Improving Learners’ Oral Proficiency in French Through the Communicative Approach: Colleges of Education in Oyo in Focus

Abstract

It cannot be overemphasised that French language is a foreign language in Nigeria and that its teaching and learning cannot take the same process as acquiring/learning the mother tongue or a second language. Foreign language learning requires some strategic applications in order to be able to interact with the native speakers in real life day to day communication. This study aims at delving into some teaching strategies involving the communicative approach to teaching French as a foreign language in order to boost the oral proficiency of our learners in French. The teachers and students in two colleges of Education namely Federal College of Education (Special) [FCES] and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), both located in Oyo town, were the participants in the study. Data were collected through classroom observation, students’ achievement test as well as questionnaires for teachers. The results indicated that students perform better when the teachers employ the communicative approach. Based on the findings of this study, it is therefore recommended that teachers of French language use the communicative language teaching approach to build confidence in their students as this will help to develop faster their linguistic skills, given that this approach gives priority to listening and speaking skills over reading and writing skills.