39973 - French Language (Course and Laboratory) II (GR. B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should be able to follow a lesson in French, to read a complex text about social or political sciences and make a fluent oral report on it in French. To this purpose they should reach a minimum level of B1 (Council of Europe framework) for spoken and written French, while the ideal level is B2.

Moreover, they should be capable of writing a text in French (minimum level B2).

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and laboratories, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (30 hours face-to-face and/or in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to enhance students’ reading, writing, and speaking skills, while also expanding their cultural skills and knowledge in the French-speaking context.

Language laboratories (40 hours) are organized as seminars and aim to use class materials and practice the skills acquired during the 30-hour course through exercises, focusing in particular on French grammar and morphosyntax.

The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows.

For the seminar section (language laboratories), students will be divided into 4 groups, according to their language level: 2 GA laboratories (B1 level students) and 2 GB laboratories (A2 level students). For the two GA labs, one group will do the laboratory in classroom (40 hours) and one group will do the laboratory remotely on MS TEAMS (40 hours). For the two GB labs, one group will do the laboratory in classroom (40 hours) and one group will do the laboratory remotely on MS TEAMS (40 hours). Therefore, a total of 70 classroom hours are scheduled for each student.

Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

The 30-hour course (lectures) is organized into two modules:

- one module will be devoted to critical reading and analyzing written texts on topics relevant to the degree course. The texts will focus on current political and socio-cultural issues, with a focus on the French-speaking context. The aim of this module is to initiate students to the morpho-syntactic and discursive features of different textual genres, in particular the discourses of international organisations in French, as well as to a specialized lexicon related to socio-political issues.

- The second module will be devoted to presenting and discussing the topics covered in the texts and to improving writing skills in French.

Topics covered in the language laboratory will include:

1. Prépositions spatio-temporelles simples
2. Les indéfinis
3. Le gérondif
4. Rappel du passé composé et de l'accord du participe passé
5. La forme passive
6. Rappel du conditionnel présent – conditionnel passé
7. Les formes hypothétiques
8. Le discours indirect
9. Les connecteurs logiques simples: chronologie du discours.
10. Toutes les subordonnées
11. Le subjonctif présent
12. Utilisation des expressions de l’opinion (subjonctif présent ou indicatif)
13. Connotation essentielle/dénotation

Readings/Bibliography

For the 30-hour course, the reference book is:

Rachele Raus, FESP: le français pour les étudiants de Sciences politiques, Naples, Simone, 2021 (3th edition).

For non attendings students:

Chapters 2, 3 (except 3.6), 4 (except 4.3.4), 6, 7 (except 7.3), 8, 11 and all the exercices at the end of these chapters. Please remember to download the "corrigés" of the exercises through the QR Code present at the end of the book.

The two pictures in the exercice 6 (B) can not be read because of their size. Please download the readable version from the https://cris.unibo.it/

For attending students: the book is necessary from the first lesson.

For the language laboratory:

Maia Grégoire, Odile Thievenaz, Grammaire progressive du français, niveau intermédiaire A2/B1, Paris, Clé International, 2017.

Dictionary: Le petit Robert : dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française, Paris, Dictionnaires Le Robert, 2021 (or previous editions).

Teaching methods

Lectures aim to enable students to comprehend and interpret critically written and oral specialized texts, and to write texts in French. The course will be taught in French.

The language laboratory is based on a grammar book and on practical exercises using “communicative methods.” It aims at allowing students to reach a good command of linguistic and communicative competence.

During the laboratory, students can also give an oral presentation in small groups on a (relevant) topic of their choice, thus improving their oral expression and argumentation skills. The presentation will be followed by a short discussion on the topic with the other students.

Assessment methods

Exams will take place face-to-face and/or online according to the national protocols for covid-19.

Written exams (mid-term tests and written exam for not attending students) will be held on EOL (https://eol.unibo.it/eol.unibo.it)

Oral exams will be taken face-to-face and/or online on MS TEAMS, using virtual classrooms.

For more information on online exams visit https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/online-services/online-services-for-students-1/lessons-and-exams-online

Students attending classes

Overall assessment will be based on two written mid-term tests and a final oral exam. The first mid-term test includes a reading comprehension and a grammar test. In the second mid-term test students are expected to write a short text in French, along with a grammar test.

The oral exam will consist of a discussion of the contents carried out in class.

To calculate the final grade, a weighted average will be made between the grades obtained during the two written mid-term tests, those of the tests passed during the laboratory and the final oral exam.

The grade will be expressed in 30ths, making the weighted average of :

30-30L excellent test, which demonstrates excellent acquisition of the expected knowledge, as well as excellent language performance skills in French (level B2)

27-29 test above the average, with minimal errors or compensated by more than sufficient demonstration of the knowledge and skills acquired

24-26 valid test, but with some obvious errors that denote a partial acquisition of the required knowledge and skills

21-23 test sufficient but with conspicuous limits in the knowledge and skills to be acquired

18-20 test that meets only the minimum criteria of knowledge and skills to be acquired

Less than 18 insufficient, the exam must be repeated

Students not attending classes

Students who do not attend the course can take the exam as follows.

A written exam consisting of a grammar test, a reading comprehension with open questions, and the writing of a short text in French.

An oral exam consisting of a discussion of selected chapters from the book in the reading list.

The grade will be expressed in 30ths, making the weighted average of :

- the written examination in French (written exam);

- the course contents evaluation (final oral examination);

- the evaluation of the oral French language competence (final oral examination).

It will be necessary to demonstrate that you have developed skills of expression and critical reading of the texts based on the following table:

30-30L excellent test, which demonstrates excellent acquisition of the expected knowledge, as well as excellent language performance skills in French (level B2)

27-29 test above the average, with minimal errors or compensated by more than sufficient demonstration of the knowledge and skills acquired

24-26 valid test, but with some obvious errors that denote a partial acquisition of the required knowledge and skills

21-23 test sufficient but with conspicuous limits in the knowledge and skills to be acquired

18-20 test that meets only the minimum criteria of knowledge and skills to be acquired

Less than 18 insufficient, the exam must be repeated

Teaching tools

PC with Video Projector and Internet.

Office hours

See the website of Rachele Raus