I love using linguistics as a teaching tool in my classes to students of all levels of French. For example, I believe that using the phonetics alphabet as supporting material can make French pronunciation more concrete to a beginning learner. I find that it increases the students’ overall ability to pronounce French accurately as well as their confidence. I am currently designing an experiment to learn whether using phonetics symbols has an effect on students' learning.

Another example of how I incorporate linguistics in the beginner foreign language classroom is by giving students information on the history of French. It helps students understand what motivates the spelling features they observe, and it contributes to their forming rules of their own that will help them retain information more efficiently.

Last but not least, I find it essential to teach language in context and in a communicative manner. This is why I try to make great use of authentic material in various formats (texts, videos, audio files) to bring in topics from current events, television, cinema, music, literature, etc. in my classes. My goal is to incorporate a wide range of cultural elements in the classroom.

I am currently developing a new interest in French for Business and designed a course that started in the spring of 2008. If you have taught a similar class before, I'd love to hear about your experience!

• Go to the list of classes I have taught at the University of Wisonsin-Eau Claire
• See recent activities offered to my students