The Present Situation of French Language Education as a Cultural Subject in Universities
It is no exaggeration to say that French language education is in a state of decline as French-related departments are disappearing or have merged with other departments. In this deteriorating situation, a variety of discussions have been carried out in order to energize French language education. Among them, a common discussion involves the improvement of the efficiency of French language education as a cultural subject in universities. This is evidenced by the fact that the related discussions have been steadily and regularly carried out. However, most of these discussions have been limited to diagnosing the problems of French language education from a microscopic viewpoint, presenting measures to improve the conditions leading to the problems; no overall view of French language education as one of the cultural subjects in past and present universities has been drawn up, which is important for more effective and meaningful proposals. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively examine the actual state of French language education as a cultural subject in past and present universities from a macroscopic viewpoint in order to promote its energization as a cultural subject in current universities. To that end, first, previous studies will be analyzed to identify the actual situation of French language education as a cultural subject in past universities. Next, a questionnaire survey will be conducted based on the results of that analysis in order to elucidate the current state of French language education as a cultural subject in present universities. Changes that have been made in this type of education program in present universities will be comprehensively analyzed in light of the same situation in past universities, and the results and their implications for French language education as a cultural subject in universities will be reviewed. Finally, based on the implications derived in the above process, several proposals will be suggested for improving the situation of French language education as a cultural subject in universities, both internally and externally.