Artigo Revisado por pares

À la recherche d'un emploi: Business French in a Communicative Context by Amy Hubbell

2018; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 92; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/tfr.2018.0147

ISSN

2329-7131

Autores

Mary Ellen Scullen,

Tópico(s)

Second Language Learning and Teaching

Resumo

Reviewed by: À la recherche d'un emploi: Business French in a Communicative Context by Amy Hubbell Mary Ellen Scullen Hubbell, Amy. À la recherche d'un emploi: Business French in a Communicative Context. Hackett, 2017. ISBN 978-1-58510-839-8. Pp. 256. A quick perusal of the "Preface to the Instructor" should suffice to sell instructors on this well-conceived and much-needed textbook for the Business French course that [End Page 234] most departments offer. The preface hits all the right notes: business communication skills; advanced cultural competency; reality-based; task-oriented; authentic video content; variety of structured assignments; case study; creation of a marketing campaign as a culminating activity; focus on France, Quebec, and other French-speaking countries. For many, the reassurance that "the text does not assume the instructor will have special knowledge of business operations or economics" will be further enticement. A closer inspection of this textbook intended for third-year college French students confirms that the book lives up to its hype. The text follows a logical sequence succinctly laid out in a brief introduction to students setting the context for the entire book—namely that they are international students at a French-speaking university seeking a job or future career leveraging their French language and cultural skills. The first two chapters present background information on La géographie et l'administration de la France et quelques régions francophones and L'économie et les entreprises. These chapters present a wealth of easily comprehensible information and push students to gather more data through research online. In each chapter, the data that students are directed to obtain feeds directly into information gap activities involving pairs of students exchanging information in French on, for example, le produit intérieur brut des régions à prix courants (ch. 2). The next five chapters walk students systematically through the job process, from the key—but often overlooked—first step of identifying personal objectives and enumerating strengths and weaknesses as a job candidate through subsequent stages: decoding job offers, learning to network, crafting a résumé, drafting a cover letter, prepping for a job interview, and communicating successfully with a potential employer after the interview. The final chapter offers a case study of an actual French business (in the context of the book, where students have landed a job) and leads students through the process of creating a marketing campaign. A laudable feature of this program is the attention paid to cultural competency. For example, in chapter 4 (Le curriculum vitæ), students are asked to compare French and American résumés and are later presented with the format of a résumé in Quebec. Video elements throughout the book build further cultural skills. Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (ch. 1) guides students to explore the notion of regional stereotypes through the three-part process approach to viewing. Shorter video clips such as Savoir serrer la main and Simulation d'entretien d'embauche provide rich cultural and practical information. This textbook succeeds on multiple levels, perhaps most importantly by demystifying the job process while imparting valuable knowledge for all job seekers—not just those seeking to learn Business French. The variety and thoroughness of the activities and resources provided will facilitate the instructor's job. [End Page 235] Mary Ellen Scullen University of Maryland Copyright © 2018 American Association of Teachers of French

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