachers are expected to function. Adopting Messick’s conception of construct validity (1989) and Bachman & Palmer’s Framework of Task Characteristics (2010), the study features a comprehensive task analysis detailing the characteristics of TFLM tasks in contrast to those of three major TLU academic and instructional contexts linked to the test. The results of the study are discussed in terms of the standards of validity (Messick, 1996) and qualities of usefulness (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). Findings suggest that TFLM tasks and constructs do not represent those of the TLU contexts and do not address the language needs of preservice teachers as identified by the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS). The implications for the consequential aspect of TFLM validity and the potential nega- tive consequences of TFLM use as an admission test are discussed. Cet article présente une partie d’une étude plus complète sur la validité prédictive du Test de Français Laval-Montréal (TFLM), test de langue française à enjeux critiques utilisé comme test d’admission et de placement dans les programmes de formation initiale en enseignement d’importantes universités francophones au Canada (Schmitt, 2015). Le but de ce e étude est d’analyser la validité des tâches du TFLM à des fins d’évaluation des compétences linguistiques exigées dans les tâches communes aux domaines d’utilisation de la langue cible dans lesquels les enseignants en formation doivent fonctionner (Target Language Use (TLU); Bachman & Palmer, 2010). Basée sur la conception de la validité conceptuelle de Messick (1989) et le cadre d’analyse des caractéristiques des tâches de Bachman & Palmer (2010), l’étude compare de manière détaillée les tâches du TFLM à celles de trois contextes académiques et pédagogiques d’emploi de la langue cible. Les résultats de cette analyse sont évalués en termes de validité (Messick, 1996) et des qualités des tests (Bachman & Palmer, 1996). Les résultats indiquent que les tâches du TFLM et les construits qu’il est sensé évaluer ne correspondent pas à ceux des contextes d’emploi de la langue cible et ne répondent pas aux besoins des ensei- gnants en formation tels qu’identi és par le Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS). La validité du TFLM, les conséquences ainsi que les aspects potentiellement négatifs de son utilisation comme test d’admission sont discutés. 

Ex Uno Plures: Global French in, on and of the Rue Morgue and the Orient Express

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-60
Author(s):  
Alistair Rolls
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
French Language

AbstractIn the following paper, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express are considered, and compared, as exemplars of what Andrea Goulet has labelled “Global French,” which is to say that both texts convey non-English, and especially French, language use through their own original English. Both texts will be shown to be born in, stage, and depart from primal linguistic scenes: the Babelian confusion of Poe’s multiple foreign witnesses will be embodied in the impediments that keep them from the scene of the crime; in Christie’s case, the multilingual investigation on board the Orient Express will stand in place of stilted and curtailed conversation held, in the Global French of Christie’s English, on the platform of another train. As sites of original translation and communicative excess and failure, these classic texts are about language first and crime second; indeed, the murder on Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express embodies taking place but, ultimately, does not take place at all.

Summary and conclusion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Gafaranga
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Concurrent Use ◽  
Interactional Functions ◽  
New Research

Research in code-switching, undertaken against the backdrop of very negative attitudes towards the concurrent use of two or more languages within the same conversation, has traditionally been geared towards rehabilitating this form of language use. From being seen as a random phenomenon reflecting the user’s lack of competence, code-switching is currently seen as sign of an advanced level of competence in the languages involved and as serving different interactional functions. However, as a result of its success, the research tradition now faces an entirely new challenge: Where to from here? How can research in code-switching continue to be relevant and interesting now it has largely achieved its original purpose? This book has argued that, in order to overcome this challenge, the notion of bilingualism itself must be redefined. Bilingualism must be seen as consisting of diverse interactional practices and be investigated as such. This book has made the case for this new approach, outlined a methodology for investigating bilingualism as interactional practices and illustrated it by means of three case studies. This concluding chapter wraps up the argument and invites other researchers to contribute to this new research direction.

