Salisbury
University Fall 2010
FREN
310 - FRENCH GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION White
Objectives
The aim of this course is to review some
of the basic grammatical structures in French; to develop and improve your
ability to understand, speak, read and write in French; to develop your ability
to think in French (i.e. to be able to hear questions in French and to answer
them in French without translating them into English; to read in French and to
understand in French what you are reading); to develop fluency in French so
that you feel comfortable in the language.
Practice is the key to the mastery of a foreign language. This statement is true of pronunciation as
well as sentence structure and of oral as well as written skills. The desired skills are developed little by
little, day by day. Consistent study
habits are essential to the acquisition of language skills. Daily study is preferable to intermittent
cramming. It is better to study one or
two hours (or whatever is required to master a lesson) every day than to cram
five or six hours into one or two study sessions in a week's time or the night
before an exam.
If you want to do well in French at this
level, never miss a class. Make a real
effort to give complete attention to work throughout the class period. Try to answer, subvocally, every question the
instructor asks. Master every detail of
each lesson as you go along. Keep a
notebook as reference for grammatical notes as well as for new vocabulary. Use opportunities outside class for extra
practice. Remember that the teacher,
text and exercises will help you learn French but
that, in the final analysis, YOU YOURSELF will have to do the actual learning
and manipulation of the language. NO ONE
ELSE CAN DO IT FOR YOU!!!
Performance
objectives
1. Students will be able to understand
spoken French at normal conversational speed.
2. Students will be able to communicate with
the instructor and other students with a sustained flow of speech in French.
3. Students will be able to read materials
written in French with speed and comprehension.
4. Students will be able to use tenses and
structures of varying complexity in expressing themselves in the language in
both oral and written forms.
5. Students will be able to write paragraphs
in French based on topics they have studied and discussed in class.
Texts
EN
BONNE FORME (text)- 8th edition – Dietiker
OPTIONAL
HOW
TO BE A MORE SUCCESSFUL LANGUAGE LEARNER - Rubin and Thompson
ENGLISH
GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS OF FRENCH - Morton
Colored
pens or pencils; thumb drive
Grading
20% compositions
10% dictations and listening exercises
10% journals
20% paper
20% chapter tests
20% participation: ● Student's
effort
● Student's ability to master French sounds
● Student's ability to answer questions
and communicate in French
● Student's ability to perform grammar drills
attendance - 2 absences
before the instructor questions the student's desire to succeed and this part
of the grade begins to be influenced adversely
● Students who arrive more than 10 minutes after
class begins will be marked late. Lateness counts as
half an absence.
● Students are expected to attend 2 activities outside
of class; 1 with a linguistic purpose and 1 with a
cultural purpose and write about them.
* * * * * *
A
= 90 - 100 B = 80 - 89 C = 70 - 79 D = 60 - 69
* * * * * *
During
the course of the semester, students are expected to attend 2 out of class
activities. One of the activities should
have a linguistic purpose i.e. the possibility of improving students’ level of
language and comprehension. The second
activity should have a cultural purpose i.e. the possibility of improving
students’ awareness of Francophone culture.
A list of possible activities, the format of the written report and a
rubric will be provided in class. One
activity must be completed and written about by mid-semester; the second
activity must be completed and written about the last day of class.
COMPOSITIONS
- A prepared composition is due at the end of each chapter (the topic and due
date will be given in class). This work
is assigned in order to provide students with the opportunity to synthesize
content and form into a cohesive unit. It allows students to graphically
present their ideas, having had the time to organize the subject matter and to
put it in linguistically correct format. The composition should be
approximately 125-150 words and written / typed every other line. Use of the text and a dictionary is permitted
as is consultation with other classmates.
"Help" from these sources is to be indicated with a colored
pen or pencil on your paper (this does not affect your grade). The first draft will be read by other
students in the class. They will offer
comments regarding content and form. The second draft will be read by
the instructor and will be graded for the message and errors in vocabulary,
grammar, spelling and style will be indicated.
