ABSTRACT
The AUCP thus gradually became a holistic endeavor that aims actively to challenge students to "immerse" themselves in local French culture while also providing them with the support and analytical tools necessary to be able to learn and develop through that immersion. In short, the AUCP program structure provides for a multifaceted learning experience whose all-French-language academic platform rests on three complementary pillars of experiential learning: a synergistic link between course offerings and the local environment, required immersion activities, and training in intercultural communication. By contrast, the organization of in-house courses gave us a free hand to determine course content; create interdisciplinary synergy among a number of course offerings; avoid the disruption of teachers’ strikes; introduce students gradually to a shift in teaching style; and, perhaps most important, introduce sound French-language instruction methodologies. In summary, the intervention strategies inherent in our holistic program design urged students forward toward intercultural engagement, striving first to clear the way toward deepening relationships.
