Undergraduate - UnitAZA1062 - French and francophone studies 2

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	South Africa School of Social Sciences
Offered	South Africa Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Joseph Minga

Synopsis

This unit builds on the basic language skills (speaking/listening and reading/writing) acquired in AZA and provides a more advanced introduction to the study of French and Francophone cultures and special attention given to the study of French and how it acquired its modern identity. It is designed for students who have some knowledge of French but in a limited capacity or exempted from French Introductory I requirements. Students develop language learning strategies through regularly assessed homework and class tests designed to focus on the continuous nature of language learning and emphasise the need for frequent practice. In the Specialized Culture component of this unit, students explore aspects of Francophone African cultures and develop competencies appropriate to their year level in the history of Francophone Africa through literature, film and other cultural texts. This component will also help students understand the impact of French colonisation and the complex histories of the post-colonial experience.

Outcomes

Upon completion of this unit students should have met the following objectives in the following areas:

Demonstrate the capacity to use basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills needed to communicate in a variety of situations such as discussing, writing about and understanding others, discussing self and family and travel and leisure activities.
Communicate effectively in French, with a minimum of misunderstandings.
Demonstrate the capacity to read in detail straightforward, short texts in French e.g. informal correspondence, short newspaper articles or extracts from longer texts.
Demonstrate a knowledge of the key structures and the sounds of the French language, e.g. past, present and future tenses, pronouns, articles, adjectives, adverbs and so on.
Demonstrate a range of vocabulary appropriate to the situations described above.
Develop an awareness of different language learning strategies and to be able to anticipate a text (oral/written) and access its content.
Develop the strategic skills required to communicate effectively in a range of situations as described above.

Socio-cultural awareness:

Demonstrate a critical knowledge, an understanding and appreciation of African Francophone societies, their cultures and values. In other words, gaining insights into the influence of France in Africa and the extent to which this relationship succeeded or failed to shape modern-day Africa.
Demonstrate a critical understanding of Francophone African cultural heritage.
Demonstrate a sophisticated competence appropriate to their unit level in the theory, practices and discourses involved in analysing selected texts as the students examine the particular qualities of Francophone African literature and culture.
Demonstrate their research skills.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 75%
Exam: 25%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Joseph Minga

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

French studies
Literary and cultural studies

Prerequisites

AZA1061 or equivalent

Prohibitions

ATS1062
Students who have completed Year 11 French or its equivalent may not take this unit.