FRN 110.2 - French for Beginners- Irina Babich

December 12, 2013

American University in Central Asia

European Studies Department

 French for beginners

Syllabus FRN 110.2-03050

Fall 2013

Schedule: Monday at 12:45, Tuesday at 08:00, Thursday at 09:25	Teacher (instructor): Babich Irina Petrovna
Final Exam: December 16, Monday	E-mail: babich_i@auca.kg
	Consultations:

Course description

 A goal of this course is to acquire elementary skills of French language using. There is an opinion that learning a foreign language is gaining an “alter ego”. The methods you are going to work with is also called “Alter ego”.

During the course you will learn how to pronounce French sounds and read. You will learn approximately 1200-1500 new words. Also you will be introduced to the elementary grammar forms that are necessary in order to communicate. You will be able to write short essays, friendly and family messages, announcements about 100 words long. You will practice the situations of communication that could appear in real life.

We are going to study the following topics: my personality, my occupations, hobbies and dreams, my city and country, making a reservation, my friends, my pets, ordinary day, holidays, my family.

By the end of the semester you will reach an A1-A2 level of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In order to successfully complete this course you should participate during the class and regularly prepare all the required tasks. Good luck!

Academic Honesty

It is important to learn how to use information from outside sources without committing plagiarism. To plagiarize is to “steal and pass off as one’s own ideas, words, or writings of another” (Merriam – Webster). This dictionary definition is quite straightforward, but it is possible for students to plagiarize inadvertently if they do not carefully distinguish between their own ideas or paper topics and those of others. The AUCA faculty regards acts of plagiarism very seriously. Listed below are guidelines to help students avoid committing plagiarism.

• All work submitted must be the author’s. Authors should be able to trace all of their sources and defend the originality of the final argument presented in the work. When taking notes, students should record full bibliographical material pertaining to the source and should the page reference for all notes, not just quotations.
• All phrases, sentences, and excerpts that are not the author’s must be identified with quotation marks or identification.
• Even when you cite your source, if your paraphrase is too similar to the original, you are guilty of plagiarism.^[1]
• Footnotes, endnotes, and parenthetical documentation (called in-noting) must identify with source from which the phrases, sentences, and excerpts have been taken.
• All ideas and data that are not the author’s must also be attributed to a particular source, in a footnote, endnote, or in-note (see-above).
• Bibliographies must list all sources used in a paper. Students who have doubts as to whether they are providing adequate documentation of their sources should seek guidance from their instructor before preparing a final draft of the assignment.

 

Class participation

Work at the class is collective (in pairs, in group or mini group).

 You class work will consist of listening and speaking:

• Listen carefully and understand the records and other people’s speech
• Take notes
• Do oral exercises
• Ask and answer the questions
• Memorize new words and dialogues
• Prepare and play dialogues in pairs or mini groups
• Prepare and present monologues (retelling and oral presentations)

Your writing work at the class will consist of reading and composition:

• Read and understand written documents
• Do exercises after articles you’ve read
• Prepare written summaries and presentations in pairs or mini groups
• Write letters, friendly or family messages

Teacher will regularly grade your class work and it will be 30% of your final grade. Thereby you should be creative and should be able to work as a team.

Individual work

During the semester you will do exercises from workbook (Cahier d’activités) in order to practice writing. Some of them will be graded.  These task should be done in the Word document (fnt. 14, double spaced) or thin individual notebook. Tasks’ due will be stated by teacher.  Teacher will regularly grade your individual work and it will be 30% of your final grade.

 

 

List of exercises for evaluating:

 

Independent work

Each week you will have a complementary exercise in your e-course. This will be 20% of your final grade.

Consultations

Teacher is always available to answer all your questions concerning French classes. The schedule of consultations will be assigned together with the students.

Personal requirements

Understanding culture and society of the language you learn is very important condition. Teacher advices you to involve in francophone culture by listening to the radio and songs, by watching movies and TV shows in French language. French center and French Alliance work in Bishkek in order to develop French language and French and francophone culture. You can borrow newspapers, magazines, books, movies, CDs in French over there as well as visit cultural events (movie sessions, talking club…) or even participate in the theatre competition and song contest that are regularly organized by those establishments.

Discipline

It will be appreciated if:

• You be in class on time, otherwise you will not be accepted to the class so you do not disturb other students.
• You do not miss classes. More than 6 unexcused absents will lead you to the grade “F”.
• You catch up ASAP (as soon as possible) the programs you missed.
• You provide with the doctor's certificate if you got sick.
• You do not use your cell phones and laptops during the class
• You do not eat and chew gum
• You turn your homework in on time, otherwise you will have “F” for those assignments

Final exam

Your final exam will consist 3 parts and will be 20% of your final grade:

1. Listening: answering the questions after listening the record (2 listenings). Duration of the test is approximately 25 minutes. Grade is from 25.
2. Reading: answering the questions after reading a written document. Duration of the test is approximately 30 minutes. Grade is from 25.
3. Writing: writing of 2 short essays, letters or messages. Duration of the test is approximately 45 minutes. Grade is from 25.

Total grade: 75. To pass your exam you need to have at least 50% of the total grade.

Grading system

Evaluation of your final grade will combine all of the aspects of your work:

1. Class participation : 30%
2. Individual work : 30%
3. Independent work : 20%
4. Final exam : 20%

 

A    20-19	95-100%	C   13	65-69%
A-   18	90-94%	C-  12	60-64%
B+  17	85-89%	D+ 11	56-59%
B    16	80-84%	D   10	53-55%
B-   15	75-79%	D-   9	50-52%
C+  14	70-74%	F   <9	0-49%

 

Bibliography

1. « ALTER ego 1 » (Méthode de français), hachette 2006
2. « ALTER ego 1 » (Cahier d’activités), hachette 2006
3. « Reprise, a French grammar review work text », David M. Stillman et Ronni L. Gordon
4. Differents dictionnaires

Schedule

 

Teacher reserves the right to make changes in the syllabus during the semester.

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