University of Delaware

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

French 105 - Student Syllabus

Fall 2005

Instructor MWF:	Instructor TR:
Office: 34 W. Delaware Avenue	Office:
E-mail:	E-mail:
Hours:	Hours:
Phone: 831 3580	Phone:

Required Material:

Thompson, C.P. & Phillips, E.M. (2004). Mais Oui! (3^nd edition).

Boston : Houghton Mifflin.

Thompson, C.P. & Phillips, E.M. (2004). Mais Oui!

Workbook/Laboratory Manual/Video Manual (3^nd edition).

Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Thompson, C.P. & Phillips, E.M. (2004). Mais Oui! Audio CD or Cassette (3^nd edition).

Boston : Houghton Mifflin.

Other Resources:

* Mais Oui! Web Site - http://www.college.hmco.com/languages/french/thompson/maisoui/3e/students/index.html

(ACE Practice Activities, Web Search Activities, French Web Resources - Links, Maps, English Grammar for Students of French)

* Another website to help you with conjugations: http://www.leconjugueur.com/

Goals: Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

-perceive and distinguish French sounds; comprehend simple ideas related to everyday concrete topics communicated at a normal rate of speech.

-understand simple, non-technical French; learn the meaning of new words by inferring from context.

-pronounce the sounds of French with sufficient accuracy to be understood (with some difficulty) by a native speaker used to dealing with non-native speakers.

-communicate in survival situations by mainly using memorized language with words, phrases and some sentences and by trying to negotiate for meaning with other speakers of French.

-create in class (without a dictionary) and outside of class, short texts of sufficient clarity to be understood by a sympathetic native speaker.

-comprehend short but authentic texts in French by learning to make hypotheses about the content, and by using different strategies for understanding texts.

-demonstrate basic knowledge of and appreciation for everyday French and Francophone culture and culturally conditioned behavioral patterns.

Course Grade:

Mid-term exam	15%
Final Exam	20%
Quizzes	15%
Oral exam	10%
Writing activities (3)	15%
Homework	10%
In-class performance (discussions, Jeu de rôle, scenarios)	15%

A+= 93-100	B+= 87-89	C+77-79	D+= 67-69
A- = 90-92	B = 83-86	C= 73-76	D = 63-66
	B- = 80-82	C- = 70-72	D- = 60-62
			F = 0-59

Course Policies:

1. French 105 is an approximately 70-hour course in elementary French. Successful completion of the course presupposes 70 class hours of direct contact with the French language, in much the same way that a laboratory course or any skill-licensing course presupposes a predetermined number of contact or practical hours.

Nevertheless, students are allowed five absences for which it is not necessary to present a written excuse. If any of these five absences occurs on a day when oral and written exams, quizzes or any other graded activities take place, students must bring a letter from a physician or the Academic Dean of the appropriate college to document the reason for the absence.

The five absences are not five free absences; they are five excused absences that will not result in a lowering of a student’s grade and they are the FIRST five absences. Students are responsible for any and all information presented in class.

After five absences for any reason, a student’s final course grade will be lowered by 1% for each additional absence. This excludes absences after the fifth which are due to religious holidays, illness, accidents or other exceptional circumstances. Such absences should be reported promptly and will require written documentation as explained above. No such excuses will be accepted one calendar week (7 days) beyond the day on which the absence occurred.

2. 100-level language courses cannot be taken on a pass/fail basis if the courses are

being used to satisfy a requirement or as prerequisites of a course used to satisfy a requirement.

3. No make-up work is accepted for any kind of unexcused absence or late arrival to

class. Expect to be present and available to take your Final Exam until the last day of Finals Week.

4. Any late assignments will receive a lowered grade (10% for each day late).

5. In order to successfully complete this course, it is highly recommended that you spend a minimum of one hour studying for every 50-minute class period. Studying includes reviewing pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and culture.

6. You may ask only your instructor for help with written activities.

7. Graded written and oral activities may be unannounced or announced only one day in advance.

8. The syllabus schedule is to be used as a guide. Readings, activities, and quiz dates may vary slightly according to the needs of the class. You will be given sufficient notice regarding any changes.

