Writing workshop ✍️
In the context of French 0100, the initial written assignment involves students writing a letter to a Francophone penpal, where they introduce themselves and their family members. This assignment sets the stage for the following composition, which requires students to describe planned activities for their pen pal’s visit, using the futur proche (immediate future) tense.
The writing workshop outlined below serves as a preparatory exercise for Composition 2. In this session, students engage in a guided comparative analysis of two sample sentences from the Promenade textbook (p. 157):
Je vais aller nager
Aujourd’hui à 4 heures, je vais aller nager à la piscine du parc avec mon ami Paul, parce que nous avons chaud.
The objective here is to prompt students to critically examine the difference in specificity and contextual richness between these two sentences.
Following this, students are provided with four basic sentences related to activities they might plan for their pen pal’s visit:
Samedi après-midi, on va aller au cinéma.
Samedi soir, on va aller en boîte/à un concert.
Dimanche midi, on va déjeuner au restaurant.
Dimanche après-midi, on va aller au parc avec mes amis.
Their task is to enhance each sentence by answering "Wh" questions (who, what, when, where, why, etc.), mirroring the structure of the more detailed example. This process encourages students to elaborate on their ideas, adding context, specificity, and cohesion.
To deepen their cultural accuracy, students are encouraged to enhance their sentences by incorporating cultural and linguistic elements, such as the use of military time (e.g., 16 heures rather than 4 heures) or temperature in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit. This exercise not only reinforces linguistic structures but also builds cultural competence.
The final step of the workshop prompts students to organize their enhanced sentences into a coherent paragraph, using appropriate connectors to ensure logical flow and cohesion.
This workshop exemplifies the pedagogical approach of scaffolding, which is a cornerstone of elementary language instruction. By gradually building complexity and providing structured support, students are equipped to produce more sophisticated, contextually rich written compositions in the target language.
NOTE : Most writing workshops are typically conducted on Canvas because it does not have an auto-correction feature. Occasionally, we ask students to handwrite their paragraphs on paper to simulate the conditions of the tests. However, the majority of the time students submit their paragraphs through a Canvas discussion. Once the paragraphs are submitted, the instructor highlights areas that need improvement based on the student's level. Students review the instructor’s annotations and are encouraged to check aspects such as spelling, accents, verb conjugation, word order, word choice, and noun gender. They then make the necessary changes either independently at home or with a partner in class. Afterward, the instructor makes any final corrections to the paragraphs. Another variation of the writing workshop involves reviewing the paragraphs as a class, which allows the instructor to explain why one option is better than another.
