[Publication] Prof. Detey published an article about “Oneiric French”

In December 2025, Professor Detey published an article in French entitled “Du français doxique au français onirique en francophonie : réalité linguistique, fiction didactique et pourquoi la fiction a du bon (From doxic French to oneiric French in francophonie: linguistic reality, pedagogical fiction, and why fiction has its merits).

This article is linked to JSPS Kaken (B) n°24K00093 (S. Detey).

Reference:

Detey, S. (2025). Du français doxique au français onirique en francophonie : réalité linguistique, fiction didactique et pourquoi la fiction a du bon. Revue Japonaise de Didactique du Français 20(1), 13-40.

Open Access: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/rjdf/12/0/_contents/-char/en

Abstract:

Which French should be taught? This perennial question in French language education is now examined through the lenses of new resources that document its richness. “Standard” French is now described as “doxic,” and teaching practices are being challenged by the linguistic reality of the varieties of French spoken around the world. “French is doing very well, thank you,” say some linguists, and the figures for the French-speaking world seem reassuring. Nevertheless, beyond percentages, the evolution of the world and of its languages raises questions. Which French language is it? What about culture? And what is the point? “Aquabonisme” in this matter is as devastating as the widespread teaching of English to the detriment of other languages. Yet, it seems possible to take a different view, via a threefold perspective: linguistic, pedagogical, and sociocultural. Against doxic French, it is possible to consider oneiric French; against the reality of linguistic usage, it is possible to value pedagogical fiction. Because fiction has its merits, and it is precisely its function.