<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aim of this paper is to shed light on promoting teaching and learning the French language and culture through the Olympiad, initiated by a group of practitioners in a community of practice. What makes this Olympiad rather unique is its main focus on cultural knowledge combining it with linguistic aspects. The Olympiad takes place in four different categories taking into account students’ age and prior experience in learning French (e.g. first or second foreign language). In addition, the regional round is organised in Moodle enabling more participants to take part and the national one in situ, at the University of Tallinn. Since the first Olympiad in 2014, the number of competitors has increased and both, private and municipality funded (public) schools participate. The paper provides a detailed overview of the olympiad process: how it was initiated and how it is annually run as well as a description of challenges faced by the organisers.</p></abstract>

The aim of this paper is to shed light on promoting teaching and learning the French language and culture through the Olympiad, initiated by a group of practitioners in a community of practice. What makes this Olympiad rather unique is its main focus on cultural knowledge combining it with linguistic aspects. The Olympiad takes place in four different categories taking into account students’ age and prior experience in learning French (e.g. first or second foreign language). In addition, the regional round is organised in Moodle enabling more participants to take part and the national one in situ, at the University of Tallinn. Since the first Olympiad in 2014, the number of competitors has increased and both, private and municipality funded (public) schools participate. The paper provides a detailed overview of the olympiad process: how it was initiated and how it is annually run as well as a description of challenges faced by the organisers.

The French Language Olympiad: Promoting language and culture learning

Journal of Language and Cultural Education

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"The French Language Olympiad: Promoting language and culture learning"}

The aim of this paper is to shed light on promoting teaching and learning the French language and culture through the Olympiad, initiated by a group of...

The French Language Olympiad: Promoting language and culture learning

Published Online: Jan 21, 2021

Page range: 39 - 52

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2020-0012

Keywords
French language and culture, language olympiad, language competition, community of practice, action research

© 2020 Merilyn Meristo, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The French Language Olympiad: Promoting language and culture learning

Published Online: Jan 21, 2021

Page range: 39 - 52

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jolace-2020-0012

KeywordsFrench language and culture, language olympiad, language competition, community of practice, action research

© 2020 Merilyn Meristo, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
French language and culture, language olympiad, language competition, community of practice, action research