Du déracinement à l’intégration socio-culturelle

From ‘uprootedness’ to socio-cultural integration

Abstract

In this article, we will address the socio-cultural aspect of disaster didactics by taking stock of intercultural communication in the language classroom. For the migrant public, once settled on French territory, learning the language becomes a necessity, in socio-professional and cultural integration. We consider that learning the target country's language is done through discovering culture, values, history, and social codes. For this reason, language training must also continue outside the classroom through visits to historic city centres, museums, cinema outings, concerts, exhibitions, and world cooking workshops. In the same way, it is essential to use authentic documents during educational sessions: newspaper articles, excerpts from programs, songs, and lyrical or narrative texts. Whetting learners' appetites for French culture means increasing their investment in training because this approach is associated with the reality that surrounds them. 

In addition, allowing foreign learners to actively participate in socio-cultural life will give them a sense of satisfaction, because they will stop being spectators of this new culture, to become actors. When one has suffered exile, psychological and moral distress is often greater than material distress.  Being integrated into the life of the country makes it easier to mourn the existence left behind and to repair your wounds.