AbstractThis chapter describes a modular intermediate French course (Pellet & Myers, 2016)
anchored by a constructivist approach to social L2 reading and writing. Connected by
digital technologies fostering a community of shared readership, students encounter
a metaphor of fan interaction and engagement in the contemporary French short
story, “Odette Toulemonde” (Schmitt, 2006). The course incorporates multiple levels
of readership and authorship by playing out the social themes of the narrative. This
model redefines traditional roles by embracing continuums rather than dichotomies
such as reader-writer, fiction-reality, classroom and real-world interaction. Such
authentic transcultural encounters turn students into digital-footprint-making producers
(Sharpe, Beetham, & de Freitas, 2010) rather than mere consumers. More
specifically, social pedagogies transform potentially isolated readers and language
learners into authors, fans, and critics in an extramural classroom through communal
reading and textually inspired, real-life activities. Subsequently, this model dovetails
current language program transformations favoring integrative curriculum
design focused on cultural inquiry (MLA, 2007) that is socially inclusive, adaptive,
encourages knowledge co-construction, and promotes process over product.
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