Immigration policy and the subsequent questions of national and cultural identity played an important role in the political discourse of France’s leading political parties during last year’s presidential election. Whereas some embraced controlled immigration to France and expressed the humanitarian obligation to provide asylum to those in need, others took a clear stand against continuous immigration to France and rather viewed it as a danger to the country’s security, values, and cultural identity. Caricatures, magazine covers, music videos and popular films in France have long entered the discourse on national and cultural identity and are not shy to express their individual and, at times, even controversial points of view. Moreover, all of these sources ask the same questions again and again: What constitutes French identity in the 20th and 21st centuries? What does it mean to be French? What does it mean to be an immigrant living in France? Is immigration a danger or rather an enrichment to French culture and identity? This presentation will attempt to answer these questions by doing the following: First, it will provide an overview of carefully selected authentic material of diverse media used in a French civilization class at the advanced level. Second, it will offer effective teaching techniques, differentiated assignments for the practice of oral and written argumentative discourse, and a variety of integrated performance assessment strategies all the while focusing on the reading and analysis of linguistic, iconic, and aesthetic signs used, for example, on the front pages of Charlie Hebdo, in Eric Toledano’s film Samba (2014), and in popular songs, such as Kerry James’ “Lettre à la République” or Amel Bent’s “Nouveau Français.” Third, it will exemplify the interconnectedness of foreign language instruction and cultural learning, which only together leads to the desirable goal of students’ intercultural communicative competency (ICC).