French language and society I

Aims

Aims

This module is intended to develop your language proficiency; to consolidate and expand your written and oral skills in order to achieve accurate and idiomatic expression and sound comprehension of oral/aural material. This module will also lay the groundwork for the more advanced study of French at Levels I and H.

Satisfactory completion of the course should enable you to:

• Be able to understand and discuss contemporary written and aural authentic materials and have some understanding of the social, cultural and institutional references they contain
• Present and defend a point of view in accurate, fluent and idiomatic French in the context of exposés and debates
• Achieve a good degree of accuracy in the production of written assignments in French

Prerequisites

Prerequisites

Students must have successfully completed:

•  A-level French, grade A or B, or equivalent.

Programme

Programme

Contact hours

This is a year-long module. The programme will consist of:

• 1 hour per week of Expression écrite
• 1 hour per week of Expression orale.

Weeks 3 and 4 of the summer term will focus on the oral presentations.

Teaching programme

All the lessons are conducted as seminars in order to encourage discussion and interaction. The classes will cover a range of themes related to French language and culture. The Expression orale part of the module will focus on improving spoken fluency and the acquisition of listening strategies. The Expression écrite will pay particular attention to written norms and registers.

This module also includes an independent study strand which aims to familiarise students with the key skills necessary for effective language learning at university. In the first semester, they will be expected to complete a series of self-assessed activities on the VLE. In the second semester, students will work in pairs to complete an on-line portfolio. They will be supported and guided through the portfolio tasks by a personal tutor.

The medium of instruction is French.

Teaching materials

• A personal notebook for collating vocabulary and idioms.
• A good monolingual French dictionary, either Le Petit Robert or Le Petit Larousse.

Teaching materials will be supplied during the course, as will bibliographical references when necessary.

Assessment and feedback

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on formative work

• Oral commentary and dialogue within class on oral and written language work. Given immediately both to individuals and to group.
• Oral commentary and dialogue on seminar presentation, given to the individual presenter following the seminar.
• Written comments and mark on University scale given to individual students for practice essays, with opportunity for individual consultation. The essays will be returned to students two weeks after seminar.
• Model answers may be given for class exercise/past exam papers, with class discussion of difficulties.

Assessment and feedback

• A two-week open exam, (Paper 1) focusing on reading and writing competencies and consisting of short questions based on a reading text  
  • Date: Term 2, Week 10
  • Weight: 20%
• A 2-hour closed exam, (Paper 2) consisting of an 800-word essay 
  • Date: Term 3, Weeks 5-7
  • Weight: 30%
• An oral presentation, 10 minutes in total, a 3-minute presentation followed by questions
  • Date: Term 3
  • Weight: 30%
• Project work, assessing participation and successful completion of the independent study strand
  • Weight: 20%

Feedback: Individuals will be given a feedback sheet for the oral examination, and will be allowed to see their exam paper with comments, under supervision, at an appointed date after the external examiner has reviewed the papers.