F328 French Diction and Pronunciation is a course intended for those who have had some previous study of French, either three or more years in high school or F202. It is intended to provide students who wish to take advanced courses in French with systematic, comprehensive review and enhancement of French pronunciation, to elevate aural comprehension, to enable prospective non-native teachers of French to anticipate difficulties likely to beset the Anglophone learner of spoken French. This course is a college course; it is not intended as validation of pronunciation acquired previously. In this spirit, the course will assume no true knowledge or skills on the part of enrollees at the outset. F328 counts toward fulfilling the French minor and major literature distribution requirement. Through coursework, experience abroad, and other cultural encounters, the Modern Languages Program cultivates communicative skills and cultural awareness that prepare students at Western Kentucky University to be more knowledgeable and sensitive citizens of the global community.

Participation and attendance: class participation is essential; speaking French at every opportunity will help a student with his/her oral practice.  Class attendance is not optional. Class attendance is a necessary condition for class participation. Students are to log in to the Blackboard site for the course: Blackboard: (http://ecourses.wku.edu) and stay abreast of announcements, assignments and changes in the syllabus at least three times each week. Students are expected to come to class prepared, to contribute to class activities, to arrive on time, to avail themselves of resources, and to seek help from instructor when appropriate.  If absent one should contact me before the next class meeting – not to explain excuse the absence, but in order to find out what was accomplished and, especially, what is to be prepared outside of class.  Cell phones must be turned off during class; they must remain out of sight during all graded activities.  I will come well-prepared, provide opportunities for you to hear, speak, write and read French. I will be available during stated office hours.

Auditing An auditor is one who enrolls and participates in a course without expecting to receive academic credit. The same registration procedure is followed and the same fees charged as for courses taken for credit. An audited course is not applicable to any degree or certificate program. Regular class attendance is expected of an auditor. Other course requirements, which may be obtained in writing from the instructor, will vary depending on the nature of the course. Students interested in auditing a course should secure permission from the instructor and discuss course requirements prior to enrolling. Failure to meet course requirements may result in the auditor being withdrawn from the course at the request of the instructor. A successful audit will be recorded on the transcript with the designation AU. (from: Academic Requirements and Regulations, Undergraduate Course Catalog)

For grading purposes, I will assign a value to each day according to the following participation point scheme:

• 0 = absent,
• 1 = late or left early,
• 2 = present w/o actively volunteering,
• 3 = some voluntary participation,
• 4 = much / repeated voluntary participation

Final exam and quizzes: Quizzes are meant to determine how well you are meeting the goals of the course, not merely whether you are conversant with the textbooks, tapes and what goes on in class. If submitted late, the quiz will be docked by an amount commensurate with the lateness. The textbooks and tapes are tools for accomplishing the goals. A casual attitude toward quizzes would be unwise. Without repeated practice with the cassette tapes, the ten quizzes will prove demanding for non-native speakers of French. If you anticipate a problem with handing in a quiz on timr or with taking the final exam when it is scheduled, contact me at your earliest opportunity!

For quizzes, you will need your own cassette (standard not micro) tape recorder/player and at least ten blank tapes to begin the semester. Master tapes for essential practice will be copied to your personal tapes. In all there are a master dozen tapes.

Expectations, in summary, are as follows. Students are expected 1) to study, do assignments, and prepare for class, 2) to attend class, contribute and participate during class, 3) avail themselves of resources, and to seek help from instructor when appropriate, including during office hours or by appointment, 4) to demonstrate knowledge and language skills in progress against what is expected, 5) to work, for instance, on pronunciation, listening comprehension and recognition of spoken vocabulary, 6) to submit by deadlines work required, 7) to turn in for a grade the student’s own work and, of course, not to permit work to be used by another for his/her graded assignments. 8) to stay abreast of announcements, assignments and changes in the syllabus at least three times each week. 9) to keep cell phones turned off and silent during class; to keep cell phones and other electronic devices capable of communication/data retrieval out of sight during all graded activities. The instructor is expected 1) to be prepared for teaching each class session, 2) to offer clear examples and explanations, 3) to encourage participation from students, 4) provide opportunities for you to hear, speak, write and read French and to offer, specifically, as much oral practice in class as possible, 5) to meet with students during office hours and by appointment outside of class, 6) to be fair-minded at all times, 7) to respect students, and their beliefs and opinions, 8) to challenge students to meet the course goals as fully as possible. (Click on statement on teaching to read my thoughts on the entire subject.)

ResourcesResources available include the textbook, its tapes, tapes for D’Accord, another textbook with tapes, as well as consultations and extra practice during office hours. For additional resources for individuals, click here.

Course Grade -- sources & weights:

• Participation:
• Quizzes:
• Final Exam:
• Progress / improvement:
  

Academic dishonesty: “Students who commit any act of academic dishonesty may receive from the instructor a failing grade in that portion of the course in which the act is detected or a failing grade in the course without possibility of withdrawal” (from the 2006-2007 online student handbook). Acts of academic dishonesty include the use of a translating device to complete writing assignments and failing to turn cell phones and PDAs off before taking an exam. Student work may be checked using plagiarism detection software. See Western's statement on academic dishonesty in the 2006-2007 online student handbook for more information. See the same source for university policy on plagiarism ‑ "To represent written work taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism." The use of online translation aids is strictly prohibited. Students enrolled may not assist one another on graded exercises.