Description du cours - SITES dot MIISsites.miis.edu/clarissaeagle/files/2019/01/Eagle...plan détaillé and assignment descriptions, PDFs of readings, PowerPoint presentations used

FRLA8247Eagle

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF TRANSLATION, INTERPRETATION and LANGUAGE EDUCATION

French and Francophone Studies Program - Printemps 2018 Cultural Practice and Paradox

Prof. Clarissa Eagle FRLA 8247 – 4 credits

Lundi et mercredi, 2h – 3h50 Salle – M127

Heure de bureau : jeudi 1h – 2h – M102A Vendredi, 10h – 12h, avec Prof. Evan Foster

Salle – CF434 Description du cours

Plus nous sommes exposés à une culture, plus elle semble paradoxale. Si les Américains sont des individualistes acharnés, comment se fait-il qu’ils fassent plus de donations aux œuvres caritatives que toute autre population au monde ? Si la France se classe au premier rang du Contrôle de l'Incertitude (dispositif qui vise à indiquer la manière dont les membres d’une société abordent le risque ; les Français auraient forte tendance à imposer des contraintes sociales afin de contrôler l’incertitude et gérer l’anxiété qui s’y associe, voir plus loin), comment est-ce possible qu’un rendez-vous autour d’une tasse de café puissent mener des connaissances à s’entretenir à l’improviste pendant des heures à l’improviste ?

Dans cette classe, nous ne cherchons pas à se passer des instruments de la catégorisation des cultures (du genre « Contrôle de l’Incertitude », Individualiste ou Collectiviste, etc.), qui sont d’ailleurs des cadres de référence utiles. Nous voulons, cependant, compliquer ces schémas par une série de rencontres approfondies avec différentes cultures, y compris la nôtre.

FRLA8247Eagle

Les étudiants seront invités à:

• Explorer la complexité de leur propre culture dans des travaux d'écriture réfléchis, en en soulignant les paradoxes dans la mesure du possible ;

• Perfectionner leurs compétences d'observation en lisant et en décodant une gamme d'incidents critiques concernant des rencontres interculturelles ;

• Étudier les dimensions culturelles de Hofstede en tant qu'outils utiles pour commencer à conceptualiser la convergence et divergence des cultures ;

• Choisir un contact culturel (un étudiant universitaire qui fait des études d’anglais). Je fournirai les étudiants d’une liste de contacts potentiels venant de différents pays francophones (Haïti, Sénégal, France, etc.) ;

• Examiner les comportements contextuellement appropriés à la culture de leur contact, et à développer des hypothèses et des explications sur tout comportement paradoxal qu'ils rencontrent;

• Communiquer avec leur contact culturel en temps réel, ce qui permettra au contact de corriger les malentendus et de répondre à toute question sur les paradoxes qui survient au cours de la recherche que font les étudiants.

Pour étayer les conversations entre étudiants et contacts culturels, nous utiliserons des questionnaires élaborés par le programme Cultura de MIT.

À la fin du semestre, les étudiants devraient être en mesure de parler de manière informée des complexités de leur culture cible, du point de vue de leur contact culturel. Les étudiants développeront aussi une compréhension plus approfondie de la langue française, et pourront réemployer les paroles appartenant à l’idiome de leur contact dans leurs observations et interprétations de la culture cible. Enfin, ils démontreront leur maîtrise dudit idiome à travers des présentations pédagogiques et discussions en classe.

FRLA8247EagleCourse description

The more we are exposed to a culture, the more paradoxical it often begins to seem. If U.S. Americans are rugged individualists, how do they also give more to charity cumulatively than any other population in the world? If France ranks high in Uncertainty Avoidance (a cultural dimension commonly associated with greater levels of anxiety and desire for control, see more here), how can a couple tiny tasses of coffee unexpectedly lead to hours of free ranging conversation among French acquaintances?

In this class, we do not seek to do away with neat categorizations of cultures (high Uncertainty Avoidance versus low, Individualist versus Collectivist, and so on), which are useful frames of reference. We want, however, to complicate these schemas via a series of in-depth encounters with different cultures, including our own. Students will be asked to:

• Explore the complexity of their own culture in reflective writing assignments, pointing out paradoxes where those can be found;

• Hone their observation skills by reading and decoding a range of critical incidents of cross-cultural encounters;

• Study Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as useful tools to begin (but certainly not to end) conceptualizing where cultures converge and diverge;

• Choose a cultural contact (a university student studying English) from Haiti, Senegal, France, among other francophone countries;

• Analyze context-appropriate behavior in their contact’s culture, and develop hypotheses and explanations for any paradoxical conduct they encounter;

• Video-chat with their cultural contact, allowing him or her to correct misunderstandings and answer any questions about paradoxes that surface during the students’ research.

