SALISBURY
STATE UNIVERSITY
FR 101 - Elementary French Spring
2001
Dr. White
OBJECTIVES - It is the goal of this class to help you acquire
facility in understanding, speaking, reading and writing French. In order to achieve this end, materials
which emphasize practice in class, in the language laboratory and at home will
be an integral part of this course.
PROCEDURE - In order to learn a foreign language, you must
acquire a new set of habits quite different from those of your mother
tongue. Imitation and repetition are
the keys to mastery of a foreign language.
They are the keys to pronunciation and to sentence structure. Just as you learn to swim or to play the
piano by doing it, so you learn to speak a new language by doing it.
The class meets three times a week and you will have
exercises to do in the language lab on a regular basis. The initial presentation of lesson material
takes place in class without reference by students to the written page. Oral practice in class and in the language
laboratory follows with and without reference to the printed page. You must concentrate and practice diligently
in class and in the language laboratory so that you will have a clear idea of
what you must do at home in order to clinch the lesson presented and practiced
in class and in the lab. This practice
is essential, for in order to practice correctly at home, you will have to have
prepared yourself through diligent and careful practice in class and in the lab. At home you will practice oral drills with
your book open. At the end of a unit's
work, you will also write material that you have learned orally. The lessons in the book are intended to give you spelling and writing
practice. Do each lesson as it is
assigned. At first you will read
only the lessons which you have mastered orally. Later, special reading lessons will introduce you to reading for
information.
DEVELOPING FLUENCY - Each exercise should be done first
carefully, then quickly, then with complete confidence. Bear in mind that if you master each lesson
as you proceed, the following ones will be easier; because each new lesson
makes use of material introduced in earlier ones. If on the other hand, you fail to master each lesson, the course
will become increasingly difficult, and, eventually, quite frustrating. Memorizing and cramming go a long way in
some courses, but it is impossible to master an entire course in French by a
cram session on the night before an exam.
And in some fields, you merely need to understand and be able to
remember material; but in a foreign language, you have to understand the
material and practice using it until you can do it yourself.
IF YOU WANT TO DO WELL IN FRENCH AT THIS LEVEL - Never miss a
class or a lab. Make a real effort to
give complete attention to the work throughout the class or lab period. Try to answer, subvocally, every question
the instructor asks. Master completely
every detail of each lesson as you go along.
Remember that the teacher, the book and the audio and computer materials
will help you learn to use French, but that, in the last analysis, you
yourself will have to do the actual learning.
No one else can do it for you!
FRENCH 101
PERFORMANCE
OBJECTIVES -
l. Students will be able to
pronounce French words with a degree of
precision, using proper intonation.
2. Students will be able to use the
present tense of regular and selected irregular verbs with reasonable accuracy
in both oral and written forms.
3. When given a skeleton sentence in
French, students will be able to give the completed sentence with correct
subject/verb and adjective/noun agreement in both oral and written forms.
4. When given a sentence in French,
students will be able to negate it in both oral and written forms.
5. When given a sentence in French,
students will be able to transform it into a question in both oral and written
forms.
6. The
students will be able to show their grasp of the vocabulary taught in each chapter by chatting about situations
similar to those presented in the book.
a. The students will also be able to
understand conversations in French (at a moderate speed) with their teacher and
with other students.
b. Students will be able to use and
understand selected idiomatic expressions in their conversations (such as those
dealing with time, numbers and the verb AVOIR).
7. Students will be able to use selected
prepositions orally and in writing.
TEXT: Voilà
- Heilenman, Kaplan, Tournier; Workbook to accompany Voilà
English Grammar
for Students of French, Morton (optional)
How to be a
More Successful Language Learner, Rubin & Thompson (optional)
GRADING -
20% Unit Tests
20% Written Work: quizzes, compositions, workbook exercises and other work to be
handed in
20% Listening practice: in class work, language lab & video
exercises
10% Class
Participation: Student's effort
Student's
ability to master French sounds
Student's
ability to perform grammar drills
Student's
attendance - 3 unexcused absences before the instructor questions the student’s
desire to succeed
10% Formal
speaking activities done in class and / or for the professor
20% Final Exam – Comprehensive
**********************************************************************
A
= 90-l00 B = 80-89 C = 70-79 D = 60-69
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Quizzes and
tests will be announced in advance. Any
test or quiz missed must be made up within 5 days.
