The current problematic of “savoir-être” (“existential competence”) in didactics of languages-cultures

Abstract

We have come to realize that beyond the question of knowledge and know-how, the question of savoir-être (French expression translated as “existential competence” in the Common Framework European for languages, CFER), however it may be described, cannot be dismissed in didactics of languages-cultures (DLC), not only because in school didactics it is part of the educational goals, but also because for all learners it has a direct impact on communicative and actional skills in a foreign language-culture. The goal of this article is to propose a conceptual model of savoir-être that is sufficiently simple, without being simplistic, to be used regularly in the language-culture classroom jointly by the teacher and learners within the methodological framework of the action perspective and its reference pedagogy, project pedagogy. This model is then implemented in three concrete proposals concerning each of the three fundamental didactic operations: teaching, learning and assessment. Also available on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388380985.

This article is an English translation of the French original entitled “La problématique du savoir-être en didactique des langues-cultures”, Études en Didactique des Langues (LAIRDIL, Laboratoire Inter-universitaire de Recherche en Didactique LANSAD, Université de Toulouse III), no. 43, December 2024, pp. 91-117.