Émile Bials De Sauzé (

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, December 7, 1878 – July 10, 1964) was a French born naturalized-American language educator who developed the Cleveland Plan for teaching foreign languages. He is credited with originating the conversational method where students hear a teacher speak a word, then write it, then speak it. This method replaced the older method of simply memorizing words and grammar. Born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, he graduated from the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest studen ...

in 1900. He married Melanie Phillips of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1903 and came to the U.S. in 1905. They had one daughter, Marcelle. He received his doctorate degree from Saint Joseph College in 1907. His career included heading the modern language department at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

and the French Department at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

prior to 1918. While teaching at both schools he became affiliated with the Sigma Pi chapters at each and was initiated into the organization. He then became director of foreign languages for the

Cleveland Public Schools Cleveland Metropolitan School District, formerly the Cleveland Municipal School District, is a public school district in the U.S. state of Ohio that serves almost all of the city of Cleveland. The district covers 79 square miles. The Cleveland ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 1918 to 1949. Upon arriving in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

he founded the ''Maison Française de Cleveland''. Members of the group met once a month where guest lecturers would speak on French literature and culture. De Sauzé took the time to train the district's teachers in his method which contributed to its success. He insisted that they participate in the activities of the Maison Française. He worked with Western Reserve University to set up a laboratory school for children in first grade through high school where language courses were taught in the target languages. Teaching students were required to spend time observing in the school to learn the methods being taught there. In 1922, he began one of the few foreign language programs in

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

in the United States. While in

he also taught at

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

. After retirement he taught summer sessions at

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Lux ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

until 1959. De Sauzé wrote fifteen French text books, one of which became the official text book of the United Nations for teaching French. The Emile B. De Sauzé Elementary School in Cleveland was named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Sauze, Emile B. 1878 births 1964 deaths Writers from Tours, France University of Poitiers alumni Saint Joseph's University alumni Temple University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty Academic staff of Université Laval French emigrants to the United States