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Description
du cours
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Course requirements | Required textbooks|
Homework & Lab Work|
Participation|
Test Policy & Final
Exam| Calculation of
Grades| Rules of
Courtesy| Disability
Notice| Mission
statement
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Course requirements and objectives:
This course is intended as the first semester of an introduction to the French language and francophone culture, including the basic communication skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. If you have already studied French, you must obtain the instructor's approval in order to remain in the course.
The goal of first-year French is to develop your proficiency in French while providing you with a francophone context within which to use and practice what you are learning. Besides learning about France, we will also be exploring various areas of the world where French is spoken. Because total immersion in a language is the best way to learn that language, in class we will speak only French. Don't panic if you don't understand everything I say, or even half of what I say at first! I will do my best, through a combination of gestures and pictures and cognates, to communicate my main idea. It is normal to get frustrated or confused, and the best way to work through your frustration is simply to come to class ready to listen and to respond assiduously. Be open to new experiences! Take risks! Open your mouth as often as possible and speak, even if you aren't sure of the answer -- it's the best way to develop a kind of ease in class that fosters language learning. Play by the rules -- only French! Students who persist in trying to use English in class will incur serious penalties in the calculation of their daily class participation grade and may be asked to leave the class. And of course, the more practice you get, the easier the two oral exams will be!
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Required
materials:
Textbook: Horizons (5th edition), Heinle & Heinle/Cengage
iLrn platform, which includes all homework assignments in the Cahier d'activités écrites and the Cahier d'activités orales, as well as the eBook of your text, enrichment activities, videos, diagnostics (pre-tests, personalized study plans, post-tests) and more!
(Note: your text should be packaged with a student "key" or pamphlet which will contain your access code to the on-line workbook; use this, along with the course code distributed on the back of the website information in class, to register for the on-line materials.).
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Homework &
Lab Work:
Over the course of the semester, we will cover chapters 0 to 5 in the textbook Horizons (5th edition), spending about four class days on each chapter. There will be a test at the end of each chapter (except the introductory "0" chapter). The material from chapter 5 will be covered on the final exam, which is cumulative. Homework assignments will include studying vocabulary and grammar in your textbook before that material is covered in class, spending time doing both written and oral exercises on-line, and turning in daily handwritten writing assignments (marked "exercice compté" on the calendar) based on the material covered. The assignments given on the course calendar (marked "A faire" or "To do") will be done on-line and are either self-correcting or will consist of a brief writing assignment which you will turn in to me for my correction. Please hand write and double space these assignments; they will count for the "homework" portion of the grade calculation. The minutes you accrue doing the on-line exercises will count toward your grade (CR or NC) for the lab portion of the course. I will accept two writing assignments late; after that, you will receive only partial credit for late work.
Please note that LAB WORK IS MANDATORY, and you must register for it separately. You earn one unit of credit for lab work (CR/NC) if you complete at least 75% of the required 1000 minutes of on-line work by the end of the semester, plus attend at least 8 lab sessions over the course of the semester. No more than 200 minutes per week will count toward the student's grand total lab time. Exercises which take more than 20 minutes will be discounted. If it takes you longer than 200 minutes per week to complete that week's assignments, please do take the time to complete them, but know that any attempts to make up large amounts of lab time at the end of the semester will not count.
NOTE: You may also earn full credit (100%) for the lab by completing every single exercise on-line and attending 8 lab sessions; if you do this in under the time required, I will still assign you CR for the lab course and 100% for that portion of your grade in the class.
Lab work, which includes listening, speaking, reading and writing practice, is an essential component of any langauge course, and will prove incredibly beneficial to your language study, provided you complete the work carefully and thoroughly. Your time on these exercises will be clocked by the iLrn software, which offers us these great self-correcting exercises. Please see me as soon as possible if you have any concerns about doing homework assignments on-line.
With lab work as well as with study time, the best way to learn a language is in small increments. We only meet two times per week, and we can only cover so much material in that time. The rest must be done at home, preferably a little bit each day, including days the class doesn't meet. For both the lab and study time, try to set aside 30 minutes to 60 minutes daily to work on French. The course calendar is essentially a suggested study schedule for each week; adapt it to fit your needs, but whatever you do, be regular and consistent in your study habits.
For a more complete description of how to use the on-line manual, go to the homework page.
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Participation:
Participation -- and, of course, attendance -- is essential to language learning, and you will be receiving a daily participation grade (from 0 to 10 points) based on your presence, alertness, and responsiveness in class. Presence and participation will count for 10% of your final grade, and you can get a general idea of your participation grade based on the quality of your participation:
• If you are physically and mentally present and constantly participating, you will earn a 10.
• If you are physically and mentally present and participate often, you will earn a 9.
• If you are present and participate from time to time, you will earn an 8.
• If you are present and participate only rarely, you will earn a 7.
