Exploring peripheral Francophonie works (Francophone Belgium) to increase intercultural experience of Erasmus students

Abstract

As a French as a foreign language teacher for Erasmus students studying at a French-speaking university outside France, we may wonder about the relevance of teaching the linguistic variations and cultural and literary references specific to this French-speaking area, or first and foremost "Franco-centred" references and works. However, the appropriation of cultural references and "local" Francophone specificities is of twofold interest. On the one hand, learners are confronted with immersion; knowing these
particularities can only help them to dare to really practice their French with native speakers, outside the classroom. On the other hand, the discovery of works or references from a "peripheral" Francophone community (Klinkenberg, 2010) opens up a way, for these international students, to reflect on their experience of decentralization (Anquetil, 2006; Meunier, 2015), as well as on the development of inter-relational skills that the Erasmus enable them to develop.

Following this reflection, we willevoke in a very concrete way some examples of tasks and works presented to a group of students staying for an Erasmus in French-speaking Belgium, in order to start with them this process of reflexivity based on cultural and literary productions by French-speaking Belgian creators. We will also examine the "deconstruction" of certain purist or stereotypical attitudes towards French language or Francophones, initiated by the discovery of the lexical plurality of French in Belgium and of various literary and artistic works in this "peripheral" area.