The use of Whatsapp as a pedagogical tool for teaching colloquial French from a gender perspective

Abstract

In this article, we will explore the relevance of Whatsapp language in the French population, and more specifically, among young people and teenagers, whose communicative needs are often characterized by the immediacy and abbreviation of language. As a result of their linguistic particularities, the aim of the paper will be to use this particular language as an innovative tool to make phonetics more comprehensible, as well as to bring the students closer to the diaphasic (registers) and diastratic (sociolects) varieties of the French language, thus increasing their communicative ‘capital’. Simultaneously, pedagogical resources will be proposed in FLE courses (French as a Foreign Language), thorough which, using this particular linguistic system, students will reflect on the extent to which gender biases continue to be deep-rooted issues in our society. From this perspective, embedding gender mainstreaming in the language of Whatshapp is not only an exercise in reflection to instill values, but also to apprehend a new form of communication that, despite its emergence in the late nineties with the use of SMS, still determines the forms of communication between individuals on a global scale.