To scaffold conversations between students and cultural contacts, we will use questionnaires developed by the Cultura program at MIT.

By the end of the term, students should be able to speak in an informed manner about complexities in their target culture, from the perspective of their cultural

FRLA8247Eaglecontact. Students will leave with a deeper understanding also of the French language, as they reemploy the words of their contact in their observations and interpretations of the target culture, and regularly present on and discuss this language.

Required Language Proficiency

This course will be conducted entirely in French, and all readings will be in French. Required language proficiency is Intermediate-low to –mid (per the 2012 ACTFL proficiency guidelines, available here).

Texts

Students are asked to purchase one required text:

Sauquet, Michel & Martin Vielajus (2016). Le culturoscope: 70 questions pour aborder l’interculturel. Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer.

ISBN-13: 978-2843772016 Available on Amazon.com here.

Students are also asked to purchase a three-month subscription to SketchEngine.co.uk for daily vocabulary-building assignments.

The following texts will be made available through e-reserves at the library or on our Canvas page:

• Barrett, M., Byram, M., Lázár, I., Mompoint-Gaillard, P., Philippou, S. (2013). Développer la compétence interculturelle par l’éducation. Strasbourg, France : Conseil de l’Europe.

• Barmeyer, Christoph (2007). Management interculturel et styles d’apprentissage. Presses Université Laval.

• Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Développer la dimension interculturelle de l’enseignement des langues : Une introduction pratique à l’usage des enseignants. Strasbourg, France : Conseil de l’Europe.

• Carpentier, Marie-Nelly, Jacques Demorgon, Hans Lenhard and Burkhard Müller (2014). Les situations interculturelles critiques et leurs interprétations. Impressum, Paris/Berlin.

• Dervin, F. (2011). Impostures interculturelles. Paris: L’Harmarttan.

FRLA8247Eagle• Huber-Kriegler, Martina, Ildikó Lázár, & John Strange (2005). Miroirs et

fenêtres – Manuel de communication interpersonnelle. Conseil d’Europe.

• Leclerc, Chantal, Bruno Bourassa & Odette Filteau (2010). Utilisation de la méthode des incidents critiques dans une perspective d’explication, d’analyse critique et de transformation des pratiques professionnelles, Education et francophonie, 38/1, 11-32.

• Sauquet, M., & Martin Vielajus (2014). L’intelligence interculturelle: 15 thèmes à explorer pour travailler au contact d’autres cultures. Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer.

• Temimi, N. (2007). Validation de la version franc ̧aise du module d’enque ̂te sur les valeurs d’Hofstede, 76e Congre ̀s de l'ACFAS (Association francophone pour le savoir). Trois-Rivie ̀res, Que ́bec.

Learning Outcomes Knowledge

Upon successful completion of FRLA 8247, students will be able to:

1. Speak and write in an informed and nuanced manner about the practices and paradoxes of the cultures they partake in.

2. Sustain spontaneous dialogue on the subject of the practices and paradoxes of the cultures they partake in.

3. Speak and write in an informed and nuanced manner about the practices and paradoxes of cultures different from their own.

4. Sustain spontaneous dialogue on the subject of the practices and paradoxes of cultures different from their own.

In each case (Knowledge outcomes 1-4), students will demonstrate their knowledge of their own and other cultures by making reference to (a) Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and values as appropriate, (b) Dervin’s discussion of the risks inhering in cultural posturing and essentializing, and (c) the Council of Europe’s definitions surrounding intercultural competence and the knowledge, skills and attitude involved in intercultural competence.

FRLA8247EagleSkills

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Differentiate cultural and linguistic nuances in the speech or writing of another person or group of people;

2. Address one’s own misunderstandings and prejudices vis-à-vis other cultures, and help others examine their own misunderstandings and prejudices;

3. Conduct nuanced observations of cross-cultural encounters, including the recognition of patterns in interactions and the relating of these patterns to cultural dimensions and values;

4. Display basic ethnographic skills, including (a) observation, (b) collection of data, (c) interviewing, (d) field note writing, (e) structured reflection and reporting;

5. Critically examine and deepen awareness of one’s own cultural practices, dimensions, and values, especially paradoxical ones; and

6. Switch cultural frames of reference as appropriate, while attending to the risks inhering in speaking in another’s voice.

Attitudes

This course is designed to inspire in students a desire to:

1. Seek out future cross-cultural experiences; 2. Continue to learn about language and culture; 3. Remain open to new ideas and interpretations of cultural practices and

paradoxes, recognizing a multitude of “realities”; 4. Practice flexibility and adaptability in face of cultural differences about

what constitutes goodness, honesty, “a good life”.

