31299 - French Linguistics and Language 3

Learning outcomes

Students are expected to possess a deepknowledge of the metalanguage, as well as mechanisms, of the descriptive-analytical model of the French language. Moreover, they should be competent in all four communicative skills at the C-1 level of the Common European Framework.

Course contents

Courses of French Language and Linguistics during the Laurea Triennale deal with all the main characteristics of French language in all its dimensions (phonetics, morphology, lexicology , syntax) and aim at giving students the necessary methodological tools to practise it correctly.

Practical language classes (F. Coletti; D. Caddoux; M. Vien)

[throughout the academic year]

 The practical language classes which go on all year aim at perfecting the competence acquired during the 1st and 2nd year and giving students new skills through a program organized as below.

• 2 UNITS (2 + 2 hours per week) to prepare the written test [a 5 hour-test divided into two sections].

 

• 1 UNIT (2 hours per week) to prepare the oral test.

Preparation for the written test

Écriture composée-1st part - F. Coletti

The student will be expected to analyse a group of documents (texts, pictures, etc.) which illustrate a precise theme. The student is asked to write, on the basis of the analysis of texts and documents provided during the examination, an original paper on the presentation of a topic or the development of a reasoned answer to a specific question. This exercise allows students to stimulate and cultivate their analytical, synthetic and writing skills and also to improve their argumentative ability.

 

THÈME- 2nd part- D. Caddoux :

General educational objectives : through the translation into French of literary texts by contemporary Italian literature (XX-XXI century.), using translation as a means to a contrastive analysis, the student will grasp and appreciate the specificity of the two languages; He will also enhance the morphosyntactic knowledge of French (acquired during the 1st and 2nd year of degree) so that he  is able to identify and avoid the difficulties of contrastive grammar arising from the original structures of the two languages.

  

Preparation for the oral test - M. Vien

What future for our planet ? On some environmental issues.

This course addresses a problem that is becoming increasingly important in today’s media : the protection of the environment. Considering several issues related to this worrying reality (responsible consumption, economic degrowth, citizen initiatives, sustainable agriculture and its challenges, veganism, marine pollution, renewable energies, etc.), we will analyse a set of speech designed to inform, convince, denounce, mobilize. We will be interested both in the alarmist injunctions of those who hammer the urgency of responding to the climate crisis, and in the interventions of their detractors, qualified as "climate-skeptics". Thus, while allowing to reflect on the impact of human activity on nature, and the solutions put forward to preserve it, this course also studies the different rhetorical strategies put in place to defend a critical point of view.

At the end of the year, the students will have reached the level C-1 in French. They will be able to develop critical thinking skills and summarize them synthetically through thoughtful, personal, clear, fluid, organized and interactive argumentative discourse.

OFFICIAL COURSE [Nannoni]

Lectures will be offered only during the 1st semester.

This course aim at making students reflect on the morphosyntactic dimension of the French language, especially in relation to the contact points and the differences between the French and Italian. In particular, this course is designed to enable students to improve their knowledge of the French language, but at the same time to reflect on the phenomenon of syntactic equivalence or interference with respect to the Italian language.

To achieve these objectives, the course will start with an initial presentation of theoretical issues related to the analysis of French complex sentence structure, in a contrastive and translation perspective; a second part will deal with practical exercises (version, translation from French into Italian) on texts chosen among newspaper articles. Each text will be analyzed (to highlight narrative, descriptive and argumentative components) and translated. The student will be asked to reflect on how to transpose correctly the content and purpose of the French text in his native language, respecting the formal and stylistic aspects of the two languages and the pragmatic meanings and values of the source text.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Practical classes

[Coletti]

Details of required texts will be made available at the beginning of the course.

[Caddoux]

Thème 3e année, dispensa (copisteria)

 

[Vien]

Details about the material will be made available at the beginning of the course.

