The best way to learn any language is through immersion. Learning a foreign language, however, in a non-native country like India, through immersion is not always logistically possible or economically feasible.
What is the next best solution then?
Foreign language teachers who use the communicative approach often use role plays as a means through which their learners can practice the language with their peers. While I initially began using role plays to enable my learners to focus mainly on articulating context-related expressions, I felt the need to adapt this to my content in India. In these role plays my learners acted out hypothetical situations. The expressions they used were practice for a distant future: if and when they visited France or a francophone country. The void I felt was the connect between my students’ current context and the manner in which they used the language. To bridge this chasm, I preferred using simulations where I learners are given a tangible context and they have to adapted the way they use language according to the situation.
In my basic and intermediate language classes, my students particularly liked recreating a flea market on campus. They worked in teams and set up pop-up stalls for second-hand clothes. In phase one, they have to create a new name for their stall (some preferred going with boutique 😉 ), design the layout of the stall, label and price all the clothing items. Phase two, is divided into two segments. In the first segment, they have to successfully manage their stall and sell items from their boutique keeping in mind the requirements of their clients and in the second segment they have to purchase certain clothing items for an occasion from the neighboring stall.
This activity requires them to use formal as well as informal expressions that they have learnt in class. In addition, they need to use culturally appropriate gestures. What I found hilarious was the fact that in every batch, even though I didn’t explicitly mention, students used several negotiation tactics and french expressions for haggling!
Natasha 