French professors Abadie, Halling, Daddah and WSU French Alumna Kayla Schaub attended the 2015 OFLA (Ohio Foreign Language Association) annual conference in Sandusky, Ohio on April 16th and 17th.
Professors Abadie and Halling conducted the "Change your tune! Beat the Blues by Updating Your French Music Selections" workshop.
In this workshop, they presented biographies of 2014's most successful Francophone performers, along with their catchiest videos and lyrics. Materials provided included PowerPoint presentations, accompanied by ready-made activities on content, grammar, poetry, slang and phonetics. Participants worked together to develop further exercises for all levels based on the models provided.
Professor Abadie also conducted the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) "movie club" in which she talked about the acclaimed French movie "À la folie pas du tout!"(2002) She and the audience analyzed the movie through video clips and decided if the movie was a romantic thriller? A tragic comedy? Or a Janus-faced portrayal of a doomed love affair? Professor Abadie showed the audience how to use this movie in class.
Former resident of Mauritania and Senegal, Professor Daddah presented on "Mauritania & Senegal: Between History and Culture." She took the audience on a virtual trip to Mauritania and Senegal, West Africa. The audience familiarized itself with the history, geography, culture, population, women's conditions, food and politics of these amazing countries. They got introduced to Mauritania and Senegal through the presenter's childhood and adulthood memories. They also experienced the Mauritanian and Senegalese way of life like they were there.
WSU French alumna Kayla Schaub presented on " Service learning: Cultural Exchange between L2 Learners & Heritage Speakers." College level French students worked with high school Francophone immigrants to improve communication skills by developing engaging pedagogical materials for adolescent heritage speakers. This exchange allowed heritage learners to share conversational expertise with L2 learners while practicing the formal written language, and L2 learners gained educational experience and verbal skills. This project was specifically designed for university and high school students, but can be applied to any age group.
