#OnYGo's Mission

#OnYGo is an innovative first-year French language e-textbook, designed as Open Educational Resource (OER), for learning beginning French (equivalent to one year at an American university).  It is inspired by a remix of task-based, multiliteracies and communicative approaches, which provides students with opportunities to engage with French language and culture in a variety of contexts and situations, across a range of modalities. Through a wide range of activities, students develop and practice their language skills, and reflect on their cross-cultural knowledge and positionality in their understanding of the vast francophone landscape.

#OnYGo is a first-year textbook that takes a DEI-forward approach to the depiction of people, contexts, and concepts. It views language learners, instructors and a wide range of individuals interacting in French as belonging to a large multilingual and francophone community. It recognizes multilingualism and multiculturalism in all its forms, and showcases French speakers with a variety of backgrounds and relationships to the French language. The cultural and pedagogical materials in this collection have been selected for their authenticity and diverse representation of French speakers on the five continents, and are thus purposely inclusive of gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity.

It is our goal with this resource not only to make the study of French language and culture accessible for all learners, but to also transform the experience of language teaching and learning more generally. The activities in this text will support both learners and instructors in thinking outside of the usual categories addressed in language textbooks, to critically question and reflect on concepts that span a wide range of disciplines, e.g., sociology, history, psychology, relative to their target language communities. 

Even instructors without extensive experience in the francophone world will find themselves supported in engaging in these discussions which develop learners’ global citizenship, the cultivation of a sense of belonging to a worldwide community and the development of intercultural competence and awareness among language learners. The goal is not only to teach the language itself but also to foster an appreciation for different cultures, values, and perspectives. This helps students become responsible, empathetic, and informed global citizens who can engage with people from diverse backgrounds and contribute to a more interconnected and harmonious world. In this way, language instruction via #OnYGo goes beyond language proficiency and encompasses a broader understanding of global issues, cross-cultural communication, and a commitment to promoting global understanding and cooperation. 

Learner or instructor, autodidact or learning community, we wish you a thoughtful and eye-opening experience through this OER. #OnYGo. 

To learn more about our method and rationale, check out our open-access article: 

Blattner, G., Dalola, A., & Roulon, S. (2023). Disruptive French: Using OER to promote linguistic justice in the French-language classroom. Second Language Research & Practice, 4(1), 141–152. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/69884