The present master's thesis explores the development of oral expression in French and Spanish as foreign languages (FLE and ELE) through the activities proposed in different textbooks. Oral expression is present in a foreign language class in interactions between students, their questions to the teacher, their requests, comments, etc. However, it is essential to use effective activities designed specifically with the aim of developing oral expression. In this way, learners can gradually overcome the linguistic and emotional difficulties they face when speaking a foreign language.
The purpose of this study is to find out how many oral expression activities are contained in different French as a foreign language textbooks, what type they are, and how guided they are. Comparisons are made, on the one hand, between levels A1 and A2, as well as between specific textbooks and, on the other hand, with textbooks intended for learning Spanish as a foreign language. To this end, eight textbooks for French as a foreign language, approved by the for use in secondary education in Slovenia, are analyzed. They are at levels A1 and A2 and all follow an action-based approach. In the analysis, each textbook is classified according to two criteria: the progression of the activities and their social dynamics. In terms of progression, the activities are divided into guided, semi-guided, and unguided. There are seven possible categories or social dynamics: individual expression, presentation of a topic, dialogue in pairs, small group discussion, large group discussion (with all students and the teacher), game-based activity, and role-playing. These two criteria have been adopted from similar research based on the analysis of oral expression activities in Spanish as a foreign language textbooks (Pavlič, 2023).
One of the key findings of the research concerns the comparison between French and Spanish textbooks: the percentage of oral expression activities is lower in FLE textbooks than in ELE textbooks, and FLE textbooks propose more guided activities. Semi-guided activities are the most frequent; in addition, the exercises are less guided as the level increases. The most common types of activities are individual expression, small group discussion, large group discussion, and dialogue in pairs. The least frequent are role-playing, presentation of a topic, and game-based activities.
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