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FOREIGN language educators are taking a keen interest in training students in applications of their disciplines that lead to careers other than teaching, as is evidenced by the proliferation of sessions on languages for business at regional and national conferences and the notable increase in publications on the subject. 1 My object here is to suggest a few networking options that may be helpful in creating business French courses or at least in incorporating some business French material throughout the foreign language curriculum.
In the Fall of 1984, as a member of the Department of French and Italian of the University of Texas, Austin, I developed a third-year course entitled Le français des affaires (known as “topics”) in response to the growing needs of both international business students and French majors. Since I wanted the curriculum not only to increase students' proficiency but also to foster an understanding of the current French political and socioeconomic situation, I entered into partnerships with French industry in its cooperation with the French government, with departments in and outside the School of Liberal Arts, and with my students. In evaluating the content and methodology of the course, it quickly became apparent that a major objective should be to prepare students to earn the Certificat pratique de français commercial et économique , granted by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP), which I posit as the first partner for anyone planning such a course. By promoting the certificat , the chamber has, perhaps indirectly, set the standards, the goals, of the typical business French curriculum. The growing acceptance of the certificat has even resulted in the publication of a textbook based on the annals of the qualifying exam, Claude Le Goff's French for Business / Le français des affaires . In fact, preparation for the certificat can serve as an organizing principle for a single course or for an entire program of study.
According to the CCIP's latest brochure describing the examination, the certificat attests that successful candidates have reached the level of proficiency necessary to function with ease in all everyday situations and in the administrative and commercial setting of a corporation ( Examens pour étrangers 11 ). 2 The exam comprises four written and two oral parts. In the so-called test part of the written exam, candidates must demonstrate their familiarity with the vocabulary and structures of economics and commerce. They are asked to manipulate typical syntactic and lexical features through various formats, such as completing a cloze passage or combining a set of sentence cues into meaningful discourse, and to perform specific functions like writing a telex or a check. The correspondence section of the examination requires knowledge of the layout and formulas of a business letter. Other parts of the exam test translation, from French into English and from English into French ( thème et version ), and reading skills. Here students are asked to summarize an article's main points, to extract specific information, and, in the infamous composition, to express their points of view, to conjecture, and to support opinions—skills that fall in the advanced range according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines .
The oral component of the examination consists of an entretien , personal questions regarding the candidate's background (studies, travel, work experience, interest in business French, etc.), followed by a broad discussion based on an oral or written support (any authentic document with commercial or economic content) that the candidate has had time to prepare. During the traduction portion of the épreuve orale , the candidate must show an understanding of a text (again written or spoken, but this time en langue étrangère , meaning in the candidate's native language) and demonstrate a command of business terminology.
In a ground-breaking article, Townsend Bowling has compared the épreuve orale to certain features of the ACTFL oral-proficiency interview and used the ACTFL rating scale to assign grades convertible to the 0–20 scale required by the CCIP. Essentially, he concludes that a passing grade on the certificat (10–20) is equivalent to a level 2 rating on the Interagency Language Roundtable proficiency scale or an advanced rating on the ACTFL scale—defined as “limited working proficiency” (193). Bowling's findings are confirmed by Patricia Cummins: “the exam requires at least ‘advanced’-level writing, listening and speaking skills, ‘advanced plus’ skills in reading” (1). Data compiled by the ACTFL-Texas Project, cited by Bowling (193), show that 55% of fourth-year college students and 42% of third-year students were rated “advanced,” while 27% of college seniors and 18% of juniors were rated “advanced plus,” which is equivalent, in Bowling's analysis, to a 14–20 on the CCIP grading scale, a score high enough to earn a mention bien on the certificat .
Clearly, the advanced level, needed to pass the certificat , can be reached during the third or fourth year of college language instruction. Therefore, a rationale exists for giving third-year language courses a business orientation, although a case has been made for incorporating the vocabulary and structures of business French as early as the second or even the first year, a fact that some textbook publishers have recognized. (For example, D.C. Heath's French for Business and Finance , by Georges Perla, correlates with a core text intended for either beginning or intermediate French courses: Basic French Grammar , by Gloria Russo and Georges Perla.)
