Fostering autonomy of university students in the acquisition of French language skills through assessment and personalised tutoring.

Abstract

This study is part of a teaching innovation project carried out in the Bachelor’s Degree in French Studies at the University of Granada (Spain). The main objectives of the project were to carry out an objective assessment of the level of French as a foreign language (FFL) and a personalised tutoring in order to improve the FFL skills of all students of the Bachelor's Degree in French Studies. In this specific context, achieving the homogenization of the level of FFL remains a major challenge due to many factors, such as the different language level with which students enter this degree or the change in teaching and learning methodology they experience at university level compared to previous stages. Correctly managing this heterogeneity of the students' language level is one of the great challenges the teaching staff faces, especially in the first year, when the heterogeneity that exists among them is even more evident. Therefore, the tasks of language teachers as "mediators and facilitators” of the learning process of their students are: to detect the FFL level of the learners through diagnostic tests at the beginning of each course, to adapt to their needs and expectations, and to guide them throughout the teaching-learning process so that they achieve autonomy, and to provide them with the appropriate materials and resources to work both inside and outside the university classroom, in order to homogenize the language level at group level and to reinforce those who do not have the required level or who show some deficiencies in some of the levels. With regard to methodology, this project has implemented several actions, aiming the development of autonomy through self-assessment and fostering the internal motivation of students in their learning process. Indeed, it is through autonomy in learning that motivation necessarily develops since it is the learner who takes control of his or her learning process, focusing on what is most interesting or useful to him or her, using the strategies that work best for his or her own learner profile. Thus, this study aims to present best practice examples designed, implemented and carried out in the Degree of French Studies during the past year.