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French Language, Written and Oral

Module description

You will consolidate and develop further your French reading, writing, speaking and listening skills by working with a variety of different types of written (literary, journalistic and administrative) and aural (video and audio) texts, and by participating in oral presentations and debates. Exercises, including translation tasks and reading comprehension questions, are designed to widen the range and accuracy of your vocabulary and to enhance your sociolinguistic skills (e.g. the use of appropriate register). The module will help you to deepen your knowledge of French society and culture, to develop your employability skills and to prepare for the year abroad.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of the module is to:

• extend your command of reading, speaking and writing French
• consolidate your understanding of French grammar, and facilitate your application of this to written and oral tasks
• enhance your ability to communicate in accurate French, in a clear and structured manner
• increase your understanding of the nuances of the French language
• expand your vocabulary in French

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Write and speak French with increased accuracy and fluency; understand written and spoken French with increased accuracy
• 2. Use French in a wide range of linguistic exercises
• 3. Apply a knowledge of a broad range of grammatical features of French, including some complex or advanced structures, to a range of linguistic exercises
• 4. Tackle complex translation passages out of the French language based on a wide range of topics in a variety of written styles
• 5. Engage in structured discussions and debates on issues raised in class
• 6. Argue a case in written French in answer to challenging questions on a broad range of abstract and contemporary issues
• 7. Use bilingual and monolingual dictionaries to research conventions of usage, find synonyms, and explore nuances of meaning

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Understand and employ in oral and written work a broad range of linguistic terminology, using this terminology to a certain extent to conceptualise your mistakes in the French language and to identify strategies for improving your linguistic accuracy
• 9. Engage critically with the French-language media

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. Communicate information and arguments of some complexity in a foreign language
• 11. Express and defend opinions on a wide range of current and abstract issues

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Weekly classes for Translation and Grammar, Oral and Listening, and Reading Comprehension and Essay work.
• In Translation, the texts relate to a range of topics, including aspects of modern and contemporary France.
• In the Essay/Reading and Oral/Listening components, work is focused on a small number of broad themes, relating to France and the contemporary world

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

• Roger Hawkins and Richard Towell, French Grammar and Usage
• Glanville Price, A Comprehensive French Grammar [Blackwell, latest edition]
• Major French and French-English dictionaries.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1356 
• As indicated by staff teaching Essay and Oral elements, including web sites of major newspapers and news periodicals.

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

• Major newspapers/periodicals, especially Le Monde, le Nouvel Observateur, Le Point

Key words search

French, language, written, oral, second, year