Students will have the opportunity to correct the errors and turn a third
copy of the composition back in for the second grade based on grammatical
accuracy (because of this particular format, using a word processor would make
this task much easier). ON THIS THIRD
COPY, DOUBLE POINTS WILL BE LOST FOR ACCENTS AND AGREEMENT. Students will receive these double grades for
all compositions. Once a due date for a
composition has passed, it will not be accepted.
Students will also be given a form which
can be used to track errors in their written work. This should allow students to focus on their
own particular problems and to improve.
Those individuals who keep track of errors on all written work i.e.
compositions and dictations, and turn in their sheet at the end of the semester
will have 3 points added to this part of their grade.
DIALOGUE
JOURNALS - Because the emphasis of this class is on writing, student dialogue
journals are another way to practice written communication on a regular
basis. Students are requested to:
1) purchase a 8 ½ x
11 50 page spiral bound notebook
2) draw a line on
each page, 6 lines from the bottom
3) on Monday and Wednesday, write/communicate
whatever you like for 5 minutes; on Tuesday, you will be assigned a special
topic to discuss related to what was discussed in class; all comments should be
reflective, thoughtful and well organized; see rubric for grading process
4) give your
journal to the instructor on Thursday; it will be returned with communications
from the professor on Tuesday.
Corrections of any type will only be made if
you ask for them. Late journals will not
be accepted.
DICTATIONS
- The purpose of this exercise is to improve and enhance listening
comprehension, reading comprehension and overall ability to use grammar correctly. The dictations are available on the
instructor’s website and may be listened to as often as you wish. Students will
have the opportunity to review and revise the dictation at home with the help
of the text, a dictionary and/or classmates (see also section on Academic Integrity). Once again, this "help" should be
indicated with a colored pencil or pen; this does not influence your
grade. Students will receive grades for all the
dictations/listening exercises. DOUBLE POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FOR ERRORS
WITH ACCENTS OR AGREEMENT. Once a due
date for a dictation has passed, it will not be accepted.
GRAMMAR
EXERCISES - Most of the grammar discussed in this class will be an intensive
review for the majority of students.
This will enable students to prepare for advanced level classes and to
write in a manner that is correct and cohesive.
(A lot of) Grammar exercises will be assigned to be completed for class
orally and/or in writing. Oral exercises
are NOT to be written out completely although students may make notes. The purpose of the oral exercises is to
provide an opportunity for students to use the grammar being studied in a
communicative manner. The
written exercises are often more involved and
require more thought and preparation. In
order to facilitate in-class discussion of the written exercises, individual
students will prepare a particular exercise for class to be checked on the
overhead projector or computer. Please
write/print legibly in large enough letters on the document camera; please use
22 font size on the thumb drive or printed copy
brought to class. The grammar exercises
will not be collected or graded. These
are practice exercises to prepare you for the tests after each chapter.
PAPER
- Each student is expected to write a 5-7 page typed paper, choosing from the
following options:
---an original story
---an original fairy tale
---a research paper (minimum of 3
sources in French + bibliography + footnotes) REQUIRED FOR INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES STUDENTS
Topics
with outlines (and/or bibliography) are due Thursday, September 23; a progress report
is due Thursday, October 14; the final copy is due in class Thursday, November
18. The paper must be submitted via Safe
Assign as well as via a hard copy of the paper.
The paper with be graded on content and style. This is similar to the compositions in the
elements of "help" acceptable for use; it is different in the sense
that only one copy will be turned in for grades on form and
content. Late papers will not be
accepted.
Tentative
weekly schedule
- this may be changed to better meet students' needs
le 31 aoüt introduction; Chap. 2
le 2 sept Chap. 2
7 Chap. 2
9 Chap. 3 / Journal 1
14 Chap. 3 / Dictée 1
16 Chap. 3 / Journal 2
21 EXAMEN 2 & 3
23 Chap. 6 / sujet du gros travail
écrit / Journal 3
28 Chap. 6
30 Chap.
6 / Journal 4
le 5 oct Chap.