• If you are present and silent, you will earn a 6.
• If you leave halfway through class or come in halfway through class, your grade will automatically start with 5 and decrease from there based on the criteria above.
In other words, the grade will go up or down depending on how active you are in class, or how closely you respect the only French rule. So, if you are present and very active in French only during every class, you should easily earn a A for participation!
Note that you are responsible for any material missed because of an absence, whatever the reason. If you must be absent, make arrangements with another student to get the notes from class. If you have problems catching up, make an appointment to see one of the university's French tutors or to see me.
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Test Policy
& Final Exam:
Policy on tests: there will be NO make-up tests. If you miss a test, you will receive a 0 for that test. However, note that when calculating your final grade, I will omit the worst test score. This does not mean that you should purposefully miss one test: take all of them, and do your best on all of them!
There will also be two oral exams: one in the middle of the semester, and one at the end. I will not drop either oral exam score, nor will I drope the final exam, when calculating your grade. I hereby reserve the right to assign a final grade of F to any student who does not pass the cumulative final written and oral exams.
The FINAL EXAM is scheduled for Monday, December 12th at from 11am to 12:50pm.
NOTE: Students should be aware of a wide variety of important University policies, such as the add/drop policy; cheating and plagiarism policy; grade appeal procedures; and the diversity vision statement. Go to the URL to find them: http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml .
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Calculation
of Grades:
Your grade in this course will be calculated as follows:
• Tests and midterm oral: 50%
• Final exam and oral: 20%
• Participation: 10%
• Homework: 15%
• Lab work: 5%
Notice that the great majority of your grade is based on test scores, but that you can easily drop a full grade or more by not keeping up with your participation and homework. (See "A Bit of Advice" on the homework page to get a sense of how important this is, mathematically speaking, to your grade!) The lab work portion of the grade is calculated as follows:
• 1410-1500 minutes = A
• 1315-1409 minutes = B
• 1220-1314 minutes = C
• 1125-1219 minutes = D
• Under 1125 minutes = F
Please note that there will be no extra credit for time spent in the lab above 1500 minutes. However, don't let this stop you from working on-line as often as you feel necessary! I can't stress how much regular work on French is essential to success in this course -- keep from falling behind and you're halfway to success!
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Rules of
Courtesy:
1. Please turn off all cellphones when entering the classroom. Cellphone disruption will not be tolerated; texting during will result in the confiscation of the phone for the remainder of the class.
2. Students who talk repeatedly amongst themselves when course material is being explained will receive a warning. If the behavior should persist, the student may be asked to leave the class. Please note that there will be ample time for conversation in French during class activity periods.
3. Please save your questions in ENGLISH for the break time!
4. Finally, keep in mind that I am available for help, both in my office and at home, via e-mail, at your convenience. Please don't hesitate to come and see me or e-mail me if you are having problems in class or if you want study suggestions
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Disability
Notice:
If you have a disability that requires accommodation in this class, you must notify the instructor before the end of the second week of class regarding the nature of the accommodation(s) you require. You must register with the campus office of Disabled Student Services, located in Salazar Hall, room 1047, phone 664-2677. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. This authorization must be presented to the instructor before an accommodations can be made.
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Mission
statement of the SSU French Program:
The French Program of Sonoma State
University seeks to develop in its students the basic
linguistic skills, analytical skills, and cultural and
literary knowledge which will enable them to appreciate the
uniqueness of other cultures and to function in francophone
communities around the world. In all of its offerings, the
French Program seeks to support the ideals of a general
liberal arts education.
In order to facilitate students'
integration of this course into their understanding of the
greater goals of the French Program and the General
Education Program at Sonoma State University, it should be
noted that French 201, First-Semester French, meets the following French Program learning objectives:
- ability to understand spoken
French, read a variety of texts written in French, and
communicate effectively in French orally and in
writing;
- appreciation and knowledge of
the French culture;
- appreciation and knowledge of
the francophone world, cultures and literatures
(including an understanding of the norms, values and
beliefs of areas where the target language is used, as
well as recognition of key social and cultural
traditions;
- ability to respond in
culturally appropriate ways in a variety of common
situations in the target cultures;
- ability to use state-of-the-art technology to access realia in the target language;
- knowledge of phonology,
morphology, syntax and semantics of the French
language.
This course also meets the
following GE Program learning objectives:
- ability to think and read
critically;
- ability to communicate
efficiently orally and in writing;
- appreciation and knowledge of
grammar and linguistic concepts;
- ability to use state-of-the-art
technology to access cultural documents and multimedia
resources.
This course also exposes
students to knowledge about values and ethical issues,
including:
- appreciation of diversity and difference;
- awareness of language as a
living product of culture and vice versa;
- ability to apply the knowledge
and skills learned to situations outside the academic
setting.
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