Le français, des réseaux sociaux à la classe : quel type d’influence ?
French, from Social Networks to the Classroom: What Kind of Influence?

Summary/Abstract: The main question this paper tries to answer is whether he French used on social networks is an advantage or a liability for the academic French taught in class to Tunisian learners. We do not claim to provide final answers, given the complexity and the fast evolution of the pedagogical and social frameworks we compare. However, we will try to defend the idea that the French language used independently from the teaching context, especially in the social media, has an ambivalent effect on French as a discipline, a major of its own. On the one hand, the material exchanged on these social networks could be the source of training and information, consequently functioning as a linguistic appendix, which supplements, illustrates and facilitates the reception of the rules, and the content exposed in class. It reflects a multitude of references, tastes and styles. If carefully selected and rationally checked, this “ready-made” French is likely to compensate for the possible lacks in courses or tutorials. By presenting certain errors in written productions which belong to “Facebook users who are studying French”, we will try to show that these learners are under the pressure of “digital” French that is often more expressive, but less correct. Starting from the ambivalent effect of this digital French on the language taught in classes, we will underline the specificities of this linguistic subsystem, which is gaining momentum, and competing with standard French especially in daily communication.

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