31147 - French Linguistics and Language 2

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Docente: Catia Nannoni
  • Credits: 9
  • SSD: L-LIN/04
  • Language: French

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to express and understand issues related to the different aspects of a descriptive-analytical model of French language. As for written language, students must be able to read and understand complex texts, in particular reviews and books, at a minimum level of B2 level, according to the Council of Europe Framework.

Course contents

 

The aim of French Language and Linguistics courses is to provide Bachelor students with the main aspects of language (phonetics, morphology, lexicology, syntax) as well as to enable them to communicate properly in both written and oral French through the appropriate methodological instruments.

PROGRAMMES AND EXAMINATIONS ARE THE SAME FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, AS WELL AS FOR ERASMUS STUDENTS (WHO ARE RECOMMENDED TO CONTACT THE TEACHERS).

OFFICIAL COURSE [C. Nannoni]

Lectures will be offered only during the 1st semester.

The aim of the French Language and Linguistics 2 course is to lay the theoretical and practical foundations for the study of the sentence from a syntactic and pragmatic point of view, i.e. as a linguistic act. The first part of the course will deal with the main theories for the study of pragmatics, and then these notions will be illustrated by means of examples taken from advertising texts in French.

Practical language classes (M. Cohen; A. Detraz; Th. Manconi, M. Vien)

[throughout the academic year]

  • 2 UNITS (2 + 2 hours per week) to prepare the written test [Résumé de texte e Analyse de l’image].
  • 1 UNIT (2 hours per week) to prepare the oral test.

In the second year, it is assumed that the student who has passed the exam in the first year has acquired a base of knowledge and linguistic skills (structural - grammatical) that will allow him/her to approach the language in a more in-depth and analytical way through the different didactic paths proposed.

The exercise on the methodology and practice of the "Résumé de texte" aims, through a series of exercises, at the acquisition of the following skills:

  • Reading a text correctly and finding its specific terminology
  • Identifying the different articulations
  • Recognising argumentative processes
  • Understanding the purpose of the discourse and the author's thesis
  • To form an outline by specifying the key points of the speech
  • To synthesise information by rephrasing it in other terms so as to exclude the repetition of sentences in the text.

The "Analyse d'image" practice exercise aims to acquire the following skills in the various lexical, syntactic and analytical fields:

  • Correctly read an image related to the various fields of fashion, advertising, visual arts in general
  • To develop a methodology for reading an image by identifying different levels of reading and interpretation.
  • To acquire the appropriate terminology to describe and account for the different representations in space.
  • To know how to construct a correctly organised text that respects the two phases of composition, i.e. 1/ description and 2/ interpretation of the image.
  • Use linguistic articulation to ensure fluidity and clarity of discourse.
  • Highlighting the aims and objectives of the image.

Both parts of the course in preparation for writing insist on consolidating the grammatical structures of the complex sentence and broadening the range of lexical fields. One third of the lesson time is devoted to grammar exercises.

 

Preparation for the oral test:

Practical language classes will be organised in two groups, in alphabetical order (A-L: Dr. Manconi; M-Z: Dr. Vien) and are intended to address certain topics of French language and culture that are the subject of public debate in the French-speaking world, such as: les politiques linguistiques, le concept de norme/les variétés de langue, l'écriture inclusive, l'insécurité linguistique et la glottophobie, les représentations sur et autour de la langue, le repli identitaire, les identités plurielles, la langue de bois, les néologismes, le politiquement correct, les euphémismes, la siglaison, les réformes de l'orthographe.

The level of competence attested is equivalent to level B2 (see in this respect the descriptors defined by the CEFR for languages).

The teaching activity will consist of two phases:

- practical listening comprehension activities on the basis of authentic documents on the topics outlined above.

- practical oral production activities based on "scénarios de communication" which will allow the learner's knowledge and skills to be tested and/or consolidated in terms of: cohesion and coherence of discourse, relevance of morphosyntactic structures, ability to reformulate easily, lexical repertoire, mastery of the phonological and prosodic system of the French language (see also the descriptors of level B2 of the CEFR for languages)

The objective of the language exercises (consistent with level B2 defined by the CEFR for languages) is to lead the student to understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract subjects and to express them orally by adopting a personal and critical point of view.

 

Readings/Bibliography

OFFICIAL COURSE

N. Garric, F. Calas, Introduction à la pragmatique, Paris, Hachette, 2007 [excepted chap. 6 and 7]

C. Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Les actes de langage dans le discours, Paris, Colin, 2001 [excepted chap. 6]

Other materials and suggestions will be indicated during the course and made available on Virtuale.

 

PRACTICAL LANGUAGE CLASSES:

WRITTEN EXAM

No bibliography is required for the Résumé exercise, nor for the Analyse d'image exercise.

