B5043 - Language and Translation - French Language (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students perfect their knowledge of written and oral French, with particular reference to idiomatic expressions, proverbs, the argot, spelling reform and the general issue of francophonie, and the related metalanguage. At the end of the course the student becomes also familiar with the documentation tools and basic translation methodologies and techniques; he/she is able to apply them in the pre-translative analysis of the source text and in the drafting of the target text, depending on the communicative functions of the texts to be translated and the translation assignment indicated; he/she is able to apply these dynamics in the translation of a variety of non-specialist texts from French into Italian, in accordance with a basic level of translation competence.

Course contents

The course, which will be taught entirely in French, is open to:

• students enrolled in the CLE curriculum (the course is compulsory for CLE students pursuing the double degree with UHA and is an elective for all other students);
• students enrolled in the SPOSI, SVIC and IR Degree Programmes;
• students from non-CLE curricula  and students from other degree programmes, who may take the course as an elective.

CLE double-degree students must attend the entire course (60 hours, 12 ECTS credits, from 10 February to 21 May).

Students enrolled in other degree programmes may choose either to attend the entire course (12 ECTS credits, 60 hours) or to attend only one module (6 ECTS credits, 30 hours).

For attending students enrolled in the SPOSI, SVIC and IR Degree Programmes, the course consists of three parts:

• an initial Language Practice module (a 60-hour Preparatory Course), taught by the language instructors Carole Bailleul and Claudia Farini during the first semester. This module is intended only for complete beginners and for students who score below 21 on the placement test;
• a second Language Practice module (30 hours), taught by the language instructors Carole Bailleul and Claudia Farini during the second semester;
• a specialised course (30 hours), taught by Licia Reggiani during the second semester.

Students must take a placement test (further information [https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/licia.reggiani/contenuti-utili] ) on 10 September 2026 at 2:00 p.m. The test will be held online via Microsoft Teams at the following link: French Language Placement Test – SPOSI, SVIC and IR | Join the meeting | Microsoft Teams [https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/351870337245947?p=dl11BVT08nWPgsNmoI] .

Important: students must register for the placement test on EOL.

Complete beginners—i.e. students who have never studied French—must not take the placement test. They must email licia.reggiani@unibo.it and carole.bailleul@unibo.it  to inform the instructors that they have enrolled in the course. They must also attend the Preparatory Course.

Students who hold a language certificate at B1 level or above (e.g. DELF/DALF) or an ESABAC diploma obtained no more than two years before the date of the examination must not take the placement test. The certificate must be emailed in September to licia.reggiani@unibo.it and carole.bailleul@unibo.it [mailto:carole.bailleul@unibo.it] . These students will not attend the first-semester Preparatory Course; they will attend only the Language Practice module and the specialised course in the second semester.

Placement test

During the morning of 10 September, registered students will receive the link to the virtual classroom. Participants are advised to connect well in advance. The results and group allocations will be published on Virtuale during the day on 11 September. Anyone who scores below the minimum of 21 points must attend the Preparatory Course taught by Professor Bailleul during the first semester.

Complete beginners and students who do not pass the placement test in September may attend the advanced language classes and the course in the second semester—both of which are compulsory—only if they have already attended the COMPULSORY Preparatory Course during the first semester.

For all students, regardless of their degree programme, the Language and Translation course will focus on the concept of the linguistic imaginary and the role of language in French culture. The course will provide an overview of the history of the French language, highlighting the importance of several key moments and leading to the political and cultural concept of Francophonie. Narrative texts, press materials and examples of everyday discourse will also be used. In addition, a number of current linguistic debates will be presented and discussed in light of the concept of linguistic variation.

Readings/Bibliography

For ALL students, regardless of their degree programme, whether attending or non-attending:

The course materials will be available on www.virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it], the University’s online platform for managing teaching and learning materials.

For non-attending students

For the grammar component, the following textbook is recommended: Grammaire progressive du français – niveau intermédiaire (A2–B1), 4th edition, Maïa Grégoire and Odile Thiévenaz, CLE International, 2017.

For the oral examination, students must have read the short book Le français va très bien, merci (Tracts, Gallimard, 2023), available on Virtuale.

Teaching methods

The course will mainly consist of seminar-style classes, during which the instructor and students will discuss the linguistic and translation strategies best suited to each context.

The corpus of texts will be provided by the instructor during the course.

The linguistics component will be taught through lectures and will draw on a wide range of authentic materials.

