Developing French for specific purposes in the Nigerian University Bachelor’s Degree Programme

Abstract

Following the changing role of the French Language from a vehicle of French culture to a vehicle of Science, Technology, Commerce and Diplomacy, the teaching of French as a foreign language (FFL) around the world has shifted emphasis from literary studies to what has come to be
known as French for Specific Purposes (FSP), seen essentially as the specialist forms and usages of the French language in specific professions, disciplines, and fields of human activity. Following this trend, Nigerian universities, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world teaching FFL, have been teaching FSP to students in the Bachelor’s degree programme of various disciplines seen as trainees in various professions, careers, and occupations. Teaching FSP to students in the first year or the first two
years of the Bachelor’s degree programme of other disciplines than French has not yielded the required result in terms of mastery of the specialist language of the respective disciplines, and the reasons for this have been discussed in this article. The article has also shown reasons why the proposal by Simire (2002a and 2002b) to teach FSP to students of the B.A. (French) programme as currently organised in Nigerian universities, cannot also yield the required result. A different approach to the teaching of FSP
in the Bachelor’s degree programmes, and which can yield the required result has been proposed in this article; it consists of studying French with other disciplines in a double major or a major/minor honours degree curriculum.