Please Note:

Do not make travel plans during scheduled classes. This is not an excused absence and any work missed, including exams, will not be rescheduled.
If you have a problem or a question about the course, please see your instructors as soon as possible.
Make arrangements with another student in the class, exchanging e-mail/phone so that you have someone to call for information should you miss a class.
It is advisable to keep all returned papers (homework, compositions, exams etc.), in part for review purposes and also so that you can stay aware of what grades you are receiving.

Finally, some advice if you want to succeed in this class:

come to class regularly (and on time; late arrivals will be penalized)
do your homework every night, if you don't understand something, make sure you ask about it!
spend some time listening again and again to your student CD (A l’écoute )
do your Ace test before each quiz; they'll help you evaluate how much of the material you have mastered
participate in class; 10% of your grade is based on your active participation
if you have any concern, talk to your instructor about it
learning a new language (like any new skill) takes time, practice and patience
spend time looking up French websites; music, news .. it all helps towards your understanding of the target language and culture
unless told otherwise, please bring your textbook to class everyday

activate your udel mail as your instructors will often send you updates on the syllabus, homework and/or extra practice exercises

SCHEDULE

The following abbreviations will be used:

TX = Textbook WB = Workbook/Laboratory Manual/Video Manual

Aug 30-Sept 7

Chapitre préliminaire: Bonjour!
Greetings, introductions, basic courtesy, spelling and counting in French.

Quiz 1 Sept 7

Sept 8- Sept 22

Chapitre 1- Qui êtes-vous?
Introducing yourself, stating nationality and profession, describing personality traits, specifying people
and things.

Quiz 2 Sept 23

Sept 26- Oct 7

Chapitre 2- La famille
Expressing ownership, pointing out people and things, talking about leisure activities, discussing
age and appearance.

Quiz 3 Oct 6

Oct 7- Oct 19

Chapitre 3- La maison et la ville
Asking information questions, describing people and things, getting around town, telling where you are
going and why.

Mid-term Oct 19

Oct 20- Nov 3

Chapitre 4- L'école
Talking about courses schedules, talking about days and dates, saying what you can and want to do, discussing your classes.

Quiz 4 Nov 3

Nov 4- Nov 11

Film Nov 4 – room/time TBA

Discussion du film la Gloire de mon père. Révision des chapitres préliminaire, 1, 2, 3, 4

Nov 14-

Dec 1

Chapitre 5- A table!

Discussing food and drinks, describing eating and drinking preferences, comparing eating and drinking habits.

Quiz 5 Dec 1^st

Dec 2-7

Review and preparation for oral exam

Oral Exam Dec 6 and 7

IMPORTANT DATES

A French film will be shown on Friday, November 4 at 7 p.m. room TBA

Quizzes	Exams	Written activities
Quiz 1- Sept 7	Mid-term – October 19	October 7
Quiz 2 – Sept 23	Oral exam – December 6 and 7	November 4
Quiz 3 – Oct 6	Final exam – TBA (9-16 Dec)	December 2
Quiz 4 – Nov 3
Quiz 5 – Dec 1

There will be no class on September 5, October 28, November 25 and Dec 6 and 7.

FREN105 oral exam

Fall 2005

In order to assess your oral proficiency, your ability to communicate in French about the topics we have studied this semester will be tested on Dec 6 and Dec 7.

You will not have French class on those 2 days. You will sign up in class to take your exam with a partner of your choice at a specific time in a location announced by your instructor. To prepare, meet several times with your partner and speak in French about each topic. DO NOT memorize. The goal of practice is to gain confidence and ease when speaking. No notes may be used during the exam.

Your task will be to find out as much as you can about your partner by asking questions about the following areas of his/her life:

His/her family including physical descriptions, personalities, everyone's hobbies, activities, jobs, likes and dislikes etc..
His/her home (description of house or apt., what people do in the rooms of the house, favorite rooms and why, and the town in which the person lives including main important places in the town).
Life at the university; living arrangements, classes, activities, likes and dislikes.

So each person will be asking many questions and will be giving many answers. AVOID THE EXPRESSION: “ Et toi?”

Briefly, after your question/answer session with each other, your teachers will ask a few questions about the stories (and film) we have read (seen) in class. Here it is important for you to have reread the stories and reviewed the vocabulary of each story so as to answer clearly and with a variety of vocabulary.

Grading:

In determining your grade, the following will be considered:

· variety of vocabulary

· pronunciation

· accurate, correct language (grammatical accuracy)

· amount of detail you convey (content)

· ease of speech (fluency)