Remembering Empire is designed to support learners through the Portfolio element of Advanced Higher French, using the case-study of the French empire in Algeria. It includes everything that you need: historical background, two literary sources, and step-by-step analysis of the texts. There are two sections to the materials. The first section introduces you to different approaches to remembering empire and how these shape the world today. It uses videos, readings and quizzes to understand France’s colonisation of Algeria and how it continues to shape French society today. In the second section we apply this knowledge to study a short French play, called Les Pieds Tanqués, about four characters who come together to play a game of pétanque. They all come from different backgrounds but in the course of the game the conversation turns to the past and to their memories of Algeria’s war of independence. Through comedy and drama the play explores the lasting influence of the past on the present. Our dowloadable resources are PDFs. These include links to PowerPoint (.pptx) files and Videos which can be viewed on our website.

Remembering Empire is an interdisciplinary learning programme developed by academics at the University of Stirling. It brings together French language, history, culture and global citizenship to engage pupils through clear classroom materials. Using a specially designed comic as stimulus, pupils are introduced to questions of emigration, colonisation and refugee experience. The sessions include language learning points such as asking questions, talking about daily routines etc.