Black Skin, White Language: Can We Develop Intercultural Competence in the French Language Classroom?

Omar Rachid Zaim Lakeside School, United States

ABSTRACT

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Frantz Fanon's work, “Black Skin, White Masks”, this chapter seeks to revive Fanon's thesis in the form of a response to the letter titled “Black Skin, White Language: An Open Letter to My Dear Friends” authored by Dr. Darnell Fine. The answer is situated in the teaching of the French language in the context of international schools and examines how these schools ‘assume a culture’ and ‘support the weight of an entire civilization’ to use Fanon’s words. Through the use of language, of either English or French, these schools continue to serve as instruments of linguistic colonization. To cite Audre Lorde, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” so it is my desire to propose in this chapter an exploration of curricular tools to evaluate the content and how the content is presented to learners in a language classroom. Finally, it is this author's desire to promote the works of Fanon, theorist of decolonization, to mark how 70 years after his publication, “Black Skin, White Masks” his thesis is still highly relevant.

Keywords: French language education, Intercultural Competence, languaging in French