An overview on Lexicon Approach in French as a Foreign Language Class (Aborder le lexique dans la classe de FLE : état des lieux et pistes à explorer)

Abstract

This article is a reflection on the teaching of the lexicon in French as a Foreign Language class in a heteroglossic context. The starting idea is that the lexicon approach is one of the rarely used approaches in teaching foreign languages, paradoxically; it is often a preferred pathway to a target language by learners. With this reflection, researchers would like to attribute a modest contribution to the development of lexicon teaching in French as a Foreign Language. After recalling the complexity of the selection of content, the article proceeds an analysis of the different components of lexical skill and continues by showing the difference between the onomasiological approach and the semasiological approach. Finally, the subject of how lexicon can be taught in the classroom is mentioned. The latter addresses an overview of the main types of activity by which the lexicon can be addressed in a language class: activities in the form of words, meaning, collocation, as well as with the pragmatics aspects. The difficulties inherent in the concept of these activities are explained using many examples.