L'apprentissage d'une langue etrangere comme ouverture culturelle (Second Language Learning as a Cultural Opportunity).

It has been suggested that the learning of a second language is not only a practical matter, as is commonly emphasized in discussion about language teaching, but is equally an experience of cultural initiation, particularly through the appreciation of literary texts in that language. The first part of this paper reviews educators' ideas about literature as cultural opportunity and the sociocultural competencies developed through the study of literature, looking at a number of related issues, including the general context of western culture, concepts of culture and subculture, the nature of literature, motivations in learning and teaching second languages, American attitudes, Quebec attitudes, and the sociocultural components of second language literature teaching methods. The second part of the paper focuses on analysis of two contemporary literary excerpts (one French, one Canadian) on the same theme that illustrate the value of literary texts in teaching sociocultural competence. The two texts are appended. (Contains 52 references.) (MSE)