17750 - Language and Translation - French Language

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students have a knowledge (in terms of morphology, syntax and vocabulary) of French corresponding to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Foreign Languages.

Course contents

Course contents

The course, which will be held entirely in French, is divided into two parts: 


The first part of the course will focus on French languages, and will aim to observe the centrality of language in French culture. A number of theoretical texts will be examined (Nora, Houdebine, Paveau - Rosier, Walter for the history of the French language), together with narrative texts, press and ordinary speeches in order to analyse, also in seminar format, this linguistic imaginary and to see its "concrete" effects in everyday practice.


This first introductory and methodological part will be followed by a second part that will look in depth at some moments in the history of the French language, focusing on certain aspects of "français d'aujourd'hui"; in particular, the concept of linguistic variation, giving examples of diastratic variation (formal/informal register), diatopic variation (the Francophone lexicon, the accent) and in any case the "new" lexicon, starting from authentic and fictional texts.


From the grammatical point of view, the elements corresponding to level C1, indicated as the course progresses, will be studied.

Readings/Bibliography

Readings/Bibliography  

 

Maria Candéa, 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.

 

Leila Slimani (sous la dir) Nos langues françaises, Ed. du patrimoine, 2022

Bertrand Dicale, C'est une chanson qui nous ressemble, Ed. du patrimoine, 2022

Maurice Grevisse, Le bon Usage,

BIDAUD Françoise, Nouvelle grammaire du français pour italophones, Torino, UTET Università. Si consiglia anche l'acquisto del volume di esercizi: Exercices de grammaire française pour italophones, Torino, UTET Università.

As this is a language course, it is difficult to recommend really effective alternatives to attending lessons. Students who do not attend classes must in any case study the points indicated in the programme independently. 

Teaching methods

Teaching methods

The course is based on lectures, mainly seminars, in which the teacher and students discuss the linguistic and translation strategies best suited to the context.
The corpus of texts will be provided by the teacher at the beginning of the course and shared on the platform, where the students' translations will also be collected in order to make comparisons and reflections.
Two intermediate tests will be organised, one at the beginning of the course and one just before the exam, which will be used for the students' self-assessment of their progress. These tests will not count towards the final examination.

Assessment methods

Assessment methods

Students who attend and do not attend the course must:

for the language and linguistics part, take an oral exam in French on the following texts:

Maria Candéa, 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.

Leila Slimani (sous la dir) Nos langues françaises, Ed. du patrimoine, 2022

In addition to the slides provided on Virtuale.

Students must also prepare a short essay in French in which they analyse one of the texts/speeches presented during the course, following the methodology indicated. The essay may be a translation (i.e. the translation of a text with commentary) or a discourse analysis (i.e. the analysis of several pages of literature, highlighting the linguistic imagery).

The oral exam (15 points) will assess the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student, who will be asked to discuss the examples covered during the course (5 points). Students must demonstrate their ability to navigate the programme, understanding the relationships between the topics covered (5 points). During the presentation, students must also demonstrate their command of French in terms of oral production (5 points).

The dissertation (15 points) will be assessed for linguistic accuracy (5 points), structure (5 points) and the relevance of the reflections (5 points).

 

 

Teaching tools

Teaching tools

Teaching aids (exercises, readings, texts to be translated, etc.) will be provided to students on a weekly basis. All materials will be made available online.

Office hours

See the website of Licia Reggiani