Course Syllabus

FREN 1010 Elementary French I

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the French language and the cultures of French-speaking peoples. It is designed for students with no previous French study. During the course, students develop basic oral and listening communication skills by participating in activities that require them to use French in a variety of situations. As a result of developing these skills, they also acquire the ability to read and write French at a basic level. Students learn to communicate about topics that are most familiar to them (e.g., self, family, home, school, daily and recent activities), and they learn to appreciate ways of life different from their own. This course is interactive with a focus on learner participation and basic conversation practice in French.

Justification

This course is a pre-requisite for FREN 1020, which satisfies the foreign language requirement for the associate of arts degree at Snow College. It is also a prerequisite for intermediate and advanced study of the language. Students are introduced to the language, cultures, and values of French-speaking peoples, one of the largest linguistic groups in the world and a major contributor to Western thought and culture. Learning French, particularly in combination with studies in other fields, such as art, music, philosophy, history, business, medicine, political science, social science, and technology, can provide a valuable and employable life resource.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Students complete readings, discussions, and other assignments that require them to reflect on multiple cultures and analyze underlying similarities between cultures. They are required to explore the basis for cultural traditions, customs, music, and art, and describe similarities and differences across cultures. Students demonstrate fundamental knowledge of francophone cultures through in-class presentations that include research on specific cultural topics or practices and a description/demonstration of an aspect of one or several of these cultures (e.g., cooking, music, games, dance, art, architecture).
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Students are exposed to French language and francophone cultures through video, text, and audio sources on the Internet and through music. They demonstrate their ability to read and interpret French texts through structured online tasks, as well as written homework assignments and written quizzes and exams, and subsequently evaluate its meaning and cultural significance.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Students are introduced to perspectives different from their own and learn through readings, discussions, and their own research how people from other countries and regions of the world address problems in unique ways that meet their needs. These experiences allow students to draw on international perspectives when facing complex problems. Students are assessed during in-class discussions, on homework assignments, and on written quizzes and exams.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Students develop critical thinking skills as they learn French, where they must draw clues based on their own experience from the aural and visual input they receive. Students complete verbal and written assignments that demonstrate the ability to reason analytically and creatively evaluate the cultures, facts, and values of francophone peoples. Students are assessed during in-class discussions, on homework assignments, and on written quizzes and exams.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Integrated Explorations: Students must work with partners at least three times a week to complete brief conversation exercises in French during class. The final project of the class requires them to write effectively and convincingly (in English) to share cultural knowledge and to reflect on how their experience has impacted their knowledge of and appreciation for the French language and / or French / francophone cultures. Integrated Explorations: Students must work with partners at least three times a week to complete brief conversation exercises in French during class. The final project of the class requires them to write effectively and convincingly (in English) to share cultural knowledge and to reflect on how their experience has impacted their knowledge of and appreciation for the French language and / or French / francophone cultures.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Interpretive Listening: Students will understand some everyday words, phrases, and questions about themselves, their personal experiences, and their surroundings, when people speak slowly and clearly or there is repetition.
2. Interpretive Reading: Students will understand familiar words, phrases, and simple sentences.
3. Interpersonal Speaking: Students will interact with help using words, phrases, and memorized expressions. They will be able to answer simple questions on very familiar topics.
4. Presentational Speaking: Students will provide information about themselves and their immediate surroundings using words, phrases, and memorized expressions.
5. Presentational Writing: Students will provide some basic information on familiar topics in lists, phrases, and memorized expressions.
6. Interpersonal Satisfaction: Students will express satisfaction with their achieved level of communication skill.
7. Cultural Opportunities: Students will seek opportunities to learn about and experience new cultures outside of class.
8. Cultural Understanding: Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of cultural traditions, customs, and values in one or more French-speaking countries.

Course Content

Functions covered in French 1010 include but are not limited to basic interactions like greetings, asking and answering yes/no and basic information questions, describing people and things, expressing preferences, inviting, accepting, refusing, making purchases, giving directions, requesting information, telling time, recounting past events, interpreting basic or simplified texts (e.g., calendars, biographical information, menus, cultural information, poems/songs, maps, advertisements, film reviews, instructions, schedules, websites, surveys) Vocabulary included in the course covers greetings, school, home, family, possessions, numbers, days, months, public buildings, food, weather, sports.Grammar structures covered in the course include sentence formation, regular and irregular verb forms in present and passé composé, agreement (e.g., subject-verb, adjective-noun), determiners, comparison.Cultural topics cover France and other French-speaking countries and include practices and products (e.g., food, music, transportation, shopping, routines, sports, pastimes, telling time and scheduling) cultural perspectives, regional identities, and daily life.