99022 - FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will gain a comprehension of the fundamental elements of French language and culture and will be able to understand and produce written and oral texts at an intermediate level. Students will be guided in the development and knowledge of contemporary French language and culture through an intensive and extensive reading programme on the subject, as well as through similar activities involving aural texts (videos, radio broadcasts, etc.). The reading and listening activities will provide the basis for the production of written and oral texts by the students. By focusing on a variety of texts and genres, students will learn to critically analyze discourses and cultural practices which inform and characterize the current French debate on national and cultural identity with a view to its current role in Europe and globally.

Course contents

Language

The course aims at consolidating previous language skills, both written and oral, with the aim of achieving a knowledge of French corresponding to level C1. Particular attention will be paid to the use of the subjonctif, to the connectors linked to it, to the expression of circumstantial subordinates (opposition/concession, cause/consequence and hypothesis/condition), and to fundamental elements in the writing of a text and/or argumentative discourse. In this regard, students will be given the necessary tools to produce a coherent and well-structured commentaire composé.

In order to refine grammatical, morpho-syntactic and lexical skills, the teacher will propose reading texts and watching audio-visual documents, debates in class with particular attention paid to register variations, idiomatic expressions, phonetics and, finally, to interferences between Italian and French.

Culture

The course also includes reading excerpts from literature and journalism, watching documentaries and films to stimulate thoughts on specific socio-cultural aspects linked to the current French speaking european context. The students will have the opportunity to make a short presentation to the class.

Readings/Bibliography

Texts/Bibliography

The following works will be used and consulted, both in class and in individual work:

• Bidaud, Françoise (2012), Grammaire du français pour italophones, Novara, UTET Università.
• Bidaud, Françoise (2021), Exercices de grammaire française pour italophones, Novara, UTET Università.
  

Dictionnaries:

• TLFI informatisé : http://atilf.atilf.fr/tlf.htm
• Dictionnaire CRISCO des synonymes : https://crisco2.unicaen.fr/des/
• Dictionnaire des cooccurences Termium plus : https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/cooc/index-fra.html?lang=fra
• Antidote software (The price is around 100 euros but you can install it on more than one computer)
  
  

  Highly recommended texts:

• Bidaud, Françoise (2014), Traduire le français d’aujourd’hui, Novara, UTET Università.
• Grevisse, Maurice et Goosse André (1993), Nouvelle grammaire française, Paris-Louvain-La-Neuve, Éditions Duculot.
• Grégoire, Maia (2019), Grammaire progressive du français – niveau perfectionnement B2-C2, Clé International.
• Miquel, Claire (2015), Vocabulaire progressif du français, niveau perfectionnement C1-C2, Clé International.

Teaching methods

The course includes:

• Lessons and grammar exercises designed to consolidate the knowledge already acquired and to reach the C1 level. Homework will be given on a weekly basis.
• Numerous written and oral exercises to deepen knowledge and skills in grammar, morphology, syntax and vocabulary, also aimed at developing the ability to summarise, reformulate and change register.
• Learning how to write a commentaire composé.
• Class discussions with a focus on fluency of oral expression and phonetics.
• The presentation of some topical themes of the contemporary French context: an active participation of the students will be required through research to be carried out autonomously and exposés to be presented in front of the class.

The French language module will be closely supported by 20 hours of laboratory exercises given by lecturer Marie Line Zucchiatti (https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marieline.zucchiatti) with 70% compulsory attendance.

Please note that students are required to attend 70% of the course lectures.

In view of the type of activity and teaching methods adopted, attendance at this training activity requires the prior participation of all students in modules 1 and 2 of training on safety in the workplace, [https://elearning-sicurezza.unibo.it/] in e-learning mode.

Assessment methods

Written:

Grammar: Italian/French contrastive exercises (use of the dictionary not permitted).

Writing: Crafting of a text to test the student's ability to summarise and reformulate from a written source (use of monolingual dictionary permitted).

Oral:

Presentation of a monologue in French of approximately 10 minutes on a topic covered in class during the course. The different topics will be presented in class three weeks before the oral test and will be randomly picked during the examination. Follow-up questions will complete the exam.

The final mark is calculated based on the average of the marks obtained in both the language tests (written & oral) and mediation, which constitute the exam.

Teaching tools

Recommended purchase of the books in the bibliography

Materials distributed in class

Multimedia resources on Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Walter Julien Alberisio