Caution
Copyright © Monash University 1996
ISBN 1320-6222
Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
+ 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 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.
+ 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.
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.
(a) Minor sequence FRN1070, FRN1080, FRN2090, FRN2100 and eight further points at second-year level. Major sesquence A minor sequence plus FRN3110 and FRN3120, together with eight points of third-year level work and eight further points at second or third-year level.
(b) Minor sequence FRN1010, FRN1020, FRN2030, FRN2040. Major sequence A minor sequence plus FRN3090 and 3100, together with eight points of third-year level work and eight further points at second or third-year level.
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.
The due date for the submission of final coursework and the dissertation is the last day of the final semester of the honours program (Friday 7 June in first semester 1996 and Friday 1 November in second semester 1996). Any request for an extension of time of more than one week must be submitted to the Committee for Undergraduate Studies no later than two weeks before the end of the final semester.
+ FRN1020 Introductory French IB
+ FRN1070 French IA
+ FRN1080 French IB
+ 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
+ FRN2250 Introduction to French film
+ FRN2300 French language variation
+ FRN2470 Introduction to French narrative fiction
+ FRN2970 Individual option
+ 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 Introduction to French film
+ FRN3270 The Enlightenment and the origins of the French Revolution
+ FRN3280 The French Revolution and its legacy
+ FRN3300 French language variation
+ FRN3310 French linguistics: topics in syntax and semantics
+ FRN3370 Introduction to French phonology
+ FRN3470 Introduction to French narrative fiction
+ FRN3280 The French Revolution and its legacy
+ FRN3610 Seventeenth century French theatre
+ FRN3710 The French Enlightenment
+ FRN3850 Reading the feminine
+ FRN3890 The making of modern Paris, 1760-1860
+ FRN3910 Culture and difference: contemporary francophone fiction
+ FRN3950 French for business and trade
+ FRN3980 Individual option
(a) FRN4200 Honours dissertation (16 points), FRN4990 Language study abroad program (16 points) and two eight-points subjects, which may include FRN4140 (French language IV)
or
(b) FRN4200 Dissertation (16 points), FRN4140 French language IV (16 points) and two eight-point subjects
+ FRN4150 Critical practice
+ FRN4200 Honours dissertation
+ FRN4310 French linguistics: topics in syntax and semantics
+ FRN4370 Introduction to French phonology
+ FRN4610 Seventeenth-century French theatre
+ FRN4710 The French Enlightenment
+ FRN4850 Reading the feminine
+ FRN4890 The making of modern Paris, 1760-1860
+ FRN4910 Culture and difference: contemporary francophone fiction
+ FRN4960 Special reading course I
+ FRN4970 Special reading course II
+ FRN4990 Language study abroad program