Problematising Simplicity: Addressing Comprehension Gaps of RFI’s ‘Le Journal en Français Facile’

Abstract

This paper evaluates Malawian learners’ French language comprehension abilities concerning the French radio program ‘Le Journal en français facile’ (The News in Simple French), broadcast by Radio France Internationale. Specifically, it assesses learners’ levels of aural comprehension of this Francophone news content designed for non-native audiences. The paper examines whether the universal applicability of the ‘français facile’ (simple French) concept across heterogeneous learners can be assumed, considering linguistic aspects deemed elementary from a Francophone perspective may not prove equivalently rudimentary for anglophone learners of French. Methodologically, the paper is grounded in the Bottom-up and Top-down listening comprehension model, which emphasises integrating linguistic and prior sociocultural knowledge to facilitate aural meaningmaking. Through French listening exercises and teacher interviews with a sample of Malawian college students, the study highlights limitations in comprehension, with listeners restricted to grasping essential lexical news components like numbers, names and locations while failing to parse complex news concepts —attributed to newscaster accent, pronunciation, speech rate, unfamiliar vocabulary, and insufficient prior knowledge activation. This paper argues the notion of “simple” French may be misconstrued when applied uniformly across diverse global learners engaging with RFI broadcasts, evidenced by difficulty comprehending the news program among numerous Malawian learners despite its simplified linguistic profile. Mastery of these broadcasts, it is contended, necessitates more advanced proficiency.