Entre Amis

Entre amisis a performance-oriented program designed to expand students' interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communicative skills by presenting and rehearsing situations similar to those they will encounter in real life. Based on a progressive approach,Entre amisfeatures thorough coverage of all four-language skills with a strong emphasis on oral communication. The language presented and practiced is always embedded in a French cultural context. Information Gap Activitiesengage students in interpersonal communication with a capstone activity in every chapter. Increased listening comprehension supportincludes instructor modeling in thePrise de contact,the initial presentations in theButs communicatifs;student-to-student negotiating of meaning in the Information Gap Activities; as well as activities on the video and the lab audio. Streamlined grammar sequenceoffers an earlier introduction of the verballer,a clearer explanation of the comparative and the superlative, and a more accessible presentation of the subjunctive. NewProcess Writing Activitiesbegin with aDÉbut de rÉdactionactivity in theIntÉgration,constituting the first step of the writing process, and culminate with theRÉdactionin the corresponding chapter of the workbook, providing students with many opportunities to improve their presentational skills by sharing personal information and ideas in contextualized writing assignments. NewReadings with Strategiesfeature more than 40 percent new and revised authentic selections accompanied by pre- and post- strategies to assist students in reading, re-reading and interpreting the selections. Enhanced culture presentationsinclude 30 strategically placed cultural capsules (RÉalitÉs culturellesreplacing the lengthyEscalesections) that provide a systematic tour of the francophone world and intelligent discussions of many up-to-date social issues, including the Islamic scarf in French schools, the euro and other developments in the EU, immigration, religious diversity, and political and civil unrest in Haiti. Greater opportunity for self-testingoffers four new specific activities--two on the Web site and two in theCahier d'activitÉs--that enable students to check their acquisition of vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension on their own. Functional contentexpands students' communicative abilities by presenting and rehearsing situations they might encounter in real life, while integrating new material and recycling previously learned material. Emphasis on active communicationintroduces students to key structures and expressions through highly interactive exchanges, lists of useful words and expressions embedded in a cultural context, communicative tasks, exploration of numerous contexts, clarification of structural patterns, and continual use and reuse of what is learned. Concise grammar explanationshelp students keep their focus on the text's communicative goal and enable them to direct their attention to the important elements of French diction in thePrononciationsections. Simultaneous development of text and workbookensures that the content of theCahier d'activitÉsclosely matches the content of the textbook.Michael D. Oates is the author of 'Entre Amis', published 2005 under ISBN 9780618512928 and ISBN 0618512926.