Required Outcomes for this Goal

(list below)

Relevant Course/Institutional Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

Specific Assessment Method for Outcome

1.  Demonstrate the ability to understand, interpret, and produce both oral and written communication in a foreign language (French).

Understand (and produce): class primarily taught in French.  Students engage in role plays, discussions, skits, dialogues, presentations.

Interpret: lab exercises: “Devoirs », (ch.1,  9/10).

Produce: Students speak French in class; discussion of reading p.132 in ch.4 (10/24); writing ex. p.149 D in ch.4 (10/31).

Oral communication: in two oral exams (10/8 – 10/12; 11/28-11/30) students must understand and produce French.

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 100 points.

Listening comprehension exercises in every exam.

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of 18 points.

Written skills: Composition writing (“Redaction” 9/17)).

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 100 points.

Reading in French: final exam: reading with comprehension questions .

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 12 points.

2.  Demonstrate an understanding of relationships among the products, perspectives, and practices of the (French and Francophone) culture studied.

Discussion of French meals p.62 in ch.2 (9/14), how they differ from typical American meals, and how they reflect certain ideologies regarding life style; discussion of French modes of transport p.132 in ch.4 (10/24).

Discussion of the increasing “invasion” of English words into the French language, and how it is perceived by various segments of the French population, such as for example French adolescents vs the “Academie francaise”. 

Oral exam #2 (11/28-11/30): cultural correctness in dialogues.

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 12 points.

In small groups, students will debate the notion of language “purity”, from the perspective of the French “establishment” and of French adolescents, after having prepared and written Individual rubrics.  They will be graded on validity of arguments, vocabulary, grammar , and pronunciation.

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 100 points.

Required Outcomes for this Goal

(list below)

Relevant Course/Institutional Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

Specific Assessment Method for Outcome

3.  Develop insight into the nature of (French and Francophone) language and culture.

Students will become aware of the importance of using the appropriate form of address “tu” familiar, or “vous” formal (ch.1, p.7, 8/31), and the cultural implications of using each one. 

Composition (“rédaction’” 9/17) in the form of a dialogue will test the proper usage of “tu” and “vous”.

Tracking/Reporting: Mean score of class out of 10 points.

General Education Criteria

Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

1. Teach a disciplinary mode of inquiry and provide students with practice in applying inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving.

French 201 students use language and culture to communicate and solve problems, and to investigate and discuss the artifacts and characteristics of French and Fracophone culture.  Sample ex.: Students will explain the use of “tu” and “vous” and of the proper greeting gestures (such as kissing and shaking hands)…How can this distinction between familiarity and formality be made in English? (ch.1, p.7; 8/31).

Students will role play ordering a meal in a French restaurant, demonstrating their knowledge of cultural correctness in the choice and order of dishes and drinks (ch 2, .p.49; 59-61; 9/14), for example, the student playing the role of waiter will have to explain why the restaurant cannot provide milk to accompany a French dinner, and the diner will solve the problem of what to order instead.

2. Provide examples of how disciplinary knowledge changes through creative applications of the chosen mode of inquiry.

Students study in ch.5 various aspects of French and Francophone culture, such as the French press.  Using the vocabulary and the grammatical structures needed to express opinions and persuade (ch.5, p.198; 11/6), students will engage in small group discussions about which French magazines they would like to read and why.

Students create projects such as for example a French song, an illustrated children’s book, or a virtual trip to a French speaking region or city.

3. Consider questions of ethical values

Students use the subjunctive with expressions of necessity to express their opinion of how people should act in a certain situation.  Sample ex.: After consulting a list of programs offered on French television (ch.5, p.174-75; 11/12), students will draw up a list of guidelines telling a babysitter which programs the children must or must not watch, using expressions of necessity and the subjunctive, and giving reasons for objecting to certain programs containing violence or nudity.

General Education Criteria

Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

4. Explore past, current, and future implications of disciplinary knowledge.

Students study the history of education in France, its relationship to the Church and to the State (ch.2, p.78-79; 9/21).  They will explore the past and present systems of education, and consider how it may develop in the future.

5. Encourage consideration of course content from diverse perspectives.

Students study perspectives, practices, and products of French and Francophone culture, making comparisons with those of their own culture.  Sample ex.: how and why French parents raise their children differently from parents in the US (ch.3, p.112; 10/19).  Sample ex.: compare and contrast the French and the American education system, and give advantages and disadvantages for each one.

6. Provide opportunities for students to increase information literacy through contemporary techniques of gathering, manipulating, and analyzing information and data.

Students write their composition and their project on a computer, using French word processing, and gather and analyze information from the Web, and in library sources, before writing them (“redaction” 9/17, project 10/17).

General Education Criteria

Relevant Course Components (refer specifically to course syllabus)

7. Require at least one substantive written paper, oral report, or course journal and also require students to articulate information or ideas in their own words on tests and exams.

Students produce a written paper (“rédaction”, 9/17); undergo two oral exams (10/8-10/12 and 11/28-11/30); create a project that involves writing and oral presentation; students speak French in class everyday, and answer short essay questions on every exam.

8. Foster awareness of the common elements among disciplines and the interconnectedness of disciplines.

Students learn, speak, and write about diverse aspects of the history and life of French and Francophone people through the grill of another language: a foreign language course involves elements of history, geography, literature, business and economics, sociology, education, political science, art, music…  Sample ex.: Students discuss how the French Revolution has shaped the political and social climate in contemporary France, and how it has influenced the political ideology in the US.  (ch.3, p.119-120; 10/19).

9. Provide a rationale as to why knowledge of this discipline is important to the development of an educated citizen.

Competence in more than one language enables people to look beyond their customary borders, and act with greater awareness of self, other cultures, and their own relationship to those cultures.

Drawing on the cultural and historical knowledge gained through this course, an educated citizen leader will consider world historical events from a different point of view.  For example, in ch.5, students will examine WW2 from a French point of view, focusing on the role of de Gaulle’s and Petain’s radio addresses (p.202-204; 11/19).