This syllabus represents a course I would enjoy teaching at the intermediate level.

The course is designed to provide a systematic review of grammatical structures while also encouraging students to become more active. I have found that creative tasks are a great way of engaging students and increasing their fluency. While it is presented in English in this version for non-French speakers, I would normally present the syllabus at this level in French. Course Title: Intermediate French Professeur: Joshua M. Blaylock Bureau: xxxx Heures de permanence: xxxx Email: xxxx I. Course Description Class time will be spent on a variety of activities designed to promote proficiency, especially in oral communication. Special emphasis will be placed on activities that encourage students to use French linguistic structures in contextualized formats (dialogues, role-playing, presentations, small-group discussions, etc.). In order to maximize the use of class time, you should thoroughly prepare assignments before coming to class. Materials will be organized roughly in two to three week segments or units using literary and non-literary authentic texts. The theme of the first three-week unit is "Une certaine ide de la France." Activities will include interviews, reading travel descriptions, writing travel publicity, listening to songs, viewing video clips, and exploring sites of singers. This unit will allow us to work with the vocabulary of travel and music as well as the grammatical structures of the conditional, present/past participles, interrogative structures, and the infinitive. We will then spend two weeks on selected texts by two authors of poetry: Jacques Prvert and Philippe Delerm. Activities will include reading poetry, performing poetry, and writing pastiches in both poetry and prose. This unit will allow us to review the grammar of possession, pronouns (direct and indirect), and demonstratives.

Our next unit will introduce you to the exercise of reading a longer text: Debout les morts, a detective story by the best-selling writer Fred