The role of authentic materials in the teaching of french for specific purposes (FOS) in the field of veterinary medicine

Abstract

The use of authentic materials in learning French for Specific Purposes when we talk about the future veterinarians is very important, because the students are introduced to a real language, the medical terms, the slang and media’s discourse. The authentic documents, such as: brochures used in advertising animal food or veterinary drugs, video presentation products for veterinary use, prescriptions, health cards, passports for animals, the vaccination records, etc. are providing opportunities for learners to understand better the realities and the new events. In addition, they can provide new paths for research by consolidating some specializations of veterinary medicine through scientific articles. These documents, called "authentic", are not originally designed for a language course: news articles (scientific or commercial), excerpts from an interview, video presentations of a medical product or a surgical intervention, pictures and various brochures. Their educational use is primarily a communicative goal and an important part of the process of learning a foreign language because they focus on the socio-cultural knowledge, by upgrading the knowledge of different skills.