Teaching and learning objectives
General
The definition of the teaching and learning objectives of the department recognises:
* the plurality of these objectives, given varying student profiles (the department provides for students with different learning experience in the discipline area, ranging from secondary schooling supplemented by study in France to no learning experience at all; thus there are three first-year entry levels (beginners, intermediate, post-VCE) and a flexible streaming pattern; fast-tracking and remedial programs are offered where appropriate);
* varying course configurations (the department's offerings include first-year sequences, the minor, the major and honours).
Objectives vary according to the duration of study in the discipline, but any course (eg beginner/first year only) is both discrete, with its own set of objectives, and a component of a longer course (ie a minor, a major and honours) with correspondingly more extensive objectives. None of the department's discrete offerings (with the exception of the first-year first-semester subjects) have as their only justification their belonging to a longer course (ie their justification is not solely defined in terms of preparation for later-year study).
The above has important implications for language-teaching methodology and the definition and coordination of the units of increasing complexity offered by the department.
Language acquisition and language studies
In general, language teaching objectives include:
* acquisition of communicative competence involving oral/aural and reading/writing skills commensurate with course type and length;
* acquisition, through practical application and formal instruction, of an awareness of the linguistic system underlying pronunciation and sentence structure (this involves the acquisition of an understanding of the phonetic system and phonetic transcription as well as a mastery of the metalanguage of grammatical description and discourse analysis (as commensurate with course type and level) - this will promote autonomous language learning and research skills);
* acquisition, at more advanced levels, of skills necessary to translate and interpret into and from English and French;
* acquisition, at more advanced levels, and in conjunction with general language courses, of French-specific professional communication skills and an understanding of problems of intercultural communication.
Graduating language majors are expected to be able to speak the language with sufficient accuracy to participate effectively in most conversations on practical, social and abstract topics. They should be able to understand the main ideas of all speech in a standard dialect and follow essentials of extended spoken and written discourse which is propositionally and linguistically complex. They should, moreover, be aware of and sensitive to social and cultural references. In their own writing, they should be capable of expressing themselves effectively in essays and research papers in areas of interest to them.
Graduated courses in linguistics provide an understanding of the structure of the French language and varieties of French.
Cultural competence
Integral to language acquisition, making it significant in terms of the general aims of the university, is the acquisition of `cultural competence'. This is understood as the development of skills in the description and analysis of the social construction of reality. Students will learn to appreciate the construction of the individual and collective self (ie concerning both personal and national identity) in a peculiarly French light.
The modes of social construction studied are various: literary, cinematographic, historical, journalistic, graphic. They range from high art to popular culture and they are canonical and marginal. Students' varying interests are fully recognised.
Students will develop the ability to recognise the specificity of French cultural constructs, especially in contrast with competing and various Anglo-Saxon constructs of `Frenchness'.
At a minimal level, students should be able to analyse the basic processes through which a variety of texts using French produce meaning. At advanced levels, students should be able to understand and apply competing theoretical models of analysis of social constructs, in particular those developed by French theorists. Assimilation of mere descriptions of social or cultural constructs is not considered a form of knowledge: knowledge is founded on skills of critical analysis transferable from one construct to another. All students are encouraged to develop these skills, thus enabling them to carry out research and other academic work independently.
Post-VCE stream
A minor sequence normally comprises the language-based subjects FRN1070, FRN1080, FRN2090, FRN2100 and eight further points chosen from second-year subjects. A major sequence normally comprises a minor sequence plus the language subjects FRN3110 and FRN3120, together with eight points of third-year work and eight points chosen from either second or third-year subjects.
Beginners stream
Students with little or no knowledge of French should enrol for FRN1010. A minor sequence normally comprises FRN1010, FRN1020, FRN2030 and FRN2040. A major sequence normally comprises a minor sequence plus FRN3090 and FRN3100 together with eight points of third-year level work and eight further points at second or third-year level. Students in this stream who reach a high standard will be invited to join the intermediate or post-VCE stream to complete a major sequence.
