Site web: http://www.longwood.edu/staff/edwardswa/courses.htm

Required Text
*  Siskin, H. Jay et al..  Tâches d'encre.  Second edition.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
*  Students should keep a loose-leaf portfolio for in-class writing assignments, updates, and personal lexicon.
*  Photocopies containing supplemental readings and exercises will also be distributed. 
*  All students at this level should also own a substantial, hardback French-English dictionary, and may consider purchasing the Bescherelle 1: La Conjugaison Pour Tous. 

Course Description
A course designed to allow students to perfect their facility in writing in French.  Students will also review their knowledge of French grammar with a stress on the proper use of certain grammatical and syntactic constructions and idiomatic expressions.  Student assignments will include translations into French as well as original essays involving character description, narration, polemical writing, summarization, and literary analysis.  This is a course conducted entirely in French.  For a list of useful classroom expressions, click here.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students will demonstrate an ability to:

§         Construct sophisticated compositions that use properly the basic and advanced elements of French grammar.

§         Recognize and deal with certain uniquely French grammatical and syntactic constructions and idiomatic expressions.

§         Express original thoughts in a French that is clear and correct to a degree appropriate to their level of language learning.

 Course Requirements
1. Attendance, preparation, and participation. Attendance and participation are mandatory and will account for 15% of the student’s final grade.  For purposes of notation, “participation” is defined as physical attendance, obvious preparation, active contribution to in-class discussions, and willingness to speak French.  Students who speak English will be penalized.  As stated in the student handbook, “Students are expected to attend all classes.  Failure to attend class regularly impairs academic performance.  [Moreover,] absences are disruptive to the educational process for others.  This is especially true when absences cause interruption for clarification of material previously covered, failure to assume assigned responsibilities for class presentations, or failure to adjust to changes in assigned material or due dates.”  If the student misses 10% of the scheduled class meetings for unexcused absences, the instructor reserves the right to lower that student’s course grade by no more than one letter grade.  The instructor also reserves the right to assign a course grade of “F” when a student has missed a total (excused and unexcused) of 25% of the scheduled class meetings.  Absences will be excused only for the following reasons: illness, participation in a university-sponsored activity, religious holiday, or recognizable emergency.  Absences will not be excused for court dates, transportation scheduling, or doctor’s appointments.  

2.  Textbook pages.  It is critical that students prepare each reading and activity thoroughly for class discussion.  Assigned pages should be completed before coming to class.

3.  Translations.  During each chapter, students will closely review key vocabulary and expressions that typically cause trouble for Anglophones.  Translation quizzes (from English to French) will test the student's understanding of these difficult expressions.  Dictionaries will not be permitted during translation quizzes.

4.  Vocabulary quizzes.  Once per unit, students will be tested on new vocabulary and expressions that arise throughout the course.

5.  Essays.  Students will write 5 short papers, each one devoted to a particular writing style.  Essays will be written in stages both in and out of class.  Due dates for the final, revised projects are indicated on the syllabus.   Essays will be graded for both style and grammar.  Late papers will be penalized.

6.  Final exam and portfolio.  Students will submit a final composition portfolio consisting of drafts and writings from the semester. The portfolio will also include a personal lexicon and in-class writing assignments. This collection, along with a final writing assignment, will comprise 50% of the final exam grade.  The other 50% will be based on translation and vocabulary exercises.

7.  Required Film. Longwood hosts a French Film Festival every February.  In this class, we will screen the film Entre les murs, which was nominated for an Oscar.  This film is scheduled for February 3 at 7pm, and is required as the basis of the second essay.  The DVD is on reserve at the library.  Students are encouraged to attend all the festival films.  For more information on the festival, follow this link: Film Festival.

8.  Honor code.  Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the Longwood University Honor Code.  All work submitted for the class must be pledged.  Students who violate the Honor Code will not be able to pass the course.

Grading.  The student’s course grade will be determined by the following percentages:

Programme du cours