Title: Learning the Craft of L2 Writing through Podcasting
Presenters: Rachel Geer & Spyridon Simotas, Department of French

Description:
Rachel and Spyros will discuss podcast production as a new approach to teaching upper-level French writing. In the fall of 2021, we piloted a new French 3031 course called "Finding Your Voice in French: édition podcast!". Over the course of the semester, students explored the rapidly-developing world of French-language podcasts while simultaneously creating their own scripts, interviews, and recordings for a podcast of their own. We wanted to find out if the medium of a podcast--with all of its attention to story craft, voice, tone, and editing—could become a tool for honing the craft of written self-expression at an advanced level in a second language. Not only did the fresh new voices of the French-language podcasts challenge many of our students' assumptions about the French-speaking world, they also inspired fascinating questions around the role of language in shaping identities, experiences, and politics. Drawing on John Bean’s integrated and engaged approach to writing, we structured writing assignments as podcast scripts where students formulated and responded to questions inspired by their podcast listening. By the end of the semester, students had written, recorded, edited, and produced a piece of authentic French-language media, and we were delighted by the process of making & creating alongside our students. Rachel and Spyros also found out along the way that podcasts are an innately interdisciplinary medium, and as such they inspired a more collaborative approach to their teaching and enriched their relationships with others all across grounds. In this presentation Rachel and Spyros will cover the basic design elements of the course as well as their approach to recording equipment, technical support, and conducting interviews and field recordings.