To meet curricular goals (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes), specific French language proficiency-oriented outcomes for the course include:

1. Parsing, imparting, and requesting information of moderate complexity on a variety of topics;

2. Communicating personal meaning in connected thoughts; 3. Expressing agreement and disagreement with an interlocutor, and

developing arguments and counter-arguments of moderate complexity;

FRLA8247Eagle

4. Describing complex events in most major time frames with some use of aspect.

Language proficiency-oriented outcomes adapted for our class from the 2012 ACTFL Can-Do Statements for Intermediate-mid foreign language learning, available at https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Can-Do_Statements.pdf.

Course Site and Other Online Platforms

The course is supported by a Canvas site, which you can access via Course Hub (http://www.courses.miis.edu). Consult this site to access the current week’s plan détaillé and assignment descriptions, PDFs of readings, PowerPoint presentations used during class, and other organizational documents of this sort.

While you may be asked to log into Canvas to submit assignments such as discussion responses and summaries of Radio France Internationale (RFI) news stories, the bulk of student writing will take place on individual student Middcreate pages in the form of blog posts, business memos, and VoiceThreads. Over the course of the semester, go.middlebury.edu/zoom will be used for video conferencing with cultural contacts outside of the United States. To scaffold conversations between students and cultural contacts, we will use questionnaires developed by theCulturaprogram at MIT.

For informative presentations on Middlebury-affiliated online resources, students can access go.miis.edu/Lynda with their Middlebury credentials. More information on online interaction platforms and resources will be provided during the first week of classes.

FRLA8247EagleStructure of Class

Unit Themes Language

Important dates

I. Culture and self (1/30 – 2/27)

What does culture look like?

Giving information in the present, presenting oneself and one’s immediate environment, identifying people and practices

1/30 1st day of class 2/15 Exploratory blog post 1 2/27 Écrit en classe I 3/1 Vocab quiz 1 3/1 VoiceThread: What does culture look like?

What logic underlies common cultural practices? Does this logic always apply?

Contesting perceptions, asking for additional information, qualifying things and people

Content

Huber-Kriegler, Martina et al. (2005). Miroirs et fenêtres – Manuel de communication interpersonnelle. Conseil d’Europe. Sauquet, Michel & Martin Vielajus (2016). Le culturoscope: 70 questions pour aborder l’interculturel. Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer. Blanchet-Gravel, J. (2015). Laurence et la société xenophile. Huffpost. Barrett, M., Byram, M., Lázár, I., Mompoint-Gaillard, P., Philippou, S. (2013). Développer la compétence interculturelle par l’éducation. Strasbourg, France : Conseil de l’Europe. Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Développer la dimension interculturelle de l’enseignement des langues : Une introduction pratique à l’usage des enseignants. Strasbourg, France : Conseil de l’Europe. Dervin, F. (2011). Impostures interculturelles. Paris: L’Harmarttan. (Interview only)

FRLA8247Eagle

Cultura survey results I (word association, sentence completion, and situation analysis)

II. Sophisticated stereotyping: theory and practice (3/1 – 4/3)

How do cultures compare? Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Differentiating practices / products / perspectives, speaking about groups in the indefinite, describing a situation in space and time (I)

By 3/6 1st meeting with cultural contact 3/8 Exploratory blog post 2 3/27 Vocab quiz 2 4/3 Critical incident memo: What happened at work?

How do we make sense of misunderstandings? Critical incidents of cross-cultural encounters

Describing a situation in space and time (II), evaluating practices / products / perspectives

Content

Barmeyer, Christoph (2007). Management interculturel et styles d’apprentissage. Presses Université Laval. Carpentier, Marie-Nelly et al. (2014). Les situations interculturelles critiques et leurs interprétations. Impressum, Paris/Berlin. Leclerc, Chantal et al. (2010). Utilisation de la méthode des incidents critiques dans une perspective d’explication, d’analyse critique et de transformation des pratiques professionnelles, Education et francophonie, 38/1, 11-32. Temimi, N. (2007). Validation de la version franc ̧aise du module d’enque ̂te sur les valeurs d’Hofstede. Trois-Rivie ̀res, Que ́bec. Zoom conversation with contact

III. Toward new sense-

How do we make sense of context-dependent

Expressing consequence,

By 4/10 2nd meeting

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Language functions addressed in class are intended to help students engage in course content matter rather than drill grammar points abstracted from context. The category of “Language” is thus subject to change depending on the language demands of the content currently being studied.

