Integration of Digital Tools into French Language Pedagogy in Selected Private Schools: Opportunities and Challenges

The integration of digital tools in teaching French as a foreign language (FLE) is no longer a distant idea but a practice that is developing, especially in private schools where technological resources are often more accessible than in the public sector. However, in practice, the overall results remains mixed: real progress has been made in terms of student motivation, interactive practices, and access to authentic content, but persistent barriers remain related to infrastructure, teacher training, and digital inequalities. This literature review draws on recent studies conducted in an African context, with a particular focus on a few private schools in Nigeria and neighboring countries, to examine how digital tools are transforming FLE pedagogy. It highlights the opportunities-personalized learning, exposure to the living language, and remote collaboration-while also analyzing the concrete challenges: power outages, lack of digital pedagogical training, cost of tools, and inequality within private schools themselves. Drawing on a theoretical framework combining Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) model, the article shows that private schools serve as a promising laboratory, but the lack of longitudinal and contextualized research still limits operational recommendations. It suggests concrete avenues for sustainable and equitable integration, emphasizing the urgency of targeted investments if technology is to become a real lever rather than an additional source of frustration for teachers and students.