The 3rd International Oral French Language Teaching Colloquium, organized in collaboration with Marmara University, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, University of Rouen Normandy, University of Lorraine, Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III University, Institut Français de Turquie, and the Istanbul French Teachers Association, was hosted by the Department of French Language Education at Marmara University’s Atatürk Faculty of Education. The event took place on October 24-25, 2024, at the Göztepe Campus.
Following the journey that began at Istanbul University and continued at the University of Rouen Normandy, this year, Marmara University was pleased to host academics, students, publishers, and language schools with a rich program focusing on Oral French teaching, educational technologies in language teaching, and sociolinguistics.
In the opening speech, Prof. Dr. Seyfi Kenan, Dean of the Atatürk Faculty of Education, emphasized the importance of foreign language teaching and learning, highlighting intercultural interaction. He noted that knowing one language allows you to feel the emotions of one heart, while knowing two languages enables you to understand and feel the emotions of two different hearts. The opening was followed by speeches from Juliette Mauget, French Cooperation Attaché, and Prof. Dr. Yaprak Türkân Yücelsin Taş, Chair of the Department of French Language Education.
The colloquium continued with a conference by Prof. Dr. Véronique Miguel Addisu from the University of Rouen Normandy, titled "Training to Teach French in a Multilingual Context: Sociodidactic Issues and Perspectives." In her presentation, Prof. Addisu explored the role of sociolinguistics in understanding how language is expressed and norms are formed in social and cultural contexts. She emphasized the lack of research on effective teaching methods for multilingual classrooms and shared valuable contributions based on her research on the interactions of teacher candidates in multilingual environments. Her research suggests that oral communication in education should be evaluated from a sociodidactic perspective.
Prof. Addisu also proposed two innovative teaching techniques that help develop the thinking and analytical skills of teacher candidates: “Jigsaw” and “Cooperative Interpretive Research.” These approaches allow teacher candidates to experience and analyze sociolinguistic effects in collaboration, promoting learning through diverse perspectives.
The colloquium included 36 presentations in parallel sessions over two days. Discussions on teaching and using French language were held in depth, with valuable information shared among participants. Other invited speakers included Prof. Dr. Fabrice Barthélémy from Sorbonne Nouvelle University, who discussed the history of spoken French in his talk "The Advent of Oral in French Language Teaching in the Early 20th Century: The Example of Louis Marchand's Intuitive Method," and Prof. Dr. Virginie André from the University of Lorraine, who presented "Corpus Didactics and Teaching Spoken French in Interaction," focusing on corpus-based language teaching and sharing spoken corpora for contextual research.
On the second day, presentations from Didier, Éditions Maison des Langues, ELI-IBER, Hachette, and CLE International were held. These publishers provided teaching materials related to French language education, such as books, games, etc. The colloquium also offered an opportunity for academics, teachers, and teacher candidates to explore new French language textbooks.
The final session of the colloquium included a panel where academics presented different perspectives on teaching oral French. Comprehensive discussions took place regarding the role of French in everyday conversation, effective teaching methods in multicultural classrooms, and language learning processes. This session also allowed participants to share their experiences and discuss various teaching methods. The colloquium concluded with an evaluation and closing speech, announcing that the 4th edition would be held at the University of Lorraine.