making: cultural mentorship and individual research (4/5 – 5/10)

cultural values? Individual student research

presenting cogent arguments with depth and nuance

with cultural contact 4/17 Écrit en classe II 4/19 Vocab 3 4/19 Student presentations of research By 5/3 3rd meeting with cultural contact 5/1 Exploratory blog post 3 5/8 Vocab 4 5/8, 5/10 Role plays + storytelling

What can we learn by listening closely to someone outside of our culture? Encounter – Understand – Retell : moving from ‘they’ to ‘you’

Noting and reemploying another’s language, asking for clarification, articulating the opinions and perspectives of another

Content

Sauquet, Michel & Martin Vielajus (2016). Le culturoscope: 70 questions pour aborder l’interculturel. Éditions Charles Léopold Mayer. Cultura survey results II (word association, sentence completion, and situation analysis) + forum responses Individual student research on target culture Zoom conversations with contact

Synthesis and presentations

5/15 Live essay

FRLA8247EagleEvery Friday before 5pm, a detailed schedule (plan détaillé) for the coming week will be made available to you on Canvas. The weekly schedule will reference materials to be covered (texts, video, audio, etc.) and other tasks to be done in the way of preparation for class discussions.

Assessment

1. Regular creative participation in class and online 30% 2. Exploratory blog posts (5) 20% 3. Cahier + self-evaluations (2) 15% 4. End-of-unit synthesis (3) 15% 5. Vocabulary quizzes (4) 10% 6. Live essay 10%

Participation Participation is vital to your success in this class. The participation grade evaluates:

(a) General preparedness for class each day (completion of daily assignments such as readings, meetings with cultural contact, questionnaires, blog reflections, discussion forum responses on Canvas or MIT’s Cultura interface, and so on).

(b) Each student’s continuous and spontaneous participation, including comments made and questions asked, during group activities and class discussions. Exploratory blog posts Over the course of the semester you will be required to write five short blog posts in French, from 300 (min.) to 450 (max.) words. Though these are exploratory free-writes to encourage honest introspection, suggestions for subjects will be provided to you, as will specific parameters concerning relevant language functions and related forms. You will be required to revise each text once, with each version receiving a grade. The first version will be evaluated based on clarity of ideas and style, as well as on spelling, grammar, and use of idiomatic French. The second will ultimately be published on students’ individual Middcreate pages, and will be evaluated based solely on spelling, grammar, and use of idiomatic French. Student Cahier + self-evaluation

FRLA8247EagleYou will be required to keep one cahier in which all work done over the course of the semester is to be saved: first versions of blog posts, all notes from class discussion, all vocabulary quizzes, and so on. You will submit your cahier to me for review at the end of the semester, along with your self-evaluation (discussed below). Your cahier should also include a section for new vocabulary items culled from (a) weekly class discussion and (b) class readings and viewings of videos. As we explore the text(s) for each day in class, we will collectively agree on the relevant vocabulary items to be recorded. It is your responsibility to add the relevant vocabulary items to your cahier as they arise in class discussion. Please note that the material covered on vocabulary tests will be taken from this section of your cahier. Regarding vocabulary from texts: for each homework reading or viewing, students should note three new vocabulary items (words or expressions) in their cahier. Each new vocabulary entry should include the following: radical + suffix / prefix, collocations, definition(s) in French, and one original sentence. In the sentences, you will use the relevant vocabulary item in an original way, but also in a way such that its meaning is evident. Do not simply imitate or copy any of the sentences found in the primary text. You may copy definitions directly from Larousse.fr, but not original sentences. (Please do refer to Larousse.fr for example sentences, however!) If your item is a verb, also include the past participle + conjugations in present in singular - plural contrastive pairs. For example:

Prétendre (past participle: prétendu)

Radical: tend Préfixe: pré- Suffixe: -re

Je prétends -> Nous prétendons Tu prétends -> Vous prétendez Il/elle/on prétend -> Ils/elles prétendent

Collocations : Prétendre + que, prétendre + infinitive

Définition(s) : Avoir l’intention de, affirmer quelque chose, affirmer être capable de faire quelque chose

FRLA8247EagleEx, Je n’ai pas encore gagné la présidence mais je prétends le faire!

The cahier is not intended to create extra work for you. It should rather serve to record and assess your progress in French, which helps you keep a critical eye on your own learning. I will ask only that you write a short self-evaluation at the end of the semester (in French or English) on the basis of your cahier. In one or two short paragraphs, the self-evaluation should summarize (a) the improvements you can see in your French after reflecting on your cahier, and then (b) some realistic goals for your French that you envision yourself being able to meet in the future. You will also be asked to complete one report of intercultural experience and one self-assessment intercultural competence. Further detail will be given during the first week of class. End-of-unit summative assessments There will be three end-of-unit assessments:

• Capping Unit one, “Culture and self”: Students compile evidence (photos and videos) of “visible” culture around MIIS and the Monterey Peninsula, which they publish to their website as a VoiceThread.

