B1863 - FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LABORATORY I

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

At the end of the course students should reach a minimum level of A2 (Council of Europe framework) for spoken French, while the ideal level is B1, and a minimum level of B1 for reading comprehension – ideal level B2. In particular: students should be able to follow the essential themes of an oral text, for example a lesson or a TV-news broadcast, and make a simple oral report on it. Moreover, they should be capable of understand written texts of average difficulty regarding the disciplines of the degree course.

Contenuti

The course is organized in lectures and laboratories, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (20 hours) 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 20-hour course through exercises, focusing in particular on French grammar and morphosyntax.

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

A total of 60 classroom hours (lectures+seminars/language lab) are scheduled for each student. Students will NOT be divided into groups. 

The 20-hour course (lectures) is organized into two modules:

a) one module will be devoted to enhancing students’ reading, listening, and analyzing skills by exposing them to a wide range of authentic oral and written text types intended for the general public on topics relevant to the degree course and specific to the cultures of the French-speaking context. Texts will focus in particular on French civilization and political institutions in order to develop a basic socio-political vocabulary in French and to provide an overview of French politics and socio-cultural life. Topics covered will include the analysis of the argumentative structure, polyphony, modals, linkers and conjunctions, evaluative lexis, specialized lexicon, synonymy, polysemy and morphology.

b) The second module will be devoted to the oral analysis and discussion of the topics covered in the texts analyzed.

The language laboratory is aimed at improving fluency and accuracy in writing and speaking skills and is dedicated to French grammar. Topics covered will include:

• les articles définis, indéfinis, partitifs, contractés : utilisation et omission (rappel)
• le féminin et le pluriel des noms et des adjectifs (rappel)
• les présentatifs : il y a, c’est, il est, voici/voilà (rappel)
• les adjectifs possessifs (rappel)
• les adjectifs démonstratifs (rappel)
• les pronoms possessifs
• les pronoms démonstratifs
• les adverbes en -ment
• les prépositions de temps (il y a, pendant, depuis…)
• les prépositions de lieu (situation, provenance, direction)
• le présent de l’indicatif (rappel)
• les gallicismes : passé récent, présent continu, futur proche
• le passé composé
• l’imparfait
• le plus-que-parfait
• l’alternance imparfait / passé composé / plus-que-parfait
• les formes impersonnelles (il faut, il / c’ est + adj + de + inf.)
• le futur simple
• l’expression de l’hypothèse sur le futur
• le conditionnel de politesse
• les pronoms relatifs simples
• la forme interrogative complète
• la forme négative complète
• les adjectifs indéfinis (chaque, quelques, aucun, tout, plusieurs, certains)
• les pronoms compléments directs COD, indirects COI, toniques, les pronoms « en » et « y »
• les mots de liaison : conjonctions de coordination
• les connecteurs logiques simples: chronologie du discours

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.

Testi/Bibliografia

The texts to be analyzed during classes will be available weekly on the Virtuale e-learning platform in electronic format.

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, 2024 (or previous editions).

Reading list:

1. Guillaume Bernard, Bernard de Gunten, Arlette Martin, Mauricette Niogret, Les Institutions de la France, Paris, Nathan, coll. « Repères pratiques », éd. 2017.

2. Jean-Louis Auduc, Le système éducatif français, Paris, Nathan, éd. 2018.

3. Jean-François Sirinelli, La Vè République, Paris, PUF, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 2013.

4. Ross Steele, Civilisation progressive du français - Niveau intermédiaire (A2/B1), Paris, Clé international, 2017.

5. Maxime Lefebvre, La politique étrangère de la France, Paris, PUF, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 2019.

Metodi didattici

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.

Lectures are aimed at developing skills in order to understand and interpret written and oral texts of average difficulty. The course will be taught in French.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Students attending classes:

Overall assessment will be based on two written mid-term tests and a final oral exam. The first mid-term test consists in a grammar test and represents 30% of the final written grade. The second mid-term (70% of the final written grade) include a reading comprehension with multiple choice and open-ended questions, and a grammar test.

The oral exam will consist of a discussion of selected chapters from ONE of the books in the reading list included in the bibliography section. In addition to the reading of selected chapters, each student will choose one recent article from the online press dealing with a topic related to the chosen essay and the chapters selected. The first part of the oral exam will focus on the essay and will assess the knowledge acquired through the reading. In the second part, the student will briefly present the chosen article (source, topics covered, interest and relevance of the articles in the current context, journalist’s opinion, tone of the articles – polemic, neutral, etc.) – and express their personal opinion on the article and related topic(s).

The final grade for the course is calculated as the average of the marks obtained in the mid-term tests and in the oral exam. The final mark of the written tests will be averaged out (at 50%) against the mark of the oral exam.

Students not attending classes:

Written test – a reading comprehension with multiple choice and open-ended questions, and a grammar test.

Oral test – an oral examination on selected chapters of ONE of the books listed in the recommended reading section in the bibliography. All books are available at the Ruffilli library. In addition to the reading of selected chapters, each student will choose one article from the online press dealing with a topic related to the chosen essay and the chapters selected. The first part of the oral exam will focus on the essay and will assess the knowledge acquired through the reading. In the second part, the student will briefly present the chosen article (sources, topics covered, interest and relevance of the articles in the current context, journalist’s opinion, tone of the articles – polemic, neutral, etc.) – and express their personal opinion on the article and related topic(s).

1. Guillaume Bernard, Bernard de Gunten, Arlette Martin, Mauricette Niogret, Les Institutions de la France, Paris, Nathan, coll. « Repères pratiques », éd. 2017.

Selection of chapters:

- chapters « Etat » ; « Vie politique » ; « Administration ».

OR

- chapters « Collectivité locales » ; « Justice » ; « International ».

2. Jean-Louis Auduc, Le système éducatif français, Paris, Nathan, 2018.

Selection of chapters:

- chapters « Généralités » ; « Le cursus scolaire »

OR

- chapters « Les acteurs » ; « Les établissements » ; « Les organismes » ; « Les partenaires ».

3. Jean-François Sirinelli, La Vè République, Paris, PUF, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 2013. (ebook available)

Whole book.

4. Ross Steele, Civilisation progressive du français - Niveau intermédiaire (A2/B1), Paris, Clé international, 2017.

Selection of chapters:

- chapters « Géographie » ; « Histoire » ; « Politique »

OR

- chapters « Francophonie » ; « Economie » ; « Société » ; « Culture » ; « Vie Quotidienne ».

5. Maxime Lefebvre, La politique étrangère de la France, Paris, PUF, coll. « Que sais-je ? », 2019. (ebook available)

Whole book.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

PC and Internet; Virtuale e-learning platform; online resources.

Texts to be analyzed and other teaching materials will be made available in advance on Virtuale and it will be the students’ responsibility to bring them to class in the format they are more comfortable with.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Valeria Illuminati