Intermediate stream
Students with a minimum of three years French at secondary school, but who have not passed the VCE in French, normally enrol for FRN1050. A minor sequence normally comprises FRN1050, FRN1060, FRN2070, and FRN2080. A major sequence normally comprises FRN1050, FRN1060, FRN2070, FRN2080, FRN3090 and FRN3100 together with eight points of third-year level work and eight further points at second or third-year level. Students in this stream who reach a high standard will be invited to join the post-VCE stream and to complete the post-VCE major sequence.
Honours
Coordinator: B Nelson
Students are admitted to honours at fourth-year level if they have achieved credit grades to the value of twenty-four points at second and third-year levels, of which sixteen points must be at third-year level.
Combined honours may be taken in French and another discipline provided that all honours requirements have been met in both disciplines and subject to the approval of the heads of both departments/centres.
Students who wish to apply for mid-year entry should consult the head of department.
All intending honours students are strongly advised to take more than the minimum number of subjects required for admission to honours. It is in their own interest to do so, since this will increase their linguistic proficiency and broaden their knowledge of French culture.
Graduate studies
For postgraduate studies offered by the French section, please refer to the Art graduate handbook for 1995.
First-year level
* FRN1010 Introductory French IA
* FRN1020 Introductory French IB
* FRN1050 Intermediate French IA
* FRN1060 Intermediate French IB
* FRN1070 French IA
* FRN1080 French IB
Second-year level
All intending honours students are strongly advised to take more than the minimum number of subjects required for admission to honours. All students are encouraged to choose additional subjects which relate their studies in French to the wider context of European culture and society. They should read carefully the entries for European studies and comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory.
* FRN2030 French studies IA
* FRN2040 French studies IB
* FRN2070 French studies IIA
* FRN2080 French studies IIB
* FRN2090 French language IIA
* FRN2100 French language IIB
* FRN2200 Studying the everyday: comics
* FRN2220 Culture and identity in contemporary France
* FRN2300 French language variation
* FRN2470 Introduction to French narrative fiction
* FRN2950 French for business and trade
* FRN2970 Individual option
Third-year level
All intending honours students are strongly advised to take more than the minimum number of subjects required for admission to honours. All students are encouraged to choose additional subjects which relate their studies in French to the wider context of European culture and society. They should read carefully the entries for European studies and comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory.
* FRN3090 French studies IIIA
* FRN3100 French studies IIIB
* FRN3110 French language IIIA
* FRN3120 French language IIIB
* FRN3150 Critical practice
* FRN3200 Studying the everyday: comics
* FRN3220 Culture and identity in contemporary France
* FRN3250 French film: the new wave and after
* FRN3300 French language variation
* FRN3310 French linguistics: topics in syntax and semantics
* FRN3370 Introduction to French phonology
* FRN3470 Introduction to French narrative fiction
* FRN3480 Poetry and poetics in modern France
* FRN3610 Seventeenth century French theatre
* FRN3710 The French Enlightenment
* FRN3850 Reading the feminine: sexuality and power in nineteenth-century France
* FRN3890 The making of modern Paris, 1760-1860
* FRN3910 The twentieth century: shaping a new age
* FRN3950 French for business and trade
* FRN3980 Individual option
* FRN3990 Language study abroad program
Fourth-year level
The fourth-year honours course consists of:
1. FRN4200 Honours dissertation (16 points)
2. FRN4990 Language study abroad program (16 points)
3. two eight-points subjects, which may include FRN4140 (French language IV)
or
1. FRN4200 Dissertation (16 points)
2. FRN4140 French language IV (16 points)
3. Two eight-point subjects
Fourth-year level subjects
* FRN4140 French language IV
* FRN4150 Critical practice
* FRN4160 Culture and difference: French writing in North Africa and Canada
* FRN4200 Honours dissertation
* FRN4310 French linguistics: topics in syntax and semantics
* FRN4370 Introduction to French phonology
* FRN4480 Poetry and poetics in modern France
* FRN4610 Seventeenth century French theatre
* FRN4710 The French Enlightenment
* FRN4850 Reading the feminine: sexuality and power in nineteenth-century France
* FRN4890 The making of modern Paris, 1760-1860
* FRN4910 The twentieth century: shaping a new age
* FRN4960 Special reading course I
* FRN4970 Special reading course II
* FRN4990 Language study abroad program