At the beginning of the lessons a handout or a dossier will be provided by each teacher for their group on the Virtuale site or in the copy shop, containing the necessary information for the student.

However, it is considered essential that the student has purchased (from the first year) a French grammar; if not, we recommend Grammaire du français pour italophones de Françoise Bidaud, UTET Université, with the corresponding exercise book Exercices de grammaire pour italophones.

On the Virtuale site platform, students can find exam papers from previous sessions, as well as some of the exercises carried out in class, so that non-attenders can understand the type of production expected of them.

 

ORAL EXAM

Materials and articles in free access on the Virtual Online Learning Platform - https://virtuale.unibo.it/- by the lecturers.

 

Teaching methods

Official course:

After the methodological lessons of the first part, students will be offered with practical exercises about advertinsing texts in French.

 

Preparation to the written exam [ESERCITAZIONI]:

The practice course offers training in the exercises required for the exam, and is essentially practical. After the presentation of the methodology, students practice in order to improve their writing skills.

For the Analyse d'image, students train on images proposed by the teacher: a reflection in the classroom at the oral exam is often followed by written training with corrections.

For the Résumé, progressive exercises make it possible to reach the requirements. In order to understand the texts to be summarised, extra material may be proposed to deepen the knowledge of French-speaking civilisation and current affairs.

Starting with the most frequent errors, the course also includes grammar lessons and exercises, in order to perfect the knowledge of the language.

 

Preparation to the oral exam:

The purpose of the educational activities is part of a communicative perspective, «actionnelle» with which we mean the achievement of the educational objectives through the completion of defined communicative tasks.

The active participation of the learners will be at the centre of the practical activities proposed.

 

 

Assessment methods

IMPORTANT: Before taking any part of the exam of French Language and Linguistics 2 the student must have passed and registered the exam of French Language and Linguistics 1.

The final mark is calculated as follows: the score obtained in the language written is added to the score obtained in the oral. This figure is divided by 2, added to the score obtained in the Linguistics written, and finally divided by 2.

OFFICIAL COURSE [NANNONI]

There will be 2 dates for each session.

The final examination of the official course will consist in an oral test (in French) during which students will have to demonstrate they know the theoretical part (to be prepared through the slides and the texts included in the bibliography of the programme), and how to apply it to examples taken from advertising texts in French (in addition to those proposed by the teacher during the course, the student will have to add one, chosen autonomously, to be commented on during the examination on the basis of the knowledge acquired).

Assessment will consider the following parameters :

1. Knowledge of the theoretical and methodological aspects presented during the course

2. Understanding of the original texts in French in their main aspects: pragmatic (function), semantic (content), linguistic (resources) and writing an appropriate analysis.

3. The adequacy and correctness of the French language

 

PRACTICAL LANGUAGE CLASSES

WRITTEN EXAM [Cohen, Detraz]

The exam will be either Résumé or Analyse d’image.

Duration of test : 3 hours. Monolingual vocabulary allowed.

The assessment out of 30 takes into account:

1) the student's ability to put into practice the methodology studied for both the Résumé and the Analyse d’image and to know how to present a clear, ordered and structured production,

2) a good command of the language (respect for grammatical rules, correct use of vocabulary).

 

ORAL EXAM [Manconi, Vien]

N.B. The oral exam can be accessed once the written exam has been passed.

The final assessment of learning consists of an oral production test inspired by the DELF B2 certification test, during which the student presents an argued point of view on one of the topics covered during the exercises, based on an authentic document (video or text).

The test is passed if the student has achieved a pass mark (18/30 or higher).

For the academic year 2022/2023, learning assessment will be organised as a continuous assessment through two tests (the dates of which will be communicated at the beginning of the academic year), which will be considered passed with a mark of 18/30 or higher for each test. The final mark will be calculated on the basis of an average of the two marks obtained in both tests. Any further details will be provided by the lecturers during the first useful lesson.

This method of examination replaces - on a voluntary basis - the final examination.

The same conditions apply to non-attending students who are invited to notify the lecturer by sending a communication to one of the following addresses:

myriam.vien2@unibo.it

teresa.manconi@unibo.it

For further details on assessment, please refer to the lecturers' personal pages:

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/teresa.manconi/contenuti-utili/7d6c36d7

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/myriam.vien2

N.B. Students can pass the exam of the Official course before or after completing the written and oral exam of practical Language classes.

N.B. Each part of the exam is valid for 4 exam sessions (included the first one).

 

Teaching tools

PPT, audiovisual and on line resources.

Documents taken from the French and French-speaking press, advertising texts and images, iconographic sources of various kinds and origins.

Office hours

See the website of Catia Nannoni