Hey Good Lookin’, Whatcha Got Cookin’?Tout à Côté Cuisine in the L2 French Classroom

Organization of Session• Justification for using cooking shows in L2

classrooms

• Sample activities (translated )

• Adaptations, variations, and uses

• The Five Cs: communication; cultures; connections; comparisons; communities

• How to find cooking shows in your language

Video in the L2 Classroom• Students love it

• Realia/authentic input

• Cultural information

• Real-life activity

• Easily accessed and plentiful on the Internet

Cooking shows in the L2 Classroom• Authentic input: by native speakers, for native

speakers

• Culture: Food and cooking– Central to a society’s culture

– Leads easily to cultural comparisons

• Relatable: Students know and understand format– Leads easily to cultural comparisons

• Available online

• Short (~25 minutes for a 50 minute period)

Cooking shows: Some caveats• No subtitles

• Rapid speech (for native speakers, by native speakers)

• Lots of new, specific vocabulary

• Need computer, Internet, projector– If not, students can watch on their own

On the bright side• Students know and understand the format

• Cooking shows are visual and repetitive

• Recipes are summarized at the end

• Students at all levels can get something – Beginners can at least name foods featured

– Proper pre-watching activities facilitate understanding

Cooking shows (Sample warm-up questions)• Do you watch cooking shows? Which ones?

• What is the format?– How many people?

– What are the activities?

– How many dishes are typically presented?

– How are they presented?

In French 301 (5th semester French, Purdue):pre-watching: Vocabulary

un four: oven éplucher: to peel

une mandoline: slicer/mandolin enfourner: to put in an oven

l’huile de grain de raisin: grapeseed

oil

figer: to thicken/to congeal

une cuillère à soupe: tablespoon soulever: to lift

le cabillaud: cod couper en dés: to dice

le céleri rave: celery root hacher: to chop

les grattons de canard: bits of duck mélanger: to mix

un fouet: whisk cuire: to cook

Questions to consider while watching• What foods do you see during the introduction?

• What are Julie’s, Christine’s, and Alexandre’s roles?

• What are the dishes and their ingredients?

• How are they prepared?

• What city do we visit with Christine?

• What food does Julie describe? How should it be kept? For how long?

• Where is Alexandre’s restaurant? How does this region influence the dishes, in your opinion?

Tout à côté Cuisine• France 3:

http://programmes.france3.fr/cote-cuisine/

• Hosted by journalist Julie Andrieu– Segment focusing on a particular ingredient

• Different guest chef every episode– Cutaway segment to chef’s home region/restaurant

• Assistant chosen from viewing public– Cutaway segment featuring assistant’s home region

After watching• Take questions from students

• Review answers to questions to consider while watching

• Ask students what they noted in the video

• Ask students would they like to eat the dish prepared

• Other questions…

Follow-up activities• Oral evaluation: Group skit of a cooking show– Students chose recipes

– Presented to classmates

• Composition: Compare American and French cooking shows– Students chose the American show

– Watched two additional episodes of Tout à côté Cuisine

Compositions: Cultural Comparisions• Students compared Tout à côté Cuisine to

Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, Iron Chef, or The Barefoot Contessa (one used Throwdown with Bobby Flay).

• Noted American emphasis on saving time and on cheap, quick, easy dishes– “A lot of ingredients are bought prepared”

• Noted the competitive air of many American shows – “Because we prefer the action that comes from sports”

Adaptations and variations• Beginners: Students answer in English; answer

more simple questions; more basic vocabulary; focus on one clip played several times;

• Advanced: More sophisticated questions; less scaffolding; finer details; concentrate on cultural comparisons while watching

• Middle/High School: Prepare recipes together (if you dare…)

• Younger learners: Start with L1 cooking show for scaffolding

Multiple screenings (if time)• Play without sound first, ask students what they

expect to hear

• Play without image first, ask students what they expect to see

• On subsequent screenings, questions become more specific, more abstract

Cooking shows and grammar• Imperatives and commands

• Ingredients provide a context for adjectives

• Actions provide a context for adverbs or verbs

• Verb tenses: – retelling what happened

– imagining what happened next

– imagining preparations that happened before the show

– what participants might do/have done under certain circumstances

Cooking shows and communication• Gives students something to communicate about

• Real-life activity in L2; authentic input

• Context for other classroom activities

Cooking shows and cultures• Gastronomy in the target culture or cultures

• Regional cuisine and the influence of geography

• Restaurant culture

Cooking shows and connections• Target culture(s)

• Other disciplines– culinary arts

– agriculture

– journalism

– television studies

– nutrition studies

Cooking shows and comparisons• Between American and L2 cultures

• Between L2 regions, countries

• Between chefs, restaurants

• Between individual tastes

Cooking shows and communities• Students can join communities interested in target

culture cuisine both home and abroad

• Easier integration in target culture with prior knowledge of cuisine

In other words (languages…)• http://www.rtl2.de/12.html German Die

Kochsprofis

• http://www.ovguide.com/tv/new_dotch_cooking_show.htm Japanese New Dotch Cooking Show

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeDuZpzKcPg Chinese…not sure what the show is

• I had one in Spanish, but it disappeared…

• Or find your own!

Sturm, J.L. “Hey Good Lookin’, Whatcha Got Cookin?  ‘Tout à Côté Cuisine’ in the L2 French classroom.”  The French Review, 86, 2. (December 2012)

Questions? Merci! Gracias! Danke! Sпасибо! Grazie! Obrigada! 会話 衷心感谢