Opportunities and challenges in distance French learning: the case of a group of beginner students during the Covid-19 pandemic
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Abstract
The objectives of this study were to explore the learning experience of a group of 73 students who have studied French integrally online during one semester, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Their level of satisfaction has been measured, then a thematic analysis was conducted to identify aspects of distance learning that were sources of difficulties for them, and which require a remediation, and those having a meliorative dimension, and should be maximized. The results indicated that the participants to the study perceive distance teaching of French as moderately satisfying and suggest that the feeling of isolation and the quality of interactions during distance classes are the main source of difficulties and unsatisfaction for them. Contextual and technical aspects of distance learning were also identified as sources of difficulties. The positive aspects of distance learning of French mainly related to the flexibility and opportunities offered by the technical mediation of teaching. This diagnostic allowed the researcher to determine orientations for effective and satisfying distance teaching of French as a foreign language.
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