The role of textbooks in oral language lessons

Argument of the scientific event

For several decades now, language teaching and learning has been profoundly transformed under the influence of communicative and then action-based approaches, which now place language communication activities at the heart of the didactic process. From this perspective, oral skills - expression and comprehension - are no longer developed as the simple reproduction of pre-established linguistic structures, but as the ability to mobilize linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic resources in contextualized interactions. This methodological reorientation calls into question the place and function of the textbook, traditionally conceived as a support structuring the organization of language according to a linear progression, sometimes far removed from the spontaneous dynamics specific to oral expression. The question then arises:
- What role can a textbook still play in an oral language practice course where the communicative task and oral performance occupy a central position?
The textbook constitutes a singular didactic object, situated at the interface between theoretical discourse on language and its concrete implementation during the course. It thus operates a didactic transposition: it selects, organizes and simplifies linguistic knowledge, but it also proposes an anticipated vision, often idealized and fixed, of classroom practices and language uses that are supposed to emerge in learners. As a result, the textbook plays a paradoxical role: it claims to provide the conditions for access to authentic language, while filtering it through editorial, methodological and institutional constraints. Between model and mediation, it becomes at once a support, a guide, a reference tool and a device for standardizing language interactions.
In oral practice classes, this tension is particularly visible. The aim of developing spontaneous, contextualized and effective speech sometimes seems to conflict with the exercise formats proposed in textbooks, which often favor controlled repetition, structural manipulation or simulated interaction. This situation invites us to question the methodological circulation of oral skills between textbooks and actual teaching practices:
- How is content designed for speaking - model dialogues, phonetics/pronunciation units, communicative tasks - transmitted, adapted, reshaped or bypassed by teachers and learners?
Another issue lies in the way in which textbooks present phenomena specific to speaking, including phonetics and phonology, intonation, discourse strategies or interaction management. Although this content is often emphasized in the methodological prefaces, it sometimes appears in a fragmented or marginal manner in the teaching units. Oral expression is frequently seen as a complement to the language system, rather than as a skill in its own right requiring open, creative and interactive activities. This raises the question of whether the approaches proposed in the textbooks are really applicable in a university classroom situation, and whether they enable learners to develop authentic, adapted and productive speech.
This question refers more broadly to the notion of language productivity, which goes beyond the simple ability to reproduce models. Oral productivity implies the ability to initiate, maintain and negotiate exchanges according to a context, an interlocutor and a communicative objective. Yet textbooks, by their very nature, often propose pre-formatted tasks, which strongly orient learners' responses and limit discursive possibilities. It is therefore worth examining:
- To what extent do the materials proposed actually facilitate - or, on the contrary, restrict - the progressive construction of complex oral skills?
In addition, the use of textbooks in oral practice classes cannot be considered independently of the role of the teacher, who often finds himself in the position of interpreter and critical mediator of the support when he is not the author. The teacher's scope for adaptation - whether in terms of selecting activities, reorganizing them, enriching them or diverting them - is decisive in transforming fixed exercises into genuine communicative situations.
The study of the textbook's place in an oral practice class therefore lies at the crossroads of several dimensions: theoretical, by questioning the underlying methodological models; pedagogical, by observing actual practices and the adaptations made; and interactional, by analyzing the nature and quality of the language productions generated by textbook-derived activities. Understanding these dynamics will enable us to better grasp the functional, symbolic and methodological value of the medium in a context where language learning is increasingly oriented towards action, communication and authentic interaction.
Thus, this study day aims to explore the place and functions of the textbook in the teaching of oral language, by examining the nature of the oral content proposed, the didactic transposition they operate, and their effective influence on learner productivity. The day will also seek to understand how teachers position themselves in relation to this tool and how they mobilize it - or free themselves from it - in the construction of learning situations designed to foster genuine communicative competence.

Indicative bibliography:
- Beacco, J.-C. (2010). La didactique de la grammaire dans l'enseignement du français et des langues. Didier.
- Besse Henri (1992). Methods and practices of language textbooks. Paris CREDIF Didier.
- Puren, C. (2004). La perspective actionnelle: vers une nouvelle cohérence didactique. Les Langues modernes.
- Coste, D., North, B., & Trim, J. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages. Council of Europe.
- Cuq, J.-P., & Gruca, I. (2017).Cours de didactique du français langue étrangère et seconde. Presses universitaires de Grenoble.
- Dabène, L. (1987). L'oral dans l'apprentissage des langues. Hachette.

