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 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.
|
The course goals follow in order of priority: |
|
|
1. Fluent diction. To acquire accurate, if not near-native, pronunciation of standard International French, including individual sounds, stress, rhythm, liaison and linking, phrasing, and intonation.
2. Aural comprehension. To develop a high degree of aural comprehension for spoken passages delivered in French at native rate of speech, but devoid of unknown lexical items and syntactic constructions. This implies a heightened sensitivity to differences among various sounds, which, superficially or initially, may seem nearly indistinguishable.
3. Conceptual and working knowledge of rules. To comprehend all that governs bringing sounds together into more or less continuous and extended utterances: liaison, linking, pronunciation of the so-called mute e (for rhythm), and the like. 4. Reading aloud written texts. To become familiar with the relationship which obtains between the French sound system or phonology and French spelling or orthography.
5. Identification of individual sounds. To acquire facility in representing sounds by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
6. Ability to generalize. To be able to anticipate accurately the pronunciation of unknown words and phrases and to become versed in consulting phonetic resources for troublesome or exceptional items.
7. Conceptual knowledge concerning interference from English. To acquire the ability to anticipate and correct difficulties likely to beset the Anglophone learner of spoken French.
8. Levels and registers of language. To become able to differentiate and distinguish characteristics peculiar to formal, colloquial, uneducated, and poetic dictions.
9. Preparation: To be prepared linguistically to take yet more advanced French. |
Participation and attendance: class attendance is mandatory, and participation is essential; speaking French at every opportunity will help a student with speaking and listening skills. Participation will assure progress toward communication skills. Students are to check Blackboard (http://ecourses.wku.edu) or my Web page (http://edtech.wku.edu/~nlove/328pronon/f328s2008.htm) and stay abreast of announcements, assignments and changes in the syllabus frequently. In the event that it is necessary to miss class, it is the responsibility of the student to find out what was covered and to learn the appropriate material. Upon returning to class students are expected to be fully prepared: ready to participate, to turn in assignments, and to take quizzes or exams as scheduled. When/if you miss a class meeting, you can be relatively certain that you missed at least one quiz (see below). If absent, one should contact me before the next class meeting – not to explain or excuse the absence, but in order to find out what was accomplished and, especially, what is to be prepared outside of class, unless you believe that you know with certainty what was missed and have no questions about it.
To bolster participation you may elect to present to the class an exposé in addition to the two exposés that are obligatory.
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)
Assignments (or homework) will be posted on the timeline part of the syllabus below by means of a link on the date by which the assignment is due. Thus to know what is to be prepared for the January 24 class meeting, click on the link on "24 jan 08" below. (You will know when the assignment has been uploaded, as the date will appear in bold, and turn blue as a link upon passing the mouse over it.) There will be questions or assignments regularly posted on Blackboard or the Web page to be completed before the next class.
Unless instructed otherwise, assignments are not printed out and handed in. All assignments may be quizzed, however.
Quizzes will be ten in all and have been scheduled as can be seen below. Each quiz accounts for about 5 % of the course grade since the ten quizzes, together, account for 50 % of the course grade. They will normally be composed of two parts: a speaking portion which will always be the more important part and a phonetic transcription part in which some French text will be transcribed into the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Quizzes will provide an indication of your emerging skills, as well as individualized remedial assistance.
Project: Each student will have a poem to transcribe phonetically and recite.
Exams: Both exams are meant to gauge your progress toward the course goals with an efficient use of exam time. They test the language skills you are acquiring, and are not limited to simply covering language content: material, pages, exercises or tables that can be memorized on short order. For both, consequently, you will speak French, listen to French, read some French and write French -- and not merely rehash specific phrases, vocabulary or exercises. There will be no make up exams. If you anticipate a problem with taking an exam when it is scheduled, or if you should miss an exam, contact me at your earliest opportunity! The day and time of the final exam are established by the Registrar. Whereas there may be changes on the syllabus below, the day and time of the final exam are absolute. Please do not make plans, therefore, at variance with our scheduled final exam.
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.)
Study some French every day without exception and you will discover why language courses used to meet daily. The best way to learn, to meet course objectives and to maximize benefits derived from study of French is without a doubt to study some French every day. You will not be particularly successful if you learn the material for the moment only. What you learn for a given day or for a given exam you will need to retain throughout the semester and specifically for the final exam which is cumulative.
Resources 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.
I can find more resources for anyone needing more than these, and would be pleased to do so.
|