Points de départ, 2nd edition

STREAMLINED FOR EASE OF USE, FOCUSED ON STUDENT OUTCOMES

10 Chapter elementary French text for use in high-beginner or one semester courses.

Changes to the new edition focus on enhancing student outcomes, including a new design, refinements to the scope and sequence, new strategy boxes, and new comprehension based grammar activities.

Each chapter is built around a cultural theme reinforced by informative photographs, line drawings, and realia.

User-friendly, consistent organization and user-praised instructor annotations make it easy for students to navigate and instructors and adjuncts to teach from.

BALANCED APPROACH

• Each chapter is divided into three, consistently organized lessons that feature integrated lexical and grammatical presentations, sequenced practice, cultural information, and a culturally based skills activity.

CONNECT WITH CULTURE

• Thematically interrelated lessons closely integrate the presentation of lexical and grammatical content within interesting and culturally authentic contexts of France and the Francophone World.

• Cultural notes at the beginning of each lesson incorporate video, photos, and realia that help students discover French culture and make cross-cultural comparisons.

• Video program presents natural authentic language, used in authentic contexts, assisting students to connect language with culture.

EXPLORE GRAMMAR

• Grammatical presentations are streamlined to reduce the coverage of complex grammar points such as the subjunctive and the conditional.

• Concise, clearly written grammar explanations in English focus on authentic usage and point out features of the spoken and written language.

• Numerous examples are provided and, where appropriate, color-coded charts summarize the forms.

• Class-friendly exercises (À vous la parole) provide a full range of practice—from form-based to meaningful and personalized activities—incorporating the theme and the vocabulary of the lesson.

  • Exercise sequences are streamlined to suit the needs of a course intended to develop basic language proficiency.

• Use of a cyclical syllabus facilitates language acquisition by allowing the instructor to gradually develop students’ understanding of complex topics.

BUILD VOCABULARY

• Varied and appealing visuals and language samples present vocabulary in authentic everyday contexts.
• Audio & video programs allow students the opportunity to review acquired vocabulary and preview grammatical forms and functions.

DEVELOP SKILLS

Process approach to development of the four skills helps students become confident and proficient at carrying out a wide variety of communicative tasks.

Authentic texts and tasks form the basis for developing students’ language skills.

• Listening activities and models for speaking reflect the everyday language of young people.

• Varied readings and writing tasks help students develop an awareness of appropriate style as they are exposed to a wide variety of Francophone writers.

• Throughout the textbook and supplements, practice of vocabulary and grammar is oriented toward real situations and authentic tasks.

Lisons, Observons, Écoutons, Parlons, or Écrivons. Each lesson concludes with one of these culturally rich, thematically linked skills activities, helping students to put into practice the vocabulary and grammar acquired in the lesson as they explore the chapter theme.

• Through work with an authentic text or task in a reading, listening, speaking, or writing activity, students are guided in their development of receptive and productive skills.

Sons et lettres section presents the main phonetic features and sound contrasts of French, so that students can incorporate them into their speech.

• Emphasizes the sound contrasts that determine differences in meaning, the major differences between French and English, and the relationship between sounds and spellings.

• Practice exercises from the text (À vous la parole) are available in the Audio program to accompany the text.

PERSONALIZE LEARNING

MyLanguageLabs deliver proven results in helping individual students succeed.

• Pearson MyLabs are currently in use by millions of students each year across a variety of disciplines.
• MyLanguageLabs work—but don’t take our word for it. Visit http://www.pearsonhighered.com/elearning to read white papers, case studies, and testimonials from instructors and students that consistently demonstrate the success of our MyLabs.

MyLanguageLabs provides engaging experiences that personalize, stimulate, and measure learning for each student.

