This paper attempts to show the relevancy of French poetry as catalyst of moral education in sustaining literacy for national development in teaching and learning the Language French. French poetry is one of the literary works that is used in giving moral education and promoting literacy in the teaching and learning French language. Education and moral are related to the needs of the society, it is what the students need to utilize in their daily life and should be given to them so as to have a brighter future. French language contains materials that deal with cognitive aspects likewise literacy education in form of prose and poetry which deal with the moral values should be imparted on the students during teaching process. French poetry, like other branches of literature is a work of imaginable deep thoughts, feelings and human experiences. Many people or teacher who are concerned about poetry teaching emphasise quite rightly the need to produce a lively atmosphere in the class so that poetry can be seen to be a source of pleasure and bring about the desired value change in our society. Descriptive research of a survey type was used for the study. The sample consisted of selected 50 French language students in two private Universities and 10 French language teachers in different institutions. The questionnaire was designed on the ability of the students towards teaching and learning French poetry as a catalyst of moral education in sustaining literacy for national development. The instrument used was a questionnaire for the teachers to generate information from them on the activities of the students towards learning French poetry and the provision of instructional materials during the Teaching and Learning of French poetry. Data collected were analysed using frequency count, percentage and ANOVA.
Keywords: Literacy, National Development, Poetry, Relevance, Teaching and Learning, moral education
