Français.com: méthode de français professionnel et des affaires, niveau intermédiaire par Jean-Luc Penfornis (review)

reader could easily make inferences as to the behaviors, feelings, and experiences of post-secondary learners. Finally, it is possible to generalize the information presented to an online foreign language venue. For these reasons, this reviewer recommends this highly valuable book to any educator and/or educational theorist interested in understanding more clearly how the second and foreign language acquisition experience is affected by the affective dimension. Washington & Jefferson College (PA) Barry Chametzky Penfornis, Jean-Luc. Français.com: méthode de français professionnel et des affaires, niveau intermédiaire. 2e éd. Paris: Clé, 2011. ISBN 978-2-0903-8038-5. Pp. 168. 20,50 a. This visually appealing text, supplemented by a useful guide pédagogique, DVDRom , and cahier d’exercices, continues where the niveau débutant leaves off (FR 87.3), in that it serves an intermediate-level audience seeking practical French with an “objectif ‘utilitaire’” (3). The ten units support this goal of arriving at a practical “savoir-faire”: prise de contact, agenda, voyage, hôtel, restauration, entreprises, travail, recherche d’emploi, prise de parole, points de vue. Each unit features four“double-paged” lessons followed by a faire le point (one page grammar, one page multiple choice on content) and a page interculturelle with documents accompanied by questions. The concise nature of each unit proves challenging for the typical university student. For example, Penfornis addresses marketing inductively, skimming through difficult material without developing links and definitions that would help teach useful concepts.While the entreprises section contains concepts essential to the understanding of the operation of any business in France, it does not define basic terms. Only“chiffre d’affaires”merits a mention in the accompanying lexique (153), which provides sample sentences, rather than actual definitions: “Notre chiffre d’affaires est en constante augmentation.”The activity book contains one exercise for this unit, in which students match a term such as “vente par correspondance” with an “explication” (48). While Penfornis seems wedded to the concise format of the text, some of the material in the Guide pédagogique would prove helpful to students if it was included in the textbook itself. For instance, the “fiche d’identité” examples explain Bic’s business in a clear manner, and the definitions on the following page address terms such as “chiffre d’affaires,”“bénéfice,”“effectifs,” and “siège social,” as well as the distinctions between the activities of different forms of business (75–76). Despite these reservations, the text does include interesting and useful vocabulary, as well as material relevant to a business-oriented context. The interactive listening and reading comprehension exercises, accompanying DVD-Rom, and presented cultural context contribute to make this text effective in teaching vocabulary and cultural information to the business student. The grammar appendices address essential grammar difficulties. The two296 FRENCH REVIEW 88.2 Reviews 297 page Expressions de la correspondance commerciale presents business correspondence in a succinct and compelling way. Students will be able to refer to these pages for many years to come. Français.com has many strengths for the intermediate-level student seeking practical French for the business context. It is most useful in preparation of the DFA1 (Diplôme de français des affaires) and to begin preparing the CFP (Certificat de français professionnel) CCIP exams. That said, I am surprised to see this text marketed as a second edition of a relatively new text, since it replicates, page-for-page, Penfornis’s Business French: An Intermediate Course (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)—with no mention of this fact. Penfornis is a gifted business French pedagogue. I would have liked to see an entirely updated version using current realia and featuring more clarification. Georgia Regents University E. Nicole Meyer ...