6
7 Chap. 6 / EXAMEN / Journal 5
12 Chap. 15 / Dictée 2
14 Chap. 15 / progrès du gros travail
écrit / Journal 6
19 Chap. 15
21 Chap. 15 / Journal 7
26 Chap.
15 / EXAMEN
28 Chap. 16 / Journal 8
le 2 nov Chap. 16 / Dictée 3
4 Chap. 16 / Journal 9
9 Chap. 16
11 Chap. 16 / Journal 10
16 Chap. 16 / EXAMEN
18 Pas de classe - copie finale du gros travail écrit
23 Chap.
18
30 Chap. 18 / Dictée 4
Le 2 déc Chap. 18 / Journal 11
7 Chap. 18
9 Chap. 18 / Journal 12
Examen "final" i.e. du dernier chapitre: le mardi
14 décembre, 10h45 à 13h15.
Office
hours
Mon., Wed., Fri. 11:00 - 11:45
Tues., Thurs. 11:00
– 12:15
Other office
hours by appointment
Holloway Hall
105 410-543-6253
afwhite@salisbury.edu
Prerequisite:
FREN 202 or equivalent experience
The
professor may contact the class via e-mail using SU e-mail addresses. Students who prefer to use their personal
e-mail addresses should forward information from their SU address in order to
remain current with class information.
ALL
CELL PHONES must be completely turned off in class.
Homework,
dictations, journals and compositions are assigned with Writing Across the Curriculum in mind. The transfer of writing skills from one
language to another enhances the ability to write well in both English and
French. Evaluation of written assignments
will be based on both form and content.
Academic
integrity – The best learning environment is one based on mutual respect
and trust. However, the desire to
achieve a good grade without doing the necessary work may tempt some students
to cheat on exams or to represent the work of others as their own. At
Instances
of academic dishonesty include all, but are not limited to, the following:
*** Plagiarism – presenting as one’s own work,
whether literally
or in
paraphrase, the work of another author
*** Cheating on exams, tests, quizzes; the
wrongful giving or
accepting of
unauthorized exam material; and the use of
illegitimate
sources of information
*** unsanctioned
collaboration with other individuals in the
completion of
course assignments
*** Falsifying excuses for non-attendance or
completion of
assignments
There
are no mitigating circumstances to justify academic dishonesty. IF you
are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty or plagiarism, please
ask. Ignorance is no excuse. Discovery of academic dishonesty will bring
stiff penalties, including a failing grade for the assignment in question and
possibly a grade of F for the course.
The maximum penalty at Salisbury University for plagiarism is possible
expulsion from the entire USM system, so for your own sake, maintain your
academic integrity.
Students
are responsible for all adjustments in their schedule. All changes such as drops and adds must be made through the office of the Registrar. Failure to officially drop a course or
officially withdraw from school will result in the issuance of the grade
of "F" for all courses involved. Remember, simply stopping your attendance of
a class is not an official drop or withdrawal.
In
case of inclement or severe weather, students should use their best judgement
regarding their class attendance.
In
case of fire, exit the classroom and then the building using the exterior door
opposite the classroom. Proceed to the
parking lot and await your professor and / or instructions from the Fire
Department.
This course provides opportunities for
students to achieve the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning in
COMMUNICATION: Communication in languages other than English
1.1 Interpersonal communication
1.2 Interpretive communication
1.4 Presentational communication
CULTURES:
Gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures
2.1 Practices of
culture
2.2 Products of culture
CONNECTIONS: Connect with
other disciplines and acquire information
3.1 Furthering
connections
3.2 Acquiring
information
COMPARISONS: Develop insights into the nature of language and culture
4.1 Language
comparisons
4.2 Cultural
comparisons
COMMUNITIES: Participate in multilingual communities at home and around the
world
5.1 School and
community
5.2 Life-long learning