98820 - FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Learning outcomes

The course will develop the four skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking through practice and a communicative and action-oriented approach. The course will focus on reading comprehension of documents chosen in the light of current themes in French society; oral comprehension of radio and television extracts; written production of texts from a range of contexts; speaking skill exercises to enhance language expression; expansion of vocabulary for different situations in everyday life.

Course contents

This course is reserved exclusively for students in the Bachelor of European Studies programme. Students of other programmes are not allowed to take this course in their programme.

At the end of the course students should reach a solid level in spoken French and reading comprehension (depending on their entry level).

At the end of this course students will have acquired an important group of general (GC), transversal (TC) and specific competences (SC), and be able to (depending on the CEFR level for the target languages of their choice):

GC1. Recognize and analyze the mechanisms and structures of modern foreign languages.

GC2. Develop the ability to communicate orally and in writing in at least two modern foreign languages with a sufficient level of dexterity in the various situations of professional life for which their degree qualifies.

GC3. Describe and rigorously express the knowledge acquired in the learning of foreign languages for professional purposes, to allow its application in the professional fields.

GC4. Value and deepen the linguistic, literary, and cultural diversity relating it to other areas of knowledge.

GC5. Develop the capacity for linguistic and cultural mediation in various social, political, and anthropological contexts and in foundations, institutions, and international organizations.

GC6. Prepare and write texts and reports of an academic, institutional and administrative nature.

GC7. Develop the ability to translate professional and literary texts and documents.

GC8. Carry out consulting and translation tasks in written and audio-visual communication.

GC9. Acquire the training to continue research in the fields of linguistics, literature, and the culture of the respective languages, and in other areas of Humanities and Social Sciences.

GC10. Promote respect for different cultural manifestations, and the understanding and promotion of intercultural processes.

TC1. Develop the capacity for analysis and synthesis.

TC2. Develop the ability to apply knowledge to practice.

TC3. Evaluate, interpret and synthesize data and information.

TC4. Develop critical and self-critical reasoning.

TC5. Work autonomously.

TC6. Work in groups and in international contexts.

TC7. Plan and manage information and times.

TC8. Develop creativity.

TC10. Appreciate cultural diversity.

TC12. Develop a social conscience regarding the concept of equal opportunities.

SC1. Develop the ability to orally understand and speak in different social and professional contexts in the target languages.

SC2. Develop the capacity for written expression and comprehension in the target languages. The student produces well-articulated and structured texts on a wide variety of current topics and has a good command of discursive structures, connectors, and cohesion mechanisms. S/he understands the fundamental ideas of complex and long texts, including technical discussions about her/his field of specialization, and grasps the meanings which are implicit in texts, both written and oral.

SC3. Carry out linguistic analysis in one or two modern foreign languages.

SC4. Acquire the foundations for theoretical reflection on phonological, morpho-syntactic, lexical, and discursive aspects of the target languages.

CONTENTS

Conjugation

Passé composé, imparfait et plus-que-parfait ; futur simple, futur antérieur ; conditionnel présent, conditionnel passé ; subjonctif présent ; gérondif, participe présent ; le participe passé et son accord ; la voix passive en français. Verbes impersonnels ; INDICATIF Futur antérieur/Plus-que Parfait/Conditionnel passé/ SUBJONCTIF Présent/Passé GÉRONDIF présent et passé

Grammar

Féminin des noms et des adjectifs ; Pluriel des noms et des adjectifs ; La négation : approfondissement ; pronoms relatifs simples (qui, que, quoi, où, dont) et composés ; expression de la cause, de la conséquence et du but ; l’hypothèse et la condition. comparaison et superlatif ; pronoms COD et COI, pronoms démonstartifs neutres, articles/pronoms indéfinis, pronoms toniques (dont soi), mise en relief

Vocabulary

Lexique des médias, de l’art et de l’évènement ; lexique du commerce ; lexique de la culture française.

Orthography

La ponctuation en français ; vers et prose : mise en page ; les accents écrits ; lettres muettes et h ; doubles consonnes ; quelques mots retors. Signes orthographiques ;

Culture

• Les emblèmes de la France : gastronomie, monuments, personnalités, culture…

• Les symboles de la France : Marianne, le Coq, Jeanne d’Arc, les Gaulois, Clovis…

• Le système politique en France

• Les sièges de l’État, du gouvernement, de l’Assemblée et du Sénat

• Les figures politiques de la Ve République et leurs hauts faits

• La division territoriale de la France ; les dom-tom/dom-rom

• La géographie française et ses principales villes

• Les pays francophones ; la Francophonie

• Culture des pays de la Francophonie : les sapeurs, le raï, le narguilé, le zouk…

• Phénomènes culturels du passé : l’hausmannisation ; la Commune de Paris ; le syndicalisme et les congés payés ; les Halles de Paris ; la Belle Époque et l’Art Nouveau ; l’École de la IIIe République ; la laïcité ; les Années folles ; les Trente glorieuses ; les expositions universelles ; la guerre d’indépendance de l’Indochine et de l’Algérie ; la présence française en Amérique du Nord : passé et présent ; Coluche, les Enfoirés et les Restos du Cœur ; Mai 68 : causes et conséquences politiques et culturelles ; l’accélération de la vie : Michelin, TGV, métro-boulot-dodo.

