Case Study | Lycée Raoul Dautry

In their own words

Marie-Hélène Fasquel has been teaching English at Lycée Raoul Dautry in France for six years. She first discovered Topical Talk almost a decade ago and has returned to it ever since, making current-affairs discussions a regular feature of her classroom.

Teaching in a large school of around 1,600 students, Marie-Hélène works with many young people from the surrounding countryside who have had limited opportunities to travel or experience different cultures. Although today's students have access to more information than ever before, she has seen a decline in wider reading and general knowledge. She believes that Topical Talk helps bridge that gap by bringing international stories and different perspectives into the classroom.

Rather than following every lesson exactly as written, Marie-Hélène adapts the resources to suit her students' needs. She selects activities, adds vocabulary support where needed and incorporates videos or audio to complement the lessons. This flexibility allows her to use Topical Talk with classes of different sizes and language abilities while maintaining a balance of speaking, listening and written activities.

Over time, Topical Talk has also influenced Marie-Hélène's own teaching. She says the wide variety of discussion tasks and collaborative activities has increased her confidence in the classroom and encouraged her to experiment with new approaches. Pair work, group discussions and movement-based activities have become techniques she now uses across many of her lessons, helping students participate more confidently.

Students have responded enthusiastically. Marie-Hélène says they consistently enjoy Topical Talk more than traditional lessons because the resources encourage creativity, discussion and real-world thinking. She has seen students become more confident expressing their opinions, speaking for longer periods in English and engaging thoughtfully with complex global issues.

Some of the programme's most memorable lessons have helped students understand challenging concepts through creative activities. One lesson used zoo animals as a metaphor for press restrictions, making a complex political issue accessible through discussion and role play. Marie-Hélène believes activities like these give students the confidence to explore difficult topics while developing their communication and critical-thinking skills.

Nearly ten years after discovering Topical Talk, Marie-Hélène continues to teach the lessons regularly. For her, the programme's lasting value lies not only in the quality of the resources, but in the flexibility they give teachers to adapt, experiment and keep classroom discussions fresh. As she puts it: "There is always an element of culture, surprise and difference. We all love them."