Fake Paintings, Fake Clues, and True Crimes in French Cinema (1911-1914)

KronoScope ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-245
Author(s):  
Raphaëlle Costa de Beauregard
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
French Cinema ◽  
The Real ◽  
Major Consequence ◽  
French Films

A major consequence of the capture of images by photography was a reevaluation of idealist philosophy on behalf of material philosophy. But with the projection of images in movement, the capture of a much more immaterial essence of this reality was foregrounded. Two French films of the period when cinema had fully developed its narrative strategies are examined in this paper: a short burlesque, Jean Durand’sLe Rembrandt de la rue Lepic(Gaumont, 1911), and a serial of five films, Louis Feuillade’sFantômas(Gaumont, 1913-1914). The two films rely on the instability of images for the dramatic progression of plots that are devoted to the pursuit of an “authentic” image, whether a painting or a fingerprint, itself understood as the reliable “trace” of the materiality of the real world. This paper examines the various meanings of the word “trace” in these films within the cultural context of the 1910s and the prominent questioning of time issues.

scholarly journals ‘Adieu, Vaarwel, groet mijne zo Waarde Ouders’ : Het gebruik van Franse leensuffixen en leenwoorden in een negentiende-eeuwse familiecorrespondentie

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-156
Author(s):  
Emmy Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
French Language ◽  
Cultural Hegemony ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Dutch Politics ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
The Family

Abstract ‘Adieu, Vaarwel, groet mijne zo Waarde Ouders’: The usage of French loan suffixes and loan words in a nineteenth-century family correspondenceThe French cultural hegemony in Europe over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries affected Dutch society. During the French period (1795-1813), the French influence on Dutch politics was significant as well. As a result, the Dutch language ‘frenchified’: many loan words and loan suffixes were borrowed from French. A corpus analysis of the family letters of the Bijleveld family from Leiden (1813-1814) reveals the extensive impact of French language contact. Especially in the letters of son Theodoor, who was sent to France in 1813 to serve for Napoleon’s Garde d’honneur (‘guard of honor’), the amount of loan suffixes is considerable. This result outnumbers the outcomes of the study by Rutten, Vosters and Van der Wal (2015) and shows that the language use of elite citizens was significantly influenced by French. A comparison between loan suffixes and loan words in the letter corpus reveals an even more compelling result: the relative frequency of loan words in the corpus is twice as high as the relative frequency of loan suffixes.

scholarly journals Sprachgebrauch und Spracheinstellungen in der Deutschschweiz. Pfarrpersonen als sprachbewusste Sprecherinnen und Sprecher im Fokus

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Oberholzer
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
German Dialects ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Real Language ◽  
High Degree

The relation between Swiss German dialects and Standard German has been subject to public and scholarly debates for over 100 years. Among the most frequently discussed points are the appropriateness of spoken Standard German in different contexts and the attitudes of Swiss people towards the two varieties. This paper summarises the results of a completed research project (Oberholzer in Vorb.), which surveyed language use and language attitudes in Swit-zerland for a specific group of speakers: pastors and priests working in German-speaking Switzerland. The paper shows how pastors and priests make use of the diglossic situation and the possibility to code-switch in Sunday services. The use of Standard German emerges as an important communicative resource in German-speaking Switzerland. In addition, real language use and intended language use match to a high degree; this shows the degree of language awareness of this particular group in a diglossic situation. Furthermore, a relatively new approach – the assumption that several mental models of High German coexist – helps to show differentiated language attitudes and to contradict some of the most common stereotypes regarding Standard German in German-speaking Switzerland. The attitudes towards Standard German in this study are significantly more positive than those observed in previous studies.

scholarly journals Tourism development in border areas: a benefit or a burden? The case of Karelia

Baltic Region ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-111
Author(s):  
Svetlana V. Stepanova
Keyword(s):  
Border Crossing ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Tourist Flows ◽  
National Border ◽  
Border Areas ◽  
Level I ◽  
International Border ◽  
Municipal Level

Border regions are expected to benefit from their position when it comes to tourism de­velopment. In this article, I propose a new approach to interpreting the connection between an area’s proximity to the national border and the development of tourism at the municipal level. The aim of this study is to identify the strengths and limitations of borderlands as re­gards the development of tourism in seven municipalities of Karelia. I examine summarised data available from online and other resources, as well as my own observations. Using medi­an values, I rely on the method of content analysis of strategic documents on the development of cross-border municipalities of Karelia. My research focuses on the tourism and recreation potential of borderlands and analyses the development of local tourism infrastructure. I de­scribe the major types of tourism, examine tourist flows, and consider the strategic aspects of tourism at the municipal level. I identify the strengths and limitations of the development of tourism in border areas by comparing the data on border and inland municipalities of Kare­lia and investigate the role of international border crossing points in the development of tou­rism in borderlands.

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