A brief core grammar would complete the package. All the readers would have the same rubrics to facilitate and encourage intercultural comparisons. This comparative approach does more than underscore similarities.
Attention is given to difference as well.
Most French textbooks in the U.S. focus on France, not only because of its cultural and linguistic prominence, but also because students, and their teachers, seem to be more interested in France. Although increasingly textbooks are including more material about la francophonie, this inclusion does not provide an adequate picture of any one francophone area. Perhaps the point is simply to make students aware of the existence of French-speaking cultures around the world. Yet this almost token inclusion risks perpetuating stereotypes. I have chosen to focus on one francophone culture, or a cluster of related cultures, in each reader, and to help students investigate it more systematically.