- Billières, M. (2002). Corrective phonetics and language didactics. Ophrys.
- Narcy-Combes, J.-P. (2005). Didactique des langues et TIC: vers une approche socioconstructiviste. Éditions Ophrys.
- Cicurel, F. (2011). Les interactions dans l'enseignement des langues. Didier.
- Choppin, A. (2008). Les manuels scolaires: histoire et actualité. Hachette.
- Pedroza Mazuera, F. A. (2022). "The language textbook: Needs and expectations of FLE teachers". Revista de estudios franceses. Çédille, (21), 389-416.
- Puren, C. (1994). La transposition didactique: un outil conceptuel pour la didactique des langues. Les Langues modernes.
- Narcy, J.-P. (1991). Apprendre une langue: stratégies et techniques. Hachette.
- Bygate, M. (1998). L'oral dans la classe de langue. Didier.
- Nunan, D. (2004). Task-Based Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press (useful theoretical references, even if non-French speaking).
- Samuda, V. & Bygate, M. (2008). Tasks in Second Language Learning. Palgrave.

Scientific event program

- 9h15-9h30 : Welcome to participants
- 9h30-9h40 : Presentation of the day, Georges Kostakiotis (Inalco) and Snejana Gadjeva (Inalco)
- 9h40-10h : Olena Saint-Joanis (Inalco): Didactic transposition of the ANL method for teaching oral Ukrainian at A2-B1 level in distance continuing education
- 10h-10h20: Ildikó Lőrinszky (Ankara University): Who are the textbooks aimed at? Public rêvé et public réel
- 10h20-10h40 : Despoina Stefanou (Université de Montpelier Paul Valery) : Le manuel face à l'oral: repenser les outils pédagogiques pour l'enseignement des langues étrangères
- 10h40-11h: Isabel Zins (Pädagogische Hochschule Burgenland (Austria)): When the textbook is not enough: developing oral skills through listening to podcasts
- 11am-11:15am: Discussion

- 11:15am-11:30am: Coffee break

- 11:30am-11:50am: Alia Satterfield (Inalco):When orality invites itself into textual media: the role of questions in Khanty textbooks (1930-1955)
- 11h50-12h10: Madeleine Voga (Université de Montpelier-Paul Valery): Biliteracy and mental lexicon: The treatment of phonology in inter-language chronometric protocols
- 12h10-12h30: Fabiana Florescu (University of Bucharest): The ambivalent status of the textbook in university courses in oral practice of the French language with a Romanian-speaking public
- 12h30-12h50: Adelina Kalinina (Inalco): Teaching practices around the Melnitsa oral practice textbook in introductory Russian
- 12h50-13h05 : Discussion

- 13h05-14h : Lunch break

- 14h-14h20 : Guo Jing (Inalco) : Travailler l'oral en classe à l'aide d'un manuel: Conception, mise en pratique et observations
- 14h20-14h40: Marie-Christine Fougerouse (Université Jean-Monnet Saint-Etienne) and Joan Vignaud (Éditions Maison des langues): Prêt-à-parler, manuels centrés sur la communication orale en classe
- 14h40-15h: Nataša Cilar (Inalco): Between didactized language and authentic language: the role of the textbook in the development of oral competence in Croatian as a foreign language
- 15h-15h20: Lida Triantafillidou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki): Evoking speech in class even with limited vocabulary: The role of textbooks in an oral practice class
- 15h20-15h35 : Discussion

- 15h35-15h50 : Coffee break

- 15h50-16h10 : Nikos Graikos (Association Synergie franco-grecque) :The reality of illusion in a language classroom. Using the textbook as a theater text
- 16h10-16h30 : Sonia Berbinski (University of Bucharest) : La représentation de l'oral dans les manuels de français publiés en Roumanie
- 16h30-16h50 : Liu Chan-yueh (Inalco): Le manuel comme guide de voix et de voie : le cas du cours de taïwanais
- 16h50-17h10: Xiang Zhang (Inalco): Les manuels de FLE à l'épreuve de l'oral: comparative analysis of Alter Ego+ and Méthode complète de français
- 17h10-17h25 : Discussion
- 17h25-18h30: Conclusions and perspectives, Snejana Gadjeva (Inalco) and Georges Kostakiotis (Inalco)

Organization

• Georges Kostakiotis (Inalco/CREE)
• Snejana Gadjeva (Inalco/CREE)

Contacts

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