La rencontre avec l’« Autre » dans la lecture d’œuvres francophones adressées à la jeunesse : modalités, réception et perspectives

Abstract

The reading of French language picture books that are intended for a young readership remains a relatively little-used tool in the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language. In an innovative approach, two works of this type, one Swiss and the other Quebecois, were proposed to students with relatively low levels of mastery of the target language. The research was undertaken among 26 ab initio learners of French as a foreign language at the Australian National University (Canberra). The objective was to obtain information about the way in which these specific works were received. Following an outline of the research context and pedagogical relevance of the two particular picture books, a summary analysis is presented of the responses to questionnaires that were distributed on conclusion of this reading exercise. The results provide insight into the readers’ response to the picture books concerned and the extent of engagement by young adults in the reading of these iconotextual works in the French language.

Keywords

• children’s literature
• french as a foreign language
• francophonie
• reading
• reader’s response: engagement