Didactique? Is it a plaisan terie? You Must Be Joking! A Critical Comment on Terminology

• Published in: Instructional science 1999-03, Vol.27 (1-2), p.5-7
• Main Author: Chevallard, Yves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0020-4277

The decision of the editors of the (English-language) journal to leave the French word didactique untranslated in the special issue about modern didactics in the Francophone world is criticized, arguing that didactics is a fine English equivalent that should not be rejected on the basis of its somewhat elitist connotations, & that didactique in the modern sense was, at the time of its introduction, accompanied by similar limitations regarding its reference to the reality as well as the "practical laws" of teaching & instruction. Also, the decision to translate transposition didactique as instructional transfer is denounced, asserting that the English term transposition does not necessarily involve two things changing places, as the editors contend, & that transfer is not an appropriate term since knowledge is not a substance that is simply moved from the head of the teacher to that of the student. More pragmatic & open-minded approaches to the translation of terminology are deemed warranted. S. Paul