Homework is
due on the assigned date. Assignments
will be accepted late (i.e. with a loss of points) for five days. After that, the student will receive a zero
for that particular assignment.
Each student
is expected to make use of the language lab for exercises coordinated with the
text.
Students will
have the option of writing a research paper which would count as a test
grade. The paper must be typed, 5-7
pages in length, written in English.
The subject may be historical or contemporary and must be approved by
the instructor no later than Friday, March 9.
Papers are due no later than Monday, April 16. They will be graded on content and style.
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS
JAN M 29 Introduction
et Leçon 1
W 31 Leçon
1
FEB F 2 Leçon 1
M 5 Leçon 1
W 7 Leçon 1
F 9 Leçon 1
M 12 EXAMEN
W 14 Leçon 2
F 16 Leçon 2
M 19 Leçon
2
W 21 Leçon
2
F 23 Leçon 2
W
28 Leçon
3
M 5 Leçon 3
W 7 Leçon 3
F 9 Leçon 3
M 12 Leçon 3
F 16 Leçon 4
Petites vacances pour
étudier J
M 26 Leçon 4
W 28 Leçon 4
F 30 Leçon 4
APR M 2 Leçon 4
W
4 Leçon 4
F
6 Leçon 4
M 9 Leçon 4
W 11 EXAMEN
F 13 Leçon 5
M 16 Leçon 5
W 18 Leçon 5
F 20 Leçon 5
M 23 Leçon 5
W 25 Leçon
5
F 27 EXAMEN
M 30 Leçon 6
MAY W 2 Leçon 6
F 4 Leçon 6
M 7 Leçon 6
W 9 Leçon 6
F 11 Leçon 6
M 14
Révision et discussion de l'examen
final
(l’examen final – mardi, le 22 mai –
10h15 à 12h15)
This schedule may be changed
as the semester progresses. Students
will be duly notified of any changes.
OFFICE HOURS – Modern
Language House, Rm. 203 office phone 410-543-6253
1013 Camden Avenue
MTWRF 10:00 – 10:50 am HOURS ALSO BY APPOINTMENT
e-mail –
afwhite@salisbury.edu
This course
fulfills the General Education requirement I-B.
Homework,
dictations 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.
Although
students are encouraged to work together to develop their language skills in
French (listening, speaking, reading and writing), copying and plagiarism will
not be tolerated.
Students are
responsible for all adjustments to their schedule. All changes such as drops and adds must be made through the
office of the Registrar. Failure to
drop a course officially or withdraw from school officially 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.
**********************************************************************
By the end of
French 101, an average student will be able to accomplish most of the
tasks indicated below for the skills listed.
SPEAKING -
intermediate low
Able to
satisfy basic survival needs and minimal courtesy requirements. In areas of immediate need or on very
familiar topics, can ask and answer some simple questions, can respond to and sometimes
initiate simple statements and can maintain simple face-to-face
conversation. Can ask and answer
questions such as Quel âge avez-vous?
Comment vous appelez-vous?
Combien de frères/soeurs avez-vous?
Qu'est-ce que tu étudies?. Can sustain a short conversation on such
familiar topics as characteristics of self and family members (name, age,
physical description), location and description of home, school and workplace
and other topics that involve an exchange
of simple factual information. Can make
one's needs known with great difficulty in a simple survival situation. Vocabulary is inadequate to express anything
beyond basic information on familiar subjects and elementary needs. Little precision in information can be
conveyed and misunderstandings frequently arise because of limited vocabulary,
numerous grammatical errors and poor pronunciation and intonation. Strong interference from the native language
occurs in articulation, stress and intonation.
There is some control of the present tense of regular verbs and the more
common irregular verbs and of gender, number and subject-verb agreement. Can give simple answers in the negative,
limited to the ne..pas construction.
