FRE 3870: Advanced French Grammar and Composition I
FRE 3880 Advanced French Grammar and Composition II
Course Outline: Requirements, Syllabus, Assessment and Grading Policy
Calendar of French Cultural Events for the Semester
REQUIRED WORKBOOK
- Hoffmann, Léon-François & Schultz, Jean-Marie, TRAVAUX PRATIQUES , third edition, Prentice Hall, l995 ISBN 0-13-339193-0 . The book is available at the campus bookstore.
REQUIRED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
Students will be responsible for retrieving all material pertinent to the course, which has been posted on the St. John’s Central. course site. Log into the Central with your username and password. Click on the tab “My Courses”, then on the link “Advanced French Grammar and Composition I" or "Advanced French Grammar and Composition II” The material to be retrieved is posted under “Files” and includes a grammar exercise booklet “Exercices Supplémentaires I or II”, grammar charts “French Grammar by Charts I or II”, a homework schedule and reviews for the tests.
Also on a regular basis check “News” for any postings about the course, announcements, reminders about assignment deadlines, and upcoming tests .
WEB RESOURCES
The following websites should be used on a regular basis:
http://www.pomme.ualberta.ca/devoir A database to obtain the conjugation of all French verbs
http://www.wordreference.com An online dictionary for English-French which may be used for the translation assignments .
http://globegate.utm.edu/french/globegate_mirror/gramm.html A French Grammar Central online (all French grammar explained with exercises for extra practice before quizzes and tests):
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/index.html A great overview of French grammar from the University of Texas featuring a verb conjugator and a verb tutor and explaining the function of the various grammatical categories
http://grammaire.reverso.net An interactive site for French grammar: (spelling, tests, current issues on the French language)
CLASS ATTENDANCE AND EXPECTED BEHAVIOR
ATTENDANCE: Attendance is mandatory and will be taken each time the class meets.. The Department of Languages & Literatures enforces a strict policy of allowing NO MORE THAN THREE UNJUSTIFIED ABSENCES DURING THE COURSE OF THE SEMESTER. Only absences justified by a valid excuse, such as a medical certificate or a court summons shall not result in a penalty. Students with unjustified ABSENCES IN EXCESS OF THREE MIGHT HAVE TO WITHDRAW FROM THE COURSE or receive a grade of UW. Absence from class does not excuse a student from work missed: he or she will be expected to catch up (by making an appointment for a tutoring session at the GLCC) and HAND IN ALL MISSED ASSIGNMENTS.
EXPECTED BEHAVIOR: Proper class behavior implies that you arrive on time, that you do not disrupt the class with the ringing of cell phones, do not eat or drink, do not leave the classroom during the class, or during tests and exams unless you are sick.
GLCC ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT
A weekly ONE HOUR session at the Global Language andCultureCenter (St. John Hall rooms 104-106) for specific assignments under the supervision of a French tutor is a requirement for this course.
CLASSWORK, HOMEWORK, QUIZZES,TESTS AND FINAL EXAM: POLICY AND EXPECTATIONS
CLASSWORK: Active class participation is expected of everyone. It will be evaluated and computed into the final grade.
You will be given a day by day homework schedule for each month (posted on the St John Central course site).
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS: These are meant as necessary practice and are worth 20% of the final grade.. Assignments handed in late will be penalized in the computation of the final grade.
ALL HOMEWORK MUST BE DONE ON A REGULAR BASIS. This is essential in order to properly assimilate the grammatical structures studied, and do well on the tests. Therefore all WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE HANDED IN ON THE DUE DATE. Homework assignments will not be graded, only checked for completion and corrected by the instructor. It will be the student’s responsibility to pay attention to the corrections and learn how to avoid making the same mistakes in ulterior assignments. Mistakes that are constantly repeated will be penalized in the final assessment.
QUIZZES There will be about 10 (5 minute) quizzes on specific points of grammar, which will be announced in the homework calendar. Each A received in those quizzes will earn you l bonus point towards your final grade. For quizzes, grades below an A will not count. These quizzes are meant to prepare you for the more comprehensive tests. Therefore, a bad performance on the quizzes should be an indication that more work is required on your part. Make an individual appointment with a GLCC tutor to review.
TESTS and FINAL EXAM: There will be 3 tests, one at the end of each month (the date will be announced in the homework calendar and the review material posted on the SJ Central course site), as well as a final exam.
