French L7: Context elaborations
Students are expected to begin to engage in sustained interactions and produce increasingly extended texts, in which they explore the views of others, develop and share personal perspectives and justify, support or challenge ideas and opinions in different situations. Students are expected to begin responding critically to more extended and varied text types on familiar matters.
Context elaborations are examples for teacher guidance only. They should not be used as assessment tools.
Example 1: Article about a road accident
Glossary
être le théâtre de — be the scene of
se déporter — to veer
klaxon — horn
percuter — strike
traumatismes — injuries
Accident de route entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains
En cette fin de vacances, la route départementale entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains a été le théâtre hier matin d’un terrible accident.
Il est 6h30. Philippe Pignon, en vacances à Sisteron, âgé de 23 ans et domicilié à Orléans vient de raccompagner à Digne-les-Bains des copains avec lesquels il a fait la fête une bonne partie de la nuit.
Le jeune homme, fatigué, commence à s’endormir au volant. Sa Renault Cinq bleue se déporte sur la chaussée pour se présenter face aux nombreuses voitures arrivant dans l’autre sens. Malgré les coups de klaxon, la Renault Cinq continue sa trajectoire. Le premier véhicule évite la Renault Cinq, mais la voiture suivante, une Peugeot 205, est percutée et les 3 personnes, passagers et conducteur, ont été blessées et souffrent de traumatismes et de lésions plus ou moins graves.
Les victimes de la Peugeot, prises en charge par les sapeurs-pompiers, ont été évacuées sur le Centre Hospitalier de Digne-les-Bains. Le conducteur de la Renault Cinq, dans le coma, a été transporté par l’hélicoptère du SAMU.
La route entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains, fermée à la circulation par les gendarmes en raison de l’accident, a été réouverte aux automobilistes à 18h00.
[Adapted from Woods, C. (2000) French Reading for GCSE, London: Holder & Stoughton]
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Context and text type
Article about a road accident.
Text type
Newspaper report. Receptive.
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Observations a student might make concerning:
Information, ideas and opinions communicated in the text
The focus of this article is on factual reporting and summarising information. However, the writer dramatises the events, presenting the information through the metaphor of 'theatre':
- En cette fin de vacances, la route départementale entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains a été le théâtre hier matin d’un terrible accident.
The accident then becomes a drama that is played out scene by scene in the report.
The cars involved in the accident are identified by make and model, for example:
- la Renault Cinq, une Peugeot 205, and also by colour: Sa Renault Cinq bleue …
The reporter uses the present tense to heighten the drama:
- Le jeune homme, fatigué, commence à s’endormir au volant.
How the writer explores the views of others
The reporter is mindful of the newspaper’s readers. The article informs them of the reason for the road closure and when motorists were able to use the road once more:
- La route entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains, fermée à la circulation par les gendarmes en raison de l’accident, a été réouverte aux automobilistes à 18h00.
How the writer develops and shares personal perspectives
The text is not an opinion piece, but it is worth thinking about the statement:
- Le jeune homme, fatigué, commence à s’endormir au volant.
Is the writer presenting a fact or expressing a personal perspective? Would a statement like this appear in a New Zealand newspaper report?
How the writer justifies their own ideas and opinions
The writer explains why he attributes the accident to the driver’s tiredness:
- Philippe Pignon … vient de raccompagner à Digne-les-Bains des copains avec lesquels il a fait la fête une bonne partie de la nuit.
How the writer supports or challenges the ideas and opinions of others
Although the article says the driver had been partying with friends, the cause of the accident is attributed to tiredness, not alcohol:
- Le jeune homme, fatigué, commence à s’endormir au volant. This attribution may be at variance with reader (and student) opinion.
How the language in the text is organised for the writer’s purpose
The format of this kind of newspaper article includes: headline; setting the scene; personal details of the driver who caused the accident; factual summary of the incident; information about the victims; information about the current state of the road.
The information is presented through the metaphor of 'theatre':
- En cette fin de vacances, la route départementale entre Sisteron et Digne-les-Bains a été le théâtre hier matin d’un terrible accident.
The accident then becomes a drama that is played out scene by scene.
The reporter uses present tense to heighten the drama of the accident:
- Le jeune homme, fatigué, commence à s’endormir au volant.
An acronym appears in the text without explanation:
- Le conducteur de la Renault Cinq, dans le coma, a été transporté par l’hélicoptère du SAMU.
Regular readers of the newspaper would be familiar with its meaning. Learners of French need to know that SAMU stands for Service d’Aide Médicale Urgente, a centralised service that provides emergency medical assistance to victims of accidents and disasters.
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Opportunities for developing intercultural communicative competence
With your students, research other accident reports in French newspapers and discuss the typical features of the format. Are such accidents routinely reported in New Zealand newspapers?
Investigate acronyms used in French newspapers, and compare them with the acronyms that are found in New Zealand newspapers.
What similarities and differences (in both format and content) can be observed in reports of road accidents in French newspapers and road accidents as reported in your local newspaper? For example, informing the French reader of the driver’s personal details (name, age, and residence) is consistent with how the 'carte d’identité' is used in French society for immediate identification.
Last updated January 16, 2013
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