 

Official Course:

NANNONI Catia, Participe présent et gérondif dans la presse française contemporaine, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Peter Lang, 2019. [chap. 2 and 3]

NANNONI Catia, "Rôles et fonctions du participe présent dans la presse ou comment la traduction vient en aide à la didactique du Fle", «RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI TECNICA DELLA TRADUZIONE», 16, 2014. [scaricabile al link https://www.openstarts.units.it/bitstream/10077/11207/1/Nannoni.pdf]
 
A. HERSCHBERG PIERROT, Stylistique de la prose, Paris, Belin, 1993.[only ch. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11]


J. PODEUR, La pratica della traduzione, Napoli, Liguori, 1993(1).

Ch. BARONE, Vicerversa: la grammatica francese e il tradurre. Intorno al verbo /, vol. II, Firenze, Le lettere, 2005. [only to be consulted]

Other materials and suggestions will be indicated during the course.

Teaching methods

For Practical language classes (written part)) see the description available on the teachers' personal web page.

Oral:

This course’s format is based on short lectures, followed by group discussions, argumentative debates and workshops around the material under study. The file provided to students will consist of texts of various kinds (newspaper articles, excerpts of essays, interviews) and audio-visual documents projected in class.

Official course:

After the methodological lessons of the first part, students will be offered with practical exercises of version for individual work at home and discussion in class, which will outline more and more clearly the main issues that students may meet and the most appropriate strategies to adopt for each case.

Information on the use of  Italian and French monolingual dictionaries and other lexicographical and documentary resources will strengthen the skills that the student will have to learn to use these tools in a translation perspective.

 

Assessment methods

IMPORTANT:  Before taking any part of the exam of French Language and Linguistics 3 the student must have passed and registered the exams of French Language and Linguistics 1 and 2.

 

The exam of "Epreuve unique" is divided into two parts:

1st part   (écriture composée)

The essay will follow the French methodology: a structured introduction (opening; presentation of the documents; «problématique»; presentation of the structure), the core of the essay dialectically constructed in three parts, a conclusion. The student’s knwoledge of the structure and the organisation of the analysis as well as his mastering of French language will be significant parts of the evaluation.

French monolingual dictionary only allowed.

 

2nd part (Thème)

The final written exam will consist of a translation of a text of about 250 words (time: 2 hours). The evaluation in 30/30 will consider errors in: morpho-syntax/phraseology ( - 0.5 points); vocabulary (- 0.25 point) and the respect of the literary genre of the text-tone, style and register of language.

Monolingual dictionaries only allowed.

 IMPORTANT : The written test as a whole (EPREUVE UNIQUE) must at least have 18/30 to allow access to the oral assessement part of the exam.

  

3) oral test

The final evaluation will take the form of an oral presentation lasting 15 minutes, covering the material seen in class. It will be necessary to refer to at least two elements addressed in the course and to synthesize them, and to take a personal position on the question. The student will then respond spontaneously and briefly (2 to 5 minutes) to a question asked by the teacher after the oral presentation. He or she may use a memory card (to be validated before starting the oral presentation).

Evaluation criteria: Proficiency in Language; Coherence of ideas and structure; Mastery of the subject and respect of the instructions.

4) Official course - (Catia Nannoni)

The final exam will consist of a written test with a version and a set of questions about linguistic and methodological awareness. There will be 2 dates for each of the three sessions of May/June - September - January/February.

 

I. Evaluation will consider the following parameters (Version) :

1.     Understanding of the original text in French in its main aspects: pragmatic (function), semantic (content), but also syntactic (linguistic structures, elements of cohesion and coherence between the parties) and lexical (taking into account the tools available to the student during the test )

2.     Writing a text in Italian that respects:

a.          understanding of the elements referred to in paragraph 1

b.       the appropriate formulation (Register and style) and the correctness (language) of the elements referred to in paragraph 1

II.  Evaluation will consider the following parameters (questionnaire) :

1.     Ability to explain their own choices, referring to the nature of the text and to translation strategies.

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

Monolingual dictionaries only allowed.

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 (épreuve unique, oral, official course) is valid for 4 exam sessions (included the first one).

Teaching tools

Printed material, PPT, on line resources.

Office hours

See the website of Catia Nannoni