Reading Groups – Part One

I have divided this blog into two parts.

Part One focuses on why I set up the groups, the books we have read, how the groups are organised and the purpose of them.

Part Two (this will appear in a couple of weeks) focuses on the pedagogical benefits both for my learners and my practice.

Background

Almost three years ago, my learners in my advanced French group suggested we read a novel to give them another way to access French.  I didn’t do literature as part of my degree, I was more drawn to politics and history, so I didn’t really know where to start, but I thought it was a fantastic idea and I am always up for a challenge. It was actually one of the learners who suggested we read Camus Étranger as our first book. In retrospect, it wasn’t the easiest book to start with but we did enjoy it and the experience informed how we went forward from there.

My approach

Initially, the onus was very much upon me. I would read a passage out loud and then I went on to translate it.  However, I quickly realised that this was a lot of preparation for me; checking the meaning of words and thinking ahead to look at cultural references etc. I thought the group would benefit more if we changed the format so I encouraged each person in the group to take turns reading a paragraph or two and then to translate it. This worked really well and everyone was extremely eager to participate actively and read. We did however realise that it would take a while to read a book so we decided that we would read in class but then we would also read independently at home and would agree each week where we would read from in class from the next session.

Our book choices

L’Étranger  was very rich in cultural references, including the place of Algeria in French history, and this in turn led to a discussion about the use of the death penalty and there were even references to a song by the 80s group the Cure. We enjoyed the book and were spurred on to continue.

I think we were a bit ambitious with our second book which was Pagnol’s La Gloire de Mon Père. It was hard going. We struggled with the arcane vocabulary (I learned rutabaga for a turnip/swede) and long descriptions and we spent a long time deciphering the meaning of passages.

It became a chore.

So we abandoned it – it is the first and only time we’ve done that.

I don’t give up reading books easily, I tend to plough on to the bitter end even if I don’t particularly enjoy it. However, in the interests of the group we had arrived at the summer break and decided to move on. Since then, we’ve read such diverse books as Le Petit prince (loved it), La Femme au Carnet Rouge by Antoine Laurain (loved it), Le Liseur du 6h27 (loved it not so much) and we are currently reading the set of short stories by Michel Bussi T’en souviens-tu, mon Anais.

So how are the groups organised?

We only read for 30 minutes before the main group class and I only charge a minimal fee for the class (to cover room hire fees). Is this enough time? Probably not, as we only get to read 6-8 pages in half an hour, but I do ensure that everyone gets their turn at reading/translation.

What’s the point of the group?

Well, the learners appreciate using their language for pleasure. They are reading in the TL, picking up new vocab and it’s not a chore (depending on the book we read obvs). I try to make it (in Conti’s words) a low-risk activity. I mean that I deliberately make it clear that we will all help out in the translation part of the passage if anyone gets stuck – some people like to prepare really carefully and some people like to wing it.

And that’s OK. It’s not a test. It’s just a nice activity to do.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog, why not consider buying us a coffee - it is a way of supporting us if you aren’t quite ready to subscribe to our site.