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Le chandail de hockey – The hockey sweater (review)

Article  in  Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes · January 2008

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Jesús Izquierdo
Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco
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 Book and Software Reviews /
Critiques de livres et de logiciels

D. Mydlarski, P.V. Rubrecht, D.M. Paramskas, A. Bougaı̈ff, & L. Katz

(2006). Le chandail de hockey – The hockey sweater [Interactive multimedia
courseware in English or French]. Calgary, AB: 3D Courseware, http://
www.editions3d.ca/hockey, $34.95. Teacher’s guide, pp. 172., $34.95.
Full package, $60.

Le Chandail de hockey – The hockey sweater (THS) is an interactive multi-

media application designed to promote language and literacy develop-
ment among young and adult learners of English or French during
classroom or independent learning practices. It was developed in
part at the University of Calgary and produced by 3D Courseware. It
received the 2007 Best Educational award from the Digital Media
Association of Alberta. This review describes the software and high-
lights how its multimedia nature may foster learning.
THS provides learners with exposure to language and Canadian
culture through multimedia tasks conceptualized on two aspects of
Canada: its passion for hockey, and its anglophone/francophone
duality. The tasks build on the story of the award-winning animated
film Le chandail (The sweater) produced by the National Film Board of
Canada and based on the classic story ‘Le chandail de hockey,’ by
Roch Carrier. THS is available in English or French and is easy to
install on Windows and Macintosh stations with minimal require-
ments. THS is designed for learners of advanced beginner (peewee),
intermediate (junior), and advanced (pro) language levels. Its linguis-
tic richness may overwhelm beginner learners willing to use the soft-
ware independently. They may therefore benefit more from its use
under teacher guidance.
THS tasks are organised into five sections: 1st period (première
période), 2nd period (deuxième période), 3rd period (troisième période),
zone (zone), and encounters (rencontres). The first two sections
include interactive video watching, listening, reading, and vocabulary
tasks focusing on the 10-minute video story presented in the 1st period.

# 2008 The Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes,
65, 2 (December/décembre), 335 –353 doi:10.3138/cmlr.65.2.335
336 Reviews / Critiques

The 2nd period includes the largest number of interactive tasks that
exploit the video story. The use of multimedia in these two sections
is one of the software’s strengths. It may not only motivate learners
but also scaffold in-depth processing and retention of linguistic features
and information. In the 1st period, for instance, comprehension of verbal
input is enhanced with the aid of images. Learners can watch the com-
plete animated video story and listen to an oral narrative by selecting The
sweater, or they can watch and listen to the story in segments by choosing
Video clips. Comprehension of the story is further supported through
two audio-based tasks: Oral questions, in which students answer oral
questions by selecting a multiple-choice answer, and Highlights, in
which students match oral story segments with pictures.
The 3rd period, zone, and encounters sections expand learners’
knowledge of Canadian hockey and the people behind the THS
story. In comparison to the 1st and 2nd periods, these three sections
present richer written texts and videos. The 3rd period includes
impressive amounts of information from over 14 cultural notes with
hyperlinks, about 30 biographies of Canadian hockey stars including
their pictures and hockey statistics, a hockey song with listening exer-
cises, and a historic Eaton’s catalogue with a fillable order form and
vocabulary tasks. Despite the authenticity and cultural richness of
the texts, the multimedia tasks in these sections may not be sufficient
to help learners process all the information and are not as interactive
as the 1st and 2nd period tasks. Yet, classroom teachers could exploit
the texts effectively.
Two valuable characteristics of THS are its non-linear design and the
study support it offers. First, the non-linear design gives learners flexi-
bility to navigate the software based on the information, language skills
and activity types of their interest by clicking on a permanent top bar
menu. This flexibility is particularly evident in the 2nd period, where
learners can select from various multimedia task types organised by
proficiency levels. Second, learners can obtain language support
from an interactive dictionary available permanently in a bottom bar
menu and write down and print their own notes using an interactive
notebook.
Both English and French versions are available with a teacher’s
guide. Following the software organization, an overview chart neatly
lists all tasks followed by a summary of their purpose and content.
The guide has five parts containing detailed descriptions of the
program tasks and their content. Notes provide references to websites
and documents to expand learners’ knowledge of the software topics;
they also include ideas on how to provide learners with further

# 2008 The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes,
65, 2 (December/décembre), 335 –353
 Reviews / Critiques 337

practice using the texts. These notes appear more consistently in the
English guide. Due to its potential contribution to learning (and enjoy-
ment!), THS undoubtedly constitutes a valuable multimedia appli-
cation for language teachers and learners in Canada and abroad.

Jesús Izquierdo, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco

Lyster, Roy. (2007). Learning and teaching languages through content: A

counterbalanced approach. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Pp. 172,
49, 95 $ USD (paper).

Le livre de Roy Lyster intitulé Learning and teaching languages through

content: A counterbalanced approach s’adresse à un large public du
milieu de l’éducation, mais notamment à ceux et celles qui ont un
intérêt particulier pour l’apprentissage des langues et la recherche
dans le contexte de l’immersion.
Cet ouvrage de 172 pages paru en 2007 est divisé en 5 chapitres
étroitement reliés. Tout au long de l’ouvrage, l’auteur propose une
réflexion sur l’approche du 2 for 1 (langue et matière). Il ne remet
pas en question la formule actuelle de l’immersion mais tente de
démontrer, à la lumière d’observations et des résultats de plusieurs
recherches, l’importance d’accorder plus de place à l’étude de la
langue dans le cadre des cours de matière (content-based classroom).
Cet ouvrage est fort bien documenté, l’auteur fait régulièrement
référence aux concepts théoriques clés de l’apprentissage des langues
et aux résultats de grandes recherches qui ont porté sur différents
aspects de l’enseignement-apprentissage dans le contexte de l’immer-
sion au Canada. Des extraits d’interaction entre enseignants et élèves
illustrent bien les problématiques que l’auteur a voulu faire ressortir.
Le premier chapitre sert d’introduction aux chapitres suivants.
L’auteur y relate l’histoire des programmes d’immersion au Canada
de leurs débuts à aujourd’hui. Il décrit les différentes formules
d’immersion et cite certaines recherches qui ont eu lieu durant les
quarante dernières années. Le but de cet ouvrage est clairement
défini dans le premier chapitre : démontrer que l’étude de la langue
n’est pas suffisamment présente dans les cours de matière et qu’une
approche centrée sur la forme (form-focused instruction) peut être

# 2008 The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes,
65, 2 (December/décembre), 335 –353

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