No make-up test will be given without a documented valid excuse.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
- learn grammatical terminology
- improve and perfect writing skills in the target language in order to prepare for more advanced French courses, i,e, the writing of essays, compositions and presentations in literature and other advanced courses
- improve reading skills to facilitate understanding of complex literary texts, magazines, reviews and newspapers articles
- prepare for the translation from English into idiomatic French of selected passages targeting specific grammatical structures
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the semester students are expected to:
- be familiar with grammatical terminology
- recognize and be familiar with all the various French grammatical structures studied
- know which grammatical structures are essentially different in English and in French and make the error-free transition from one to the other
- write creative sentences using all the grammatical structures covered in the course without making major mistakes
- translate sentences targeting specific grammatical structures from English into French without making major mistakes
- be familiar with complex grammatical and syntactical structures
ASSESSMENT
Students’progress will be assessed through
- regular practice exercises as homework
- grammar drills in class
- individual or group assignments in class
- translation of selected passages into idiomatic French
- short compositions on a given topic targeting specific grammatical structures
- summary of a given text using specific grammatical structures
- quizzes and tests checking the acquisition of grammatical structures
- a final exam at the end of the semester
- self correction of mistakes made on a quiz or test following indications of errors from the instructor (to help the student assimilate the material and know where to find it for self-correction)
RUBRIC FOR TESTS ON GRAMMAR:
Tests are worth 100 points. One point is taken out for each mistake.
- A; from 0 to 7 mistakes
- A-: from 8 to 10 mistakes
- B+: from 11 to 13 mistakes
- B: from 14 to 17 mistakes
- B-: from 18 to 20 mistakes
- C+: from 21 to 23 mistakes
- C: from 24 to 27 mistakes
- C-: from 28 to 30 mistakes
- D+: from 31 to 33 mistakes
- D: from 34 to 37 mistakes
- D-: from 38 to 40 mistakes
- F: from 40 mistakes and below
COMPUTATION OF THE FINAL GRADE
- 20% for the completion and timely submission of written homework as well as GLCC assignments, class participation and progress made over the semester
- 20% for each of the three tests
- 20% for the final exam
- Bonus: one extra point for each A obtained on the quizzes will be added to your total.
NYSED REQUIREMENTS
These are NY State education recommendations for time to be spent studying outside the classroom (For each course) :
- Grammar review: 50 hours
- Practice exercises and composition writing : 50 hours
- English to French translation: 35 hours
SYLLABUS: UNITS OF INSTRUCTION PER WEEK Part I
1. Indicative present and imperative
2. Futur and futur antérieur
3. Passé composé and passé simple
4. Indicative imparfait, plus que parfait, passé surcomposé and passé antérieur
5. Conditional present and past
6. Verbs devoir, pouvoir, savoir, connaître and faire
7. Reflexive and reciprocal verbs; the past participle
8. The passive voice: formation, tenses and function; the present participle
9. The infinitive
10. Tense sequence in the indicative mood; impersonal verbs
11. The subjunctive mood; the subjunctive in subordinate object clauses
12. The subjunctive past; the subjunctive after certain conjunctions
13. The subjunctive in relative clauses; the subjunctive after “quelque...que, quel...que, qui que, etc.”
14. The subjunctive literary tenses: imparfait and plus-que-parfait; tense sequence in the subjunctive mood
SYLLABUS: UNITS OF INSTRUCTION PER WEEK Part II
1. The noun, the genders, and the definite article
2. The indefinite article and the partitive article; adverbs of quantity
3. The negation; the expletive “ne”
4. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns
5. Personal pronouns; pronouns “y” and ‘en”
6. Disjunctive pronouns; position of pronouns
7. Relative pronouns
8. Indefinite adjectives and pronouns
9. Adjectives and their position; adverbs and their position
10. The comparative of adjectives and adverbs
11. Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns; impersonal pronoun “il”
12. Possessive adjectives and pronouns
13. Prepositions. Numbers; how to tell the time and the date.
14. Principles of stylistics. Making complex sentences
THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CENTER ( St John Hall, Rooms 104, 105 and 106)
Hours M F 9am -5pm, TWR 9am-7pm,
Fpur French tutors and one graduate assistant are available to give you free individual ( if needed) and group tutoring as assigned for homework. For an individual tutoring session you need to make an appointment online .
The center offers workshops (for writing, test review, pronunciation), conversation hours and hosts cultural events (see calendar posted in room 106 of the GLCC). French cable (TV 5 Monde) is available from a large screen TV in the French pod in room 106B, as well as DVD and video viewing. Recording with Audacity and access to the Espaces, Imaginez and Face à Face supersites is available from 3 pcs in the French pod in room 106B. French dictionaries, grammars, vocabulary phrasebooks and magazines are available for consultation on the shelves of room 106.
Making an Appointment for individual tutoring at the GLCC:
- Log into St JohnCentral www.stjohns.edu/central
- On the first page of St John Central scroll down until you see “Global Language and Culture Center Appointments”. Click on the link “Make an Appointment”
- If you are a first time user click on “Register” and fill in the form to register, creating an account with a user name and password (keep your username and password in a safe place ). Submit
- Go back to “Make an Appointment” and this time log in using your newly created username and password.
- Select your language
- Select your tutor
- Select a service (Language tutoring)
- Select a time slot from the tutor’s work calendar (available 30-minute-time slots will be in white)
- In the next screen time for an appointment will be indicated. Enter your name as well as your class level and professor’s name. Indicate the things you want the tutor to address during the session.
TBA: LIST OF FRENCH CULTURAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE SEMESTER
These activities will take place at the GLCC or elsewhere as indicated. It is strongly recommended that you make an effort to attend since cultural awareness is an important component of any language major.
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