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In 1990 the Académie Française recommended quite a few changes in French spelling to simplify it and in some cases correct unsystematic but established spellings. These recommendations have been mostly ignored until recently, when the changed spellings appeared in new textbooks.

Not only will French teachers and learners be interested in learning about what the changes themselves are, but the reaction to the changes makes for good discussions about French culture, the history of French language, and ways that identity can be tied not only to language but to the way it is represented in writing.

Here are some articles about the changes:

For a general background on the 1990 recommendations and an overview of the changes, see this Wikipedia article in English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reforms_of_French_orthography#Rectifications_of_1990, or in French: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifications_orthographiques_du_fran%C3%A7ais_en_1990

Here is the plan itself in French: http://web.archive.org/web/20010303014029/http://www.academie-francaise.fr/langue/orthographe/plan.html

Here are some English-language articles about the public reaction to the changes:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/05/465699842/gone-mot-the-french-uproar-over-removing-some-circumflex-accents
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35496893
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/world/europe/french-spelling-changes-26-years-in-the-making-cause-a-fracas.html?_r=0
http://www.dw.com/en/cest-un-scandale-fury-in-france-over-spelling-changes/a-19032218
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/05/not-the-oignon-fury-france-changes-2000-spellings-ditches-circumflex?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

And here are some French-language articles:
http://lci.tf1.fr/france/societe/reforme-orthographique-10-mots-qui-vont-changer-a-la-rentree-8712574.html
http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/orthographe-la-mort-de-l-accent-circonflexe-04-02-2016-2015341_23.php
http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/adieu-accent-circonflexe-la-reforme-de-l-orthographe-va-s-appliquer-en-septembre-948738.html

And finally, a French teacher’s reflection on the changes: https://cecilelaine.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/la-reforme-de-lorthographe-francaise-pour-ou-contre/