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UNIT INFORMATION
First, the pedagogical framework for these unit plans is based on the principles laid out in the National Core French Study (NCFS). The NCFS was an initiative begun in the 1980s by the late H. H. Stern whose focus was improving and enhancing the Core French program. Since the publication of the first document, many Canadian Heritage sponsored initiatives, including this web site, have been launched. CASLT's "Formative Assessment" documents and SLEC's "Manuel de Formation" are two of these sorts of projects. Many Departments of Education have also embraced the philosophy espoused in the NCFS when creating curriculum guides, teaching modules and special programs like the most recent Intensive Core French. Moreover, several publishing houses are now publishing teaching and learning materials based on the NCFS.
In summary, the NCFS is comprised of four syllabi- the Communicative/Experiential syllabus, the Cultural Syllabus*, the General Language Education Syllabus and the Language Syllabus. Together these form the basis of what has been called the "Multidimensional Curriculum." The Communicative/ Experiential syllabus is the focal point of this curriculum development plan emphasizing the need for second language learning to centre on experience and communication. Fields of experience or themes are the context for the development of communicative tasks that lead toward a final experiential goal. The cultural or content syllabus features the specific cultural or content knowledge that learners gain from the unit. Learning how to learn is the guiding principle of the General Language Education syllabus, which zeros in on the development of learning strategies and reflective language learning. The nuts and bolts of the multidimensional curriculum are covered in the Language Syllabus, which details the language functions, grammar, structures and vocabulary to be learned in the communicative/ experiential context. In many of the units featured on this web site, language goals have also been further refined through the use of the Canadian Language Benchmarks Document. This excellent resource, designed for use in the English Second Language context (but soon to be available in French), defines three stages of language development and carefully outlines the speaking, listening, reading, and writing capacities for each level within each stage.
The units featured in this section of our web site have been developed by students specializing FSL and/or ESL teaching. Most of the units have been edited by knowledgeable staff under the direction of SLEC faculty members. The site is organized into themes, subjects and age groups and units are available both in English and in French. Although the overall framework has been included for all units, some units contain in-depth lesson plans while others may only give an overview of the lesson. Although units have been categorized under one specific subject, many of these plans follow an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum design.
We hope these units will provide you with some good ideas, point you to some useful resources and serve as springboards for further unit and lesson development! Please give credit to the Second Language Education Centre at UNB when you use the documents. And we would be pleased to hear from you about how you are using these materials (contact us at l2ric@unb.ca).
* We have added "content" as an alternative to the "culture" syllabus to accommodate the content objectives of French immersion (e.g. science) and for classes that integrate content objectives into language learning (i.e. content across the curriculum).