Please note: students enrolled in the SPOSI and SVIC Degree Programmes must attend 30 hours of the course, following a syllabus that will be shared at a later date. They must also attend the language practice classes taught by Dr Bailleul: 30 hours in the second semester for all students, plus 60 hours in the first semester for beginners.

CLE double-degree students must attend the full 60-hour course. Other students who have chosen the course as an elective may attend either the entire course (12 ECTS credits) or just one of the two modules (6 ECTS credits).

Assessment methods

For all students (CLE double-degree students, CLE students, Arts and Humanities students, and students from other degree programmes)

The examination consists of two parts: a written linguistic and grammar component (reading comprehension) and an oral examination based on the following texts:

• Maria Candéa and Laélia Véron, Le français est à nous! Petit manuel d’émancipation linguistique, Paris, La Découverte, 2019.

• Les Linguistes atterrées, Le français va très bien, merci, Tracts, Gallimard, 2023.

For ATTENDING students enrolled in the SPOSI and SVIC Degree Programmes

The examination will be entirely written and will consist of two parts:

• Language Practice (a written examination with the language instructors C. Bailleul and C. Farini);

• Specialised Course (a written reading-comprehension examination on topics covered in class with the course instructor).

The final grade will be calculated as the weighted average of the grades obtained in the two components.

The Language Practice examination will take place upon completion of the first 30 hours of classes in the second semester.

Examination procedure for the SPECIALISED COURSE

• The examination will be held in person and will last 90 minutes.

• It will consist of 20 closed-ended questions—10 on topics covered in class and 10 assessing comprehension of a text provided during the examination—and between one open-ended question for beginners and three open-ended questions for advanced students, focusing on issues related to reading comprehension.

For NON-ATTENDING students enrolled in the SPOSI and SVIC Degree Programmes

The examination consists of two parts: a written grammar test and an oral language assessment based on one of the following texts, available on Virtuale:

• Les Linguistes atterrées, Le français va très bien, merci, Tracts, Gallimard, 2023;

• Maria Candéa and Laélia Véron, Le français est à nous! Petit manuel d’émancipation linguistique, Paris, La Découverte, 2019;

• Julie Neveu, Avec la langue.

A) WRITTEN TEST

• The 60-minute written test will assess students’ knowledge of French grammar. Students must pass the written test with a minimum grade of 18/30 before they may take the oral examination.

• Students who pass the written test may proceed to the oral component described under section B.

• Students who do not pass the written test may not take the oral examination and must register for another examination session. They are not required to skip an examination session before retaking the test.

B) Oral language assessment

Students will be interviewed in French about one of the following texts, available on Virtuale:

• Maria Candéa and Laélia Véron, Le français est à nous! Petit manuel d’émancipation linguistique, Paris, La Découverte, 2019;

• Les Linguistes atterrées, Le français va très bien, merci, Tracts, Gallimard, 2023;

• Julie Neveu, Avec la langue.

GRAMMAR SYLLABUS FOR THE WRITTEN TEST

• Definite and indefinite articles;

• Contracted articles;

• Personal pronouns: subject, stressed, direct-object and indirect-object pronouns;

• The pronouns en and y;

• Conjugation of all three verb groups in all tenses and moods, including the subjunctive, with the exception of the passé simple;

• Gender and number of nouns and adjectives, including the formation of feminine and plural forms;

• Possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns;

• Negative forms and all their specific features;

• The three forms of interrogation;

• Pronominal verbs;

• Partitive articles and their negative forms;

• Prepositions and expressions of time (il y a, depuis, etc.) and place (devant, derrière, face à, etc.), as well as prepositions used with geographical names, including countries and regions;

• The use of très, beaucoup and beaucoup de;

• Indefinite adjectives and pronouns expressing quantity and quality;

• Inherently impersonal verbs and impersonal verb constructions;

• Simple and compound relative pronouns;

• The three French periphrastic constructions traditionally known as gallicismes;

• The choice between ce and il before être (c’est / il est);

• The formation of adverbs of quantity, place and time;

• Constructions with verbs of opinion, including whether or not to use the subjunctive;

• The passive voice;

• The three types of hypothetical construction;

• Indirect speech in the past, including the required sentence changes (si, ce que);

• Discourse markers and linking expressions (par rapport à, envers, en revanche, donc, etc.).

Students may prepare for the grammar test using the textbook adopted for the course:

Office hours

See the website of Licia Reggiani