• Everything Students Need to Succeed In One Place - MyLanguageLabs is the only program that thoroughly integrates all the component of a program bringing each element to your students as they need them to learn. 
• Multilayered Feedback and Point-of-Need Support - Feedback bubbles in machine-graded activities give students instant hints on why an answer is incorrect. When students try the activity again, the “Need help?” feature links to specific sections in the eText and additional resources directly related to the activity's concept.  The result is improved student performance.
• An assignment calendar provides students with a clear learning path and allows instructors to assign graded activities, with specific deadlines, and measure student progress.
• A fully customizable Gradebook allows instructors to add columns to their gradebook and organize them anyway they wish.  MyLanguageLabs gradebook can become the unique gradebook for your course.
• English Grammar Readiness Checks test students’ understanding of grammar topics in English and provide personalized remediation via animated tutorials.
• Media assignments for each chapter—including videos with assignable questions—feed directly into the gradebook, enabling instructors to track student progress automatically.
• The Pearson eText lets students access their textbook anytime, anywhere, and any way they want—including listening online or downloading to iPad.
• Oral Practice - Voice Recording, Audio Feedback, and Blackboard Instant Messaging, Podcasting and MediaShare all enable students to increase oral proficiency without leaving the online environment.
• Assessment tied to every video and chapter enables both instructors and students to track progress and get immediate feedback. With results feeding into a powerful gradebook, the assessment program helps instructors identify student challenges early.

MyLanguageLabs come from a trusted partner with educational expertise and an eye on the future.

• Pearson supports instructors with workshops, training, and assistance from Pearson Faculty Advisors–so you get the help you need to make MyLanguageLabs work for your course.
• Pearson gathers feedback from instructors and students during the development of content and the feature enhancement of each release–to ensure that our products meet your needs.

STREAMLINED FOR EASE OF USE, FOCUSED ON STUDENT OUTCOMES

Refinements to the scope and sequence based on user feedback to enhance linguistic effectiveness and flexibility in the classroom.  Changes include:

• Streamlining of the preliminary chapter from three Leçons to a single Leçon préliminaire allows instructors to cover essential topics while demonstrating the principal lesson components before beginning the first full chapter.
• The chapter treating food and its related grammatical content is now in the first half of the text (Chapitre 5, formerly Chapitre 8) to allow for earlier treatment of useful vocabulary and structural features such as the partitive.
• The chapter on studies and professions is now in the second half of the text (Chapitre 8, formerly Chapitre 3) providing students more language to handle education and workplace topics.

NEW design increases the text's hallmark user-friendly organization and is combined with an expanded photography program and updated line art which offers a richer depiction of the francophone world and enhances the contemporary focus and visual appeal of the text.

Reflects the most widely accepted elements of the Orthographic Reform of 1990, most notably changes related to the use of the accent grave which affect some verb conjugations in the future and the conditional (for verbs like préférer) as well as the spelling of individual lexical items, such as crèmerie and évènement. Also, all numbers are now written with connecting hyphens eliminating ambiguity and simplifying the learner’s task.

Revised chapter openers focus on learner outcomes by providing an overview of chapter objectives and a new self-assessment checklist which encourages students to take stock of their learning accomplishments.

Revised testing program includes a test bank with exercises testing listening, reading, writing, and cultural knowledge. Instructors can create their own tests by selecting activities from the test back and can tailor exercises to meet their specific course outcomes.  Complete sample tests and special format tests for speaking are included as well as grading guides.

NEW Fiche pratique feature outlines practical strategies to help students learn specific lesson content (for example, showing them ways to organize the new material, how to interact with native speakers using new content or structures, or how to test themselves).

BUILD VOCABULARY

Vocabulary presentations and their corresponding art are significantly updated to include, for example, presentations related to the topics of education, health, media, and technology.

Reflects changes to the use of the accent grave which affect the spelling of individual lexical items, such as crèmerie and évènement, that are a result of the most widely accepted elements of the Orthographic Reform of 1990.  All numbers are now written with connecting hyphens eliminating ambiguity and simplifying the learner’s task.

CONNECT WITH CULTURE

Approximately one-third of the cultural notes (Vie et culture) are new or revised to include additional topics (such as small town life) or updated information, offering a more contemporary and nuanced picture of France and the Francophone world.

EXPLORE GRAMMAR

• NEW comprehension-based activities within many of the Formes et functions practice sections emphasize comprehension before production, encouraging students to link form to meaning as they learn grammatical structures.
• Reflects changes to the use of the accent grave which affect some verb conjugations in the future and the conditional (for verbs like préférer) that are a result of the most widely accepted elements of the Orthographic Reform of 1990.

DEVELOP SKILLS

• More than one-third of the skill building activities (Lisons, Écoutons, Observons, Parlons, Écrivons) are new or revised for this edition, introducing new texts, video clips, and authentic tasks.
• The pronunciations sections, Sons et lettres, are featured in every chapter providing more assistance to students as they develop their speaking skills.
• Écrivons sections now target explicit writing strategies and include a four-step process which encourages students to draft and revise their writing, focusing first on content and then on form.