The French language in the Dominican Republic: realities and perspectives

Abstract

In our country, the Dominican Republic, French is the second compulsory foreign language that is taught in Dominican high schools and colleges, from 1st to 6th grade (6 years).

At the university level, the French language as a foreign language (FLE) is considered in the academic curriculum of 5 degrees. Although the approach to Francophone cultures has increased, the problems that arise in the teaching-learning process in this area go unnoticed because there is no institution interested in researching in the area and following up.

For these reasons, we ask ourselves: What are we doing in the area of FLE research in the universities of our country? What research has been conducted to identify the real learning needs in FLE of high school and/or university students? Was scientific research conducted to modify the new curriculum? What state resources do Dominican university professors have to get involved in research in the area of French?

This work does not have all the answers to these questions, we focus on presenting a recently created Dominican institution whose mission is: "Monitor, encourage and motivate the learning of French in the Dominican Republic by determining through scientific research what are the variables and problems to intervene."