Classroom Activities

French classes at McLennan Community College center around a communicative approach and are geared around the 5Cs of language education as set forth by the Texas Framework for Languages other than English: Communication, culture, connection, comparison, and communities.

A major emphasis is placed on listening and speaking activities. Students are encouraged right from the beginning to talk to each other in the target language, as well as address the professor in French. Students frequently engage in dialogues and have a variety of communicative activities ranging from communicative games to bingo. Grammatical points are mostly taught by example and students deduce the rules. By the first few weeks of class, the students can let others know their names, age, birth date, where they are from, what they are currently studying and the field in which they major. They can also count, tell time, as well as give the day and date.

Creative teaching strategies are used so that the language becomes relevant to the students’ everyday lives and relates to their personal interests. Furthermore, all activities are culturally relevant.

Daily activities are enhanced with technology-based instruction, ranging from videos to computer-assisted lessons. Additionally, guest speakers have enriched classes with lectures on art, politics, business, and sports.

The food section would of course be incomplete without a cooking and tasting segment, as well as a real restaurant scene. So students not only learn vocabulary and grammar, they also get a feel for the culture and have a good time in a different classroom atmosphere.