The main objective of this study is to shed light on three works that show the influence of women in the history of French language learning and teaching in the 17th-18th centuries.
The main objective of this study is to shed light on three works that show the influence of women in the history of French language learning and teaching in the 17th-18th centuries. First, Nouvelles observations sur la langue française (Buffet, 1668) is of particular interest since it has been written both by a woman and was intended for women. It is a French book for ladies to teach the art of good speech and writing. She insists on the great importance for women to respect the rules of French spelling according to purist and elitist criteria, established by Vaugelas. In addition, she is convinced that women have the same learning skills as men. Second, in Lettres de Mademoiselle*** (1756), the perspective of women’s grammar to be given to women is completely reversed. Indeed, the letters are a grammar book for ladies and is namely a reform project of French based on female principles. She addresses proposals concerning the reform of spelling, the simplification of grammar, the gender of names and the disambiguation of homonyms and polysemes. Third, Lettre à Mademoiselle D.S. sur l'abus des grammairesdans l’étude du français et sur la meilleure méthode d’apprendrecette langue (Villers, 1797) marks another type of influence. It is about women as receivers of grammar classes and who question the validity of the grammatical descriptions of that time and the learning process considered as too grammaticalized. In conclusion, this study considered the role of women in the teaching of French as a foreign language through three interesting works.