Readings/Bibliography

USED

• Guillaume Bernard, Bernard de Gunten, Arlette Martin, Mauricette Niogret, Les Institutions de la France, Nathan, coll. « Repères pratiques », éd. 2015.

• Denis C. Meyer, Clés pour la France en 80 icônes culturelles, Hachette, 2010.

• Jackson Noutchié Njiké, Civilisation progressive de la francophonie - Niveau intermédiaire, Clé International, 2019.

• « INA Société » [chaîne audiovisuelle], YouTube [en ligne], https://www.youtube.com/@Inasociete [13/02/2024]. « INA Officiel » [chaîne audiovisuelle], YouTube [en ligne], https://www.youtube.com/@InaOfficiel [18/02/2024]. + autres ressources récurrentes

RECOMMENDED

• Le petit Robert de la langue française, Dictionnaires Le Robert, 2020.

• Bescherelle : La conjugaison pour tous, Hatier, 2019.

• Bled : Tout-en-un, Hachette, 2021.

• Maurice Grevisse & André Groosse, Le bon usage : Grammaire française, De Boeck & Duculot, éd. 2007.

• M. Riegel, J.-C. Pellat, R. Rioul, Grammaire méthodique du français, PUF, s.d.

• D. Jennepin, Y. Delatour, M-P. Caquineau-Gündüz, F. Lesage-Langot, Les 500 exercices de grammaire B1, Hachette, 2005.

• « Les Anciens » [liste de lecture audio], Spotify [en ligne], https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jVnfIKdCrptH3smWGtg2m?si=a0b701d79f8e48fc [19/02/2024]. « Les Modernes » [liste de lecture audio], Spotify [en ligne], https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3EQAJhs4tYZXuXPllIZIz2?si=2438dc8c89ca4fdd [19/02/2024].

• Jean Carpentier, F. Lebrun [dir.], Histoire de France, Seuil, 2000.

Teaching methods

The lectures will be offered online using the software Class Collaborate, and the course has a virtual space in Toledo Ultra to share materials. As it is an online course and due to the high number of students, communicative and active methods won’t be fully granted, but it will be tried as much as possible. The teachers will be asking their students individually or letting them virtually “raise their hand” in order to answer some questions; students are expected to demonstrate active participation during contact hours, do classroom and home activities and learn up the content seen in class.

Activities will include mostly reading and listening: the professors will teach in French or bring French authentic oral and written documents (text, audio, video…). Speaking and writing exercises will consist in reading out loud, discussion of the topics addressed in the documents, dictées and other similar writing activities. Grammar, orthography and phonetics content will be taught and applied by exercises.

There will be theoretical lectures about French culture and Francophony. These lectures will need reading and listening understanding from the students and include some writing or speaking exercises in order to learn. Some of the material will be provided by the teachers in class; additional documents could be uploaded on the Toledo platform; some course books will be used, as listed below.

Assessment methods

10% of total: compulsory and active participation in classes

40% of total: semester’s oral exam

50% of total: semester’s written test

Overall assessment will be based on one written test and an oral exam.

The test includes a reading comprehension with multiple choice, open questions and a cultural test, to fulfill in 90’. It will be done online via the Toledo software in the final exam period.

The oral exam will consist in a presentation on a selected topic, in groups, between 10’ and 20’ (depending on the number of groups). These presentations will be examined during the last class of the course following these criteria: 1) quality of the content and relation with the topic 2) correct explanation of the subject without reading.

The recommended topics are :

1. La Belle Époque et l’Art Nouveau

2. Les guerres d’indépendance d’Indochine et de l’Algérie

3. La présence française en Amérique du Nord : passé et présent

4. Coluche, Les Enfoirés et Les Restos du Cœur

5. Mai 68 : causes et conséquences politiques et culturelles

6. L’accélération de la vie aux XIX et XXe siècles : Michelin, TGV, Métro boulot dodo

7. L’impressionnisme et le postimpressionnisme : caractéristiques et peintres

8. Les expositions universelles en France

9. L’Haussmannisation

10. La Commune de Paris

Office hours

See the website of Fabien Marc Michel Gibault

See the website of