POUR UN CADRE CANADIEN COMMUN DE RÉFÉRENCE DANS LE CONTEXTE DU FRANÇAIS LANGUE SECONDE POST-IMMERSIF

Abstract

This thesis analyses the application of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) to the Canadian context, using a better understanding of the notion of competence. It begins from the observations that the “functional” level reached by post-immersion students is a source of anxiety and disappointment. This is an important issue in the post-immersion Canadian context as it relates to the goal of national bilingualism. We should now leave behind the reductive and obsolete functional approach to competence that is the norm in this country. This will involve the adoption of the “actional” approach already in place in other disciplines and in other countries.

The profound paradigm shift that has taken place at the end of the 20th century, the progressive abandoning of the mechanistic worldview in the social sciences, can be seen in varying definitions of the concept of competence. The extensive literature review presented here provides a valuable perspective on the innovative principles underlying the Framework. This frame of reference does not seem wholly applicable to the post-immersion context. More specifically, it does not fully explore fundamental implications of the shift from a functional to an actional paradigm.

Therefore, the suggestions of the Framework should be reinforced with a stronger focus on defining the process of linguistic competence. This can be accomplished by adding the notion of “dynamic idiomaticity” at various levels of the Framework scales. Thus, in order to go beyond the functional level, one must re-evaluate qualitative aspects of language.

Finally, these concepts may be applied to teaching by means of the Framework’s portfolio tool. This portfolio will focus on the development of “dynamic idiomaticity”. It applies new training techniques developed in the business context that moved towards an actional model many years ago. The portfolio can be seen as one among many opportunities to apply a broader definition of the concept of competence.