The linguistic proficiency needed to qualify for the certificat can be developed in both four-skills and one-skill courses (such as conversation or composition), as well as in courses dealing specifically with business French. Much of the material covered in business French textbooks could be distributed among courses not officially designated commercial French. Contemporary culture and civilization courses could incorporate the study of French business practices; composition courses could include correspondence, résumé preparation, and various other writing tasks; advanced oral-expression courses could naturally contribute to improving performance on the épreuve orale . It is also possible to expand the traditional lexique of first-year texts. Intercodes 2, by Annie Monnerie, covers numerous technical terms: chiffre d'affaires, gestion, facturation, bilan, impôts , to name only a few; readers familiar with the second edition of Rendez-vous , by Judith Muyskens et al., have noted the addition of elementary banking and computer terminology: Minitel, écran, touches, relevé de compte, endosser un chèque, interêts , and so on. Preparation for the certificat , then, can effectively orient a single specialized course or figure in courses throughout the foreign language curriculum. It can be started at the novice level or postponed until the intermediate high or advanced level.
Besides the certificat , other support systems provided by the CCIP include its quarterly Bulletin de liaison , which contains valuable pedagogical information. For educators who need to obtain a current picture of the French economic climate or to sense the latest political and social trends, the CCIP organizes summer stages , or training courses. Some programs are devised to promote an understanding of the French socioeconomic environment and political thinking and to familiarize participants with major sources of international business information. Other modules are more pedagogical, suggesting a specific content and methodology for business courses. 3 The CCIP also offers programs for students; in particular, it administers Sweet Briar and Hamilton colleges' junior year abroad.
The second partnership I formed in developing Le français des affaires involved networking with faculty members and students outside the Department of French and Italian. Promoting business French courses on campus—recruiting students and eliciting the participation of colleagues in other disciplines — mandated adopting an interdisciplinary approach. It also meant expanding the definition of liberal arts to its fullest and best extent. There is a noteworthy trend, in the United States and abroad, toward internationalizing the business curriculum through language and area studies, as the following two examples illustrate.
In 1984–85, as liaison among the Department of French and Italian, the University of Texas Graduate School of Business, and the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lyon, I participated in the implementation of an exchange agreement leading to a dual degree: the University of Texas MBA and the ESC, Lyon, diplôme . Students holding bachelor's degrees with nonbusiness majors (e.g., French majors) can obtain both degrees in three years. Those holding business degrees can complete all requirements in as little as two years. Admission requirements to the ESC, Lyon, include either the GMAT plus the certificat or the Test d'aptitude aux études de management , the French equivalent to the GMAT, for which students may now substitute the Mesure des aptitudes aux études de gestion , a test developed by a team from the ESC, Lyon, headed by Bruno Dufour.
The University of Texas soon found itself in the awkward situation of accepting four to six students from Lyon each year without having any of its own students admitted to the Lyon program; their foreign language skills were insufficient. It became imperative to prepare French majors and nonmajors alike for the certificat . Roughly half the students enrolled in my business French course were undergraduate business majors contemplating either graduate studies in international business or employment with a multinational corporation. These were students who would never have continued their study of the language were it not applicable to their career objectives, students for whom having the certificat was either required or recommended. Of the twenty-six students registered for the course in 1986-87, ten chose to take the exam, eight passed (one with a mention bien ), and two went to Lyon. In 1987-88, twenty-eight took the course, nine took the exam, all passed (one with a mention très bien ), and one student went to Lyon.
In its continuing networking with the Business School, the Department of French and Italian now also offers a course entitled Doing Business in Europe (with an emphasis on France) — taught under the designation French Civilization and cross-listed with the Department of Marketing. In the fall of 1988, ninety students signed up for the course, which is taught in English; approximately thirty percent registered in the French department, the rest through the Business School.
My second example of productive networking is an innovative program in applied languages: Clemson University's Bachelor of Arts in Language and International Trade (essentially a double major in foreign languages and international marketing, offered in the Department of Languages in conjunction with the Departments of Marketing; Textiles; Agricultural Economics; Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management; and English. Developed with a $178,949 grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education of the US Department of Education, the program (which is only a year and a half old) has already proved to he a popular option. To quote the fall 1988 enrollment figures furnished by Judith Melton, chair of the Department of Languages, there are fifty-two majors in French and international trade, compared with twenty-five in the more traditional language and literature track; the department also has eight students majoring in French and another subject and five education majors specializing in French. Before the creation of the major in language and international trade, the Department of Languages averaged only thirty French majors. Clearly, many regular French majors have changed to language and international trade, along with “change-of-majors” from every college. In fact, the program has become the fastest growing major on campus.
