L’orthographe Lexicale Du Français Et Son Enseignement/Apprentissage

Abstract

The teaching of French as a foreign language encounters obstacles in regard to orthographic competence. These obstacles are mostly due to the differences between spoken and written French. The gap between these poses problems regarding transcription and causes a need for orthographic reform. We can also add to the list of difficulties etymological and historical remnants, diacritics, double consonants, punctuation marks, along with specific letters that appear, following rules of usage, oftentimes carrying with them their own exceptions. In the present work, we studied the gap between the spoken and written codes, then the ‘plurisystem’ of the French language and some spelling difficulties that are problematic in writing. Then, we analysed orthographic competence through the prism of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL), the proficiency expectations of the Diplôme d’étude de langue française (DELF) and Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) designed by the Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP). This study had us acknowledge the existence of two types of orthography: grammatical orthography and lexical orthography. In this context, we have studied the different typologies of spelling mistakes. To conclude, we proposed some activities and leads to improve the teaching of lexical orthography in a French as a foreign language class.