Les représentations que les apprenants Kenyans de Français langue étrangère se font de la France, des Français et de la langue française

Résumé

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the social and sociolinguistic representations that Kenyan students learning French as a foreign language develop about France, the French people and the french language in the year 2023. These images lie under the social linguistic and language pedagogy. Kenya is one of the English-speaking nations with its language policy grounded on the English-Kiswahili bilingualism, where a variety of foreign languages are taught, including French as an optional subject. Nevertheless, the language is one of the most commonly dropped subjects in secondary school. It thus seems obligatory to challenge the subjective and symbolic aspects of this attrition especially the social and emotional images that Kenyan learners have developed concerning France, the French people and the French language. The primary aim of the study was to learn the affective and representational variables that shape the attitude of learners towards the French language. Based on the theory of affectivity (Tomkins, 1962), the research aimed at investigating the representational practices of Kenyan students in Kakamega County, on France, the French people, and the French language. It had the following objectives : to capture the representations of the Kenyan learners towards France ; to determine the images that they develop about the French people ; and to see the perceptions of the Kenyan learners in regard to the French language. The research adopted the mixed method, with the use of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The population was comprised of 291 students in 24 schools which teach French as a subject from form one to four in Kakamega County. A sample size of 81 form four students was used to gather data because this group was deemed the most appropriate to give their learning experiences in the field of foreign language learning (FLE). This analysis has revealed that Kenyan FLE students have devaluing representations and positive representations are primarily produced in learning contexts where students feel appreciated, heard and engaged. Pedagogical practices that empower the emotional aspect of the learners could thus be adopted by teachers of FLE as evidenced by this study.

Keywords:  Affectivity, French as a Foreign Language, Perceptions, Representations