Language for the Market: Designing Scenario Based Web Learning for Français des Affaires Workplace Discourse

Professional credibility in francophone workplaces is shaped by innovative language use in context, not by memorizing isolated expressions. However, many Français des Affaires materials remain linear and text centred, offering limited opportunities to practise interactional moves, pragmatic positioning, and register control with feedback that mirrors real consequences. This study therefore introduces an innovation in applied linguistics informed digital pedagogy by developing “L’Entreprise”, a web based Global Simulation platform that combines branching decision pathways with intrinsic feedback so learners experience how discourse choices affect professional outcomes. The needs analysis confirmed strong workplace alignment (mean relevance 4.55 out of 5) alongside high perceived difficulty (mean 4.18), and identified the main barriers as limited business vocabulary (91%), complex sentence processing (64%), speaking difficulty (55%), and business text comprehension (45%). Using an educational research and development approach guided by ADDIE, the website was iteratively prototyped, validated by experts, and field tested with Business French students (n = 12) using questionnaires and a scenario aligned post-test. Results show promising learning outcomes (post-test mean 78.83, range 68 to 86) and high mastery (91.6%, 11 of 12 meeting the minimum standard), alongside strong perceived quality (overall mean 4.53 out of 5; scenario relevance 4.7; content 4.5; ease of use 4.4). The study’s contribution is an innovation oriented, replicable design model for feedback rich, pragmatics driven FOS learning, with broader implications for scalable employability focused language curricula and digitally mediated workplace discourse training