The language and international trade curriculum includes language and literature studies, but the primary emphasis is on contemporary culture and business communication. The four-year program includes thirteen French courses: beginning and intermediate French, the customary four-semester, four-skills sequence; two literature courses; conversation and composition 1 and 2; French for Business 1 and 2; a course in culture and civilization; and two electives. Using the department's customary course offerings in language, literature, and civilization and benefiting from courses in other departments, the new program has created only two additional French courses, French for Business I and 2; but it has almost tripled the number of French majors.
Naturally, there are problems inherent in teaching business French to students who have a minimal knowledge of business terms in their own language, let alone business practices. For instance, there is little use in telling students that a bill of lading corresponds to the French connaissement when they have no idea what the English term means; likewise, most nonbusiness students have never heard of a banker's draft or traite. Consequently, instructors find that they have to explain business practices in addition to teaching language. Sanford Dugan has argued further that the study of commercial French should incorporate an introduction to the economic systems of French-speaking countries and should review the “cultural behavior [that] inevitably impinges on economic behavior,” especially when dealing with the primary areas of economic interaction between the United States and francophone countries: “investment, exchange of services (banking, insurance, transportation, etc.), and commercial trade (import/export)” (358).
Meeting the challenge requires once again networking with new partners — this time with the students themselves. I encourage students majoring in such disciplines as computer science, marketing, finance and accounting to serve as “expert sources,” to share with the class the pertinent knowledge they have acquired in other courses. For example, an economics student who found my explanation of balance of payments and balance of trade incomplete prepared a handout outlining the major components of each category, including the latest figures for the United States and France. Faculty auditors can also be valuable partners. Fortunately, the course attracted a steady stream of graduate students and professors from the Business School as well as from various science departments (astronomy, urban planning, engineering); even a fellow member of the French department audited the course. The presence of this diverse audience was at times invaluable; the participants enriched the course with comments and information, widened its perspective, and certainly challenged me with interesting questions. I might point out that students' comments on course-evaluation surveys were especially positive regarding the opportunities afforded by such an interdisciplinary environment.
In conclusion, I would like to comment on the marketability of business French skills from the faculty's point of view. In the first two MLA Job Information Lists published in 1988, three positions called for business French as a primary area of specialization (incidentally, two of these were at the University of Texas, Austin, and at Clemson); thirteen other announcements stated that preference would be given to candidates qualified to teach business French. Undoubtedly, the CCIP's efforts will continue to generate interest in the field among educators and students alike.
The author is Associate Professor of French at Smith College. This article isbased on a paper presented at the MLA Convention, 28 December 1988, in NewOrleans.
1 The ERIC bibliography, prepared 24 Jan. 1989, cites fifteen articles published in 1985–87, compared with only eleven in the previous five years (1979–84).
2 Copies of Examens pour étrangers and sample examinations can be obtained from the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris, Service des Examens pour étrangers 42, rue du Louvre, 75001 Paris, France.
3 Subscriptions to the Bulletin and the brochure S'informer pour fomer may be obtained by writing the Direction de l'enseignement at the address given in note 2.
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Hastings-on-Hudson: ACTFL, 1986.
Bowling, Townsend. “The Certificat pratique Oral Examination: Format, Content, Grading.” French Review 59 (1985): 185–97.
Bulletin de liaison: Le français commercial. Paris: CCIP.
Cummins, Patricia. “Paris Chamber of Commerce Exams and ACTFL/ETS Proficiency Levels.” French Review 61 (1987): 1–11.
Dugan, Sanford. “A Rationale for Broadening the Perspectives of Business French Programs.” French Review 57 (1984): 356–65.
Examens pour étrangers Paris: CCIP, n.d.
Le Goff, Claude. French for Business/Le français des affaires. Paris: Hatier, 1986.
Melton, Judith. Letter to the author. 31 Oct. 1988.
MLA Job Information List. New York: MLA, 1988.
Monnerie, Annie. Intercodes 2. Paris: Larousse, 1978.
Muyskens, Judith, et al. Rendez-vous: An Invitation to French. 2nd ed. New York: Random, 1986.
Perla, Georges. French far Business and Finance. Lexington: Heath, 1985.
Russo, Gloria, and Georges Perla. Basic French Grammar. Lexington: Heath, 1985.
S'informer pour former. Paris: CCIP
© 1989 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
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