MLA-

I think that this article made really good points, I'm totally with it when they suggest to expend the language beyond literature, even if I like literature, I remembered that when I was learning English it is when they started to introduce other elements that I was really hooked up. Plus it suddenly came clear that the language was more than 'school requirement'. In that way I think that the options talked about in this article can in fact help change the view of the language.
We were all kind of against Siskin idea of focusing French on the aesthetic appeal, so here is (I think) a go way to reintroduce the 'utility' notion for French. In the part named "goal: translingual and transcultutral competence", it is said (on p.4): this kind of foreign language education systematically teaches differences in meaning, mentality and worldview [...]. Literature, film, and other media [...] help them consider alternative ways of seeing, feeling, and understanding things. In the course of acquiring functional language abilities, students are taught critical language awareness, interpretation and translation, historical and political consciousness, social sensibility, and aesthetic perception [...] knowledge of history, geography, culture and literature [...] the ability to understand and interpret radio, television, and print media [...]."
In that structure students are clearly to be aware of the multiple use of the language they are learning, and not just in a "high brow culture" way but in all aspect of life. Plus as the article says "classroom study and study abroad should be promoted as interdependent necessities", learning a language step out of the pure academic perspective and becomes a essential component of real-life.