Differences in the understanding of French culture between undergraduate college students taught French literature in French and those taught in English

摘要

This study was designed to determine whether or not there are differences in the understanding of culture between college undergraduates who study French literature in French and those who study it in English.;To measure the dependent variable (understanding of culture), a test was developed using Valette's (1977) guidelines on testing literature and culture. The instrument was found to be adequately valid and reliable (alpha =.92).;The sample consisted of 118 subjects enrolled in seven colleges and universities. Twenty-two subjects studied Madame Bovary in French while 96 studied it in English. A pretest was given to all the subjects, who were then taught Madame Bovary for one week. The posttest was administered upon completion of the instruction. Since the students in each institution were taught by a different professor, a hierarchical analysis of covariance was employed to analyze the data.;The study produced the following results: (a) no significant difference was observed between the average scores of subjects who studied Madame Bovary in French and those who studied it in English, thus, medium language, whether the original one or not, does not appear to be the determinant factor in comprehending culture from a literary work, (b) both language groups made significant progress and had significantly greater means on the posttest than on the pretest, thus, literature does have a bearing on understanding culture, and (c) the differences between the mean scores of classes taught by different instructors within each treatment were significant and accounted for about 40% of the total variance of the scores, leading to the conclusion that it is probable that the instructors' attributes, e.g., their styles of teaching, their knowledge of culture, and their willingness to teach culture through literature, had a tremendous effect on the student's understanding of culture.