The didatic model in teaching french as a foreign language: a study of the genre Itinéraire de Voyage

Abstract

This paper aims to show the relevance of teaching French as a foreign language through text genres, especially if we assume that the perspective adopted is one that privileges the action in a foreign language. In addition, we aim to reflect about the importance of knowing a genre before teaching how to produce it as well as point some difficulties involved in the elaboration of a didactic model, particularly when working with foreign languages. Therefore, we will analyze the genre itinéraire de voyage, and from observation of several texts of the same genre, we will elaborate a didactic model of this genre, as presented by Schneuwly and Dolz (2004). The theoretical basis of this study relies on the work of Schneuwly and Dolz (2004) and Bronckart (1999, 2004, 2006) for the definition of textual genres and the elaboration of a didactic model of the genre itinéraire de voyage. The didactic model of a genre is a collection of the characteristics of its teachable dimensions and is one of the steps towards the adoption of genres as a teaching object. Once completed, the didactic model can be used as a teaching tool for the teacher to choose what he/she will teach and how.