Misunderstanding frequently arise from limited vocabulary and grammar and
erroneous phonology, but, with repetition, can generally be understood by
native speakers in regular contact with foreigners attempting to speak
French. Little precision in information
conveyed owing to tentative state of grammatical development and little or no
use of modifiers.
LISTENING
- Novice high
Sufficient
comprehension to understand a number of memorized utterances in areas of
immediate need. Comprehends slightly
longer utterances in situations where the context aids understanding. Comprehends vocabulary common to daily
needs. Comprehends simple
questions/statements about family members, age, address, weather, time, daily
activities and interests. Misunderstandings
arise from failure to perceive critical sounds or endings. Understands even tailored speech with
difficulty but gets some main ideas.
Often requires repetition and/or a slowed rate of speed for
comprehension, even when listening to persons such as teachers who are used to
speaking with non-natives.
Misunderstandings frequently arise from lack of vocabulary or from
faulty processing of syntactic information often caused by strong interference
from the native language or by the imperfect and partial acquisition of the
target grammar.
READING -
Novice high / Intermediate low
Sufficient
comprehension of written language to interpret set expressions in areas of
immediate need. Can recognize all
letters of printed French and is familiar with French punctuation and
diacritical marks. Where vocabulary has
been mastered, can read for instructional and directional purposes standardized
messages, phrases or expressions.
Vocabulary and grammar limited to the most common nouns, adjectives,
question words and a few verb forms.
Material is read for essential information, Detail is overlooked or misunderstood. Able to understand both mastered material and recombinations of
the mastered elements kept to the same level.
Understand main ideas in material when structure and syntax parallel the
native language. Can understand simple
language which contains high frequency grammatical patterns in direct discourse
such as NP + VP of most regular verbs in the present tense and of common
irregular verbs also in the present.
Has some familiarity with common idioms.
WRITING -
Novice high / Intermediate low
Can write
limited learned vocabulary for common objects, short phrases and simple
lists. Can write some idiomatic
expressions and other fixed social formulae.
Can name some common objects; knows some common adjectives and adverbs;
can use the present tense of some common -er and -re verbs as well as
forms of the present tense of avoir, être, sortir, partir, dormir and
aller; can write simple negative sentences using ne...pas and
interrogative sentences with words such as est-ce que, où, comment,
pourquoi, quand. Writes in
sentences or short phrases using very basic subject-verb-object word
order. Can ask and answer very simple
yes-no or information questions using limited memorized or very familiar
sentence patterns with frequent misspellings and inaccuracies. Often forgets accents or uses them
inappropriately. Sometimes uses
infinitives for conjugated verbs. Has a
concept of gender and can produce definite and indefinite articles though often
inappropriately. Often forgets to make
adjectives agree with nouns. May
misplace adjectives and adverbs in sentences. Material produced consists of
recombinations of learned vocabulary and structures into simple sentences. Can express present and future time, the
latter by using the present tense plus the infinitive construction or the
present tense and adverbs of time.
Generally cannot express past time using past tenses. Can express numbers 1-100 with some
misspellings. Often inserts native
language vocabulary for unknown words and is generally not capable of
circumlocution to get meaning across.
Writing tend to be a loose collection of sentences or sentence fragments
on very familiar topics. Makes
continual errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation, but writing can be read
and understood by a native reader used to dealing with foreigners. Able to produce appropriately some
fundamental sociolinguistic distinctions in formal and familiar style, such as
appropriate subject pronouns, titles of address and basic social formulae.
CULTURE - Novice
Limited
interaction. Behaves with
considerateness. Is resourceful i
non-verbal communication but does not reliably interpret gestures or cultural
specific nonverbal behavior such as physical contacts with greetings, proximity
of speaker. Is able to manage short
phrases of courtesy and basic titles of respect. Generally lacks the knowledge of culture patterns requisite for
survival situations. Is able to use
conventional phrases when being introduced as well as proper greetings at
different times of the day and leave-taking.
Shows comprehension of formal and informal terms of address (vous,
tu).
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