• Capping Unit two, “Sophisticated stereotyping: Theory and practice”: Students compose a business memo to a supervisor explaining a cross-cultural encounter at work. Memo should include the context for, and interpretation of, the incident, drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as appropriate and following stipulations for memo writing in French.

• Capping Unit three, “Toward new sense-making: Cultural mentorship and individual research”: Student teams present on correct and incorrect behavior in their target culture; deliberately demonstrate in a role-play incorrect behavior within their target culture, asking the class to point out the mistakes; and then replay the scene with the correct behavior.

Vocabulary quizzes There will be four quizzes assessing your knowledge of the vocabulary (individual words and idiomatic expressions) relevant to our class discussions. These quizzes will assess your knowledge of vocabulary in context: i.e., you will

FRLA8247Eaglebe required to demonstrate how the relevant vocabulary is used meaningfully. You will not be asked simply to translate a list of words abstracted from the contexts in which they are actually used. An example vocabulary quiz will be posted under the “Vocabulaire” module on Canvas. Live essay The “live essay” is the traditional research paper, but multifaceted and dynamic, with an emphasis on storytelling. Students will create a short film using an application such as Camtasia or iMovie, paired with a concise text (~250 words), in which they tell the story of their discovery of cultural practice and paradox over the course of the semester. For examples of past students’ live essays, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQHkM9GuSOc&feature=youtu.be

https://midd.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=751288bc-c452-41df-b3f6-68ce1397df93&start={0}

https://midd.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=00d76c53-43d4-49db-9698-6e24df5fddaf&start={0}

The grading rubric is posted under the “Live Essay” module on Canvas.

Academic Ethics and Etiquette

Please take care to arrive to class on time. You may miss up to 2 classes without penalty. Please notify me in advance, insofar as you are able to do so, in the event you will not be in class. Three or more absences without sufficient justification will result in a reduced participation grade: each unexcused absence will result in a 2% reduction of your overall participation grade. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to catch up on everything you might have missed. Legitimate reasons for missing class include the following: sickness/injury, MIIS-related activities, etc. If you miss class for a legitimate reason, please communicate that reason to me so that I am aware of your situation and so that, if necessary and where possible, you will be able to provide proof showing your absence is legitimate.

Please do not use your cell phone during class. Please feel free to use your laptop or tablet during class, but only for class-related purposes. Your laptop/tablet may

FRLA8247Eaglenot be used for personal reasons (checking email, Facebook, etc.). If I see that you are using it for non-class related purposes, I will penalize your participation grade for that session. On academic integrity: all standards outlined in the Policies and Standards Manual apply. Please consult the manual here: http://www.miis.edu/offices/records/policies You may not seek help on any homework assignments from sources outside class (e.g., from a private tutor, French-speaking friends, etc.). Your work must always be your own. On the other hand, you are encouraged to consult your classmates as well as Caitlin (French Language Studies tutor), and to speak French as often as possible with anyone you know who happens to speak it too. Please do not hesitate to come talk to me or to Caitlin as often as you like. We are here to help you. If you find yourself struggling with particular aspects of French, or with the course as it is structured, or anything else related to your studies, please let us know!

Grading Criteria

To determine assignment and course grades, the following performance scale will be used, which aligns with the Institute’s Policies and Standards Manual (Sec. 51) and reflects normative benchmarks for graduate-level academic achievement: Percentage Letter Grade Grade Points 94–100% A and A+ 4.00 90–93% A- 3.67 87–89% B+ 3.33 84–86% B 3.00 80–83% B- 2.67 77–79% C+ 2.33 74–76% C 2.00 70–73% C- 1.67 67–69% D+ 1.33 64–66% D 1.00 60–63% D- 0.67

FRLA8247EagleBelow 60% F 0 P (Pass): Credit given for course, but no grade points (GPA not affected)** NP (No Pass): No credit given for course, no grade points (GPA not affected)** W (Withdrawal with Permission): No grade points or credit **Please note that for the Pass/No Pass option, 70% and above is considered Pass, while 69% and below is considered No Pass.

Accommodations

Students with documented disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in class are encouraged to contact Assistant Dean of Student Services, Ashley Arrocha, as early in the summer as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely manner. Assistance is available to eligible students through the Office of Student Services. Please contact [email protected] or 831-647-4654 for more information. All discussions will remain confidential.