This innovative film-based program is designed to motivate and inspire beginning French students. Based on the French film
Le Chemin du retour,
Débuts is a completely integrated program for the first -year French course.
Le Chemin du retour is an engaging story about a young French journalist, Camille Leclair, and her pursuit of the truth about her grandfather’s past. Through Camille’s quest, students are introduced to many facets of today’s French and Francophone cultures as well as to important historical events in France. They learn language in the functional context provided by the film, and concepts are reinforced by the on-screen activities that help students verify their comprehension. The two-hour feature-length film is divided into twenty-two episodes and an Epilogue, and each episode includes on-screen pre- and post-viewing activities that make the film accessible to students. Episodes are approximately fifteen minutes in length and correspond to the chapters in the textbook. Over eight hours of viewing bring the richness of French language and culture to beginning students, while at the same time exposing them to clear and natural French that they can understand.
Each chapter of Débuts, the textbook, is correlated to an episode of the film. The textbook prepares students for the film-viewing experience through the chapter vocabulary presentations and activities and through additional pre-and post-viewing activities. The vocabulary and grammar presentations and activities recycle and expand on the dialogue and structures presented in the film. Pair and small-group activities enable students to talk about the characters in the story and their own lives. The cultural content of the film is further explored in cultural notes and readings in each chapter.
H. Jay Siskin received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in Romance and French linguistics. He is Professor of French and Program Chair of World Languages at Cabrillo College. He is author of five textbooks in French, as well as numerous articles and reviews that have appeared in such publications as The French Review, Foreign Language Annals, and the PMLA. Most recently, he has edited a volume of essays entitled From Thought to Action: Exploring Beliefs and Outcomes in the Foreign Language Program. His book, which explores the cultural context of university-level foreign language teaching, will be published by Yale University Press. Professor Siskin serves as chair of the Modern Language Association's Division of the Teaching of Language and is a member of that association's Committee on Awards and honors, as well as of its Delegate Assembly. He is currently pursuing an advanced degree in Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.
Ann Williams received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University and also has a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies from the Université de Lyon II. She is currently professor of French at Metropolitan State College of Denver, where she teaches courses in language, literature, and culture, and she has coauthored three other college-level French textbooks. Dr. Williams received the Chris Wells Memorial Creativity Award in 2008 (Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers).
Thomas T. Field received his Ph.D. in linguistics from Cornell University. He is currently professor of Linguistics and French at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Field's research is focused on Occitan sociolinguistics and the teaching of French and Francophone culture. In 1996, he was named Maryland Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
