French

Appreciation of short stories written in French (+ video works)

Encountering a style that is clear yet has literary depth, and practicing reading between the lines

Reading comprehension practice that does not rely solely on Japanese translation (e.g., creating a picture-story show by collaging free images in PowerPoint to construct a world of meaning, creating a video in which students read aloud and act out scenes), thereby internalizing French.

Cross-cultural understanding: Fostering an understanding of the French language and Francophone culture through the internalization of French.

Fostering self-understanding by considering the themes being dealt with (anger, humor, obsession, life goals, etc.) as one's own issues and discussing them.

Encouraging creative activities using the French language.

Utilizing online tools (initially SFC Project Document Sharing System, later migrated to Slack) to create a digital archive of student work, which helps in the exchange of inspiration through mutual viewing.

Storing student work in a digital portfolio, which also benefits the instructors.

Visualizing the class community through Slack and LINE (communication continues outside of class).

Initially, the classes were live using WebEx Training, and later Zoom. Thanks to these tools, we were able to ensure that the French classes were almost the same as the face-to-face classes held on a regular campus. Even before, when we were holding face-to-face classes on campus, we had already been trying to strengthen the community by communicating closely with the group, such as distributing materials by email in advance, creating a LINE group for the class to encourage sharing of notes from each class to help with review, and sending reminders and distributing materials for assignments. Therefore, the new challenge in moving online was the level of mastery of interactive teaching tools.

As an example of specifically utilizing the characteristics of online learning this time, we can say that digital tools became more familiar and were utilized by both students and instructors through the exploration of online classes. This included creating a digital archive using Slack, and activities that promoted intuitive understanding through the use of images without strong reliance on Japanese translations, such as creating picture-story shows with image collages in PowerPoint, video creation, and adding text readings to the above for pronunciation checks. And with the first half of the week dedicated to standard language learning class management (current affairs, listening practice, large amounts of French input, etc.) and the latter half including more creative attempts using French, it can be said that the overall balance was good.

In addition, as preparation before online classes began, it goes without saying that many instructors in the entire French section repeatedly conducted voluntary training. Before classes started, we set up opportunities for registered students to check their connections, and the French SA (Student Assistant) prepared a space for French learners called "Tamariba" once a week on Zoom to promote interaction among students. We also implemented online support via email (ausecours@) and responded to students who could not connect to class tools or had problems.

The Intensive 3FB introduced this time is just one example among the many French language courses.