Monash University

Leader(s): Dr Natalie Doyle

Offered

Clayton First semester 2009 (Day)

Synopsis

French Studies 5 is aimed at students who have passed VCE French or have equivalent language competence. Unit consists of 3 parts: contemporary culture, phonology/grammar, oral and written expression. Students will develop their comprehension and analysis of communication in French and will be exposed to a variety of spoken discourses. They will practice and develop their oral skills through a variety of activities including role-play, and their writing skills through productions modelled on the study of a variety of written documents. They will develop factual knowledge of issues informing French identity in contemporary times. They will make analytical and critical readings of texts, both literary and expository, and develop their own capacity to express ideas in both oral and written French.

Objectives

The subject aims at:

1. Consolidating and developing the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
2. Consolidating and developing correct use of French at the level of sentence structure and an explicit grammatical competence in French.
3. Promoting a capacity for autonomous language learning.
4. Promoting the appropriate use of spoken and written discourses in French. 5. Consolidating and developing knowledge about contemporary French society and an understanding of the historical, political, social and cultural issues which underpin and contest definitions of contemporary French identity.

Upon completion of this subject, students should be able to meet the following objectives: Communicative competence and linguistic knowledge

1. Express themselves, both orally and in writing, correctly, fluently and appropriately, on a wide range of topics and in the different contexts studied in the oral and written expression component of the unit which are as follows: situations in which instructions are given or requested, situations in which events are retold and chronological information provided, or refused, situations in which discourse is reported, described or commented upon, situations in which proposals are made and accepted or rejected, situations in which discourse has to be structured logically and hypotheses formulated, situations in which logical arguments are conveyed, accepted or refuted, situations in which information is processed, ideas presented or reported orally, situations in which ideas are presented or reported in writing.
2. Understand and demonstrate understanding of both fiction and non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers, audio and video documents.
3. Demonstrate explicit competence in French grammar in the areas reviewed in the Grammar component of the unit.
4. Demonstrate competence in the use of language reference material.
5. Demonstrate autonomous learning strategies. Socio-cultural awareness - 6. Develop an informed understanding of aspects of French daily life as well as some cultural issues (historical, social, political and cultural) in contemporary French identity, as encountered through the use of authentic documents in oral and written expression and discussed explicitly in the contemporary culture component.

Assessment

Assignments (Written and Oral): 15%
Class tests (written): 30%
Specialized culture component: 25%
Exam: 30%

Contact hours

5 hours ( 2 lectures and 3 tutorials)

Prerequisites

FRN2040

Prohibitions

FRN1050/FRN2050