Séquences: Intermediate French through Film by Michèle Bissière, Nathalie Degroult (review)

in this context is defined as the collection and analysis of natural, speaker-driven language that is not elicited solely for the purpose of corpus creation. Absent among the sixteen chapters involving thirty different authors are sections solely devoted to phonology, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics. Each section begins with a reflective state of the art chapter replete with relevant definitions (for example,corpus-driven versus corpus-based studies), the pros and cons of corpus-based approaches, caveats, and wish lists.This iterative (yet not redundant) format strengthens the cross-pollination that continues in the two to four case-study chapters that follow each heading. Specifically for French, a repeated call for a large-scale (spoken) corpus emerges. Given the primary focus on data in the volume as a whole, it is surprising that only chapter 4 offers a list of databases with notation regarding public accessibility.However,the reader does repeatedly encounter thoughtful attempts to raise awareness of the limitations of current approaches to data resulting from, for example, corpus tagging that focuses on forms or outdated categories, or by doing concordances without recourse to traditional reading. Such caveats are particularly relevant in this era that finds corpora available and used in ways not originally imagined by the collectors, but also as a reminder that corpora as presented are not complete stories. Nevertheless, the advantages of corpus research, including speed, scale, and accessibility, are evidenced in the supporting chapters of this volume, ranging in topics from grammaticalization of the French adverb autrement (ch. 2) to post-verbal complement word order (ch. 6) to langue des jeunes (ch. 9) to L2 spelling (ch. 16). Each situates itself in the larger conversation of the particular field within linguistics, the volume as a whole, and the specialized topic at hand. In short, this highly readable yet substantive volume illustrates on a microlevel the collaboration crucial for seeing the forest for the ecological trees. University of Missouri, Kansas City Lindsy L. Myers Methods and Materials edited by Frédérique Grim Bissière, Michèle, and Nathalie Degroult. Séquences: Intermediate French through Film. 3rd ed. Boston: Cengage, 2016. ISBN 978-1-305-10565-2. Pp. 399. $153. The main evolution of this edition involves two revised chapters (2 and 8) where the authors replaced Rue Cases-Nègres and Le dîner de cons with Monsieur Lazhar and Intouchables. This seems like a wise choice as the new chapters reflect themes that are more current and the realia and activities allow students to explore new topics through readings and grammar activities for the guided discussions in class. In addition to the two completely revised chapters, the edition contains enhancements to the previous iterations: updated Arrêt sur images modules and more pronunciation work. These 186 FRENCH REVIEW 89.2 Reviews 187 additions allow instructors to focus on each topic as it relates to their goals by exploring all the exercises, or by picking from the vast selection. As a further complement, the Cahier has also benefited from updated realia and web activities. The updates provide more exercises under the rubric of Le français parlé, which are particularly helpful to students honing their oral and aural skills. The diverse activities engage students in interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills while also considering the diverse communities represented in the film selection. By focusing on French-speaking communities , the book aims to achieve the major linguistic and cultural competencies students need and expect from a foreign language course. Equally, the chapter on L’auberge espagnole can inspire discussion on study abroad opportunities and allow instructors a perfect moment to encourage their students to participate in an experience abroad. I like the idea that there are explicit connections to activities beyond the classroom that aid students in achieving multiple learning environments. Given that asset, there have been quite a few books geared toward that population (Mise en scène, Cinéphile, Cinema for French Conversation, Francophone Cultures through Film, La France contemporaine à travers ses film). Séquences certainly has a place among those titles as an intermediate language course. However, I think it could also be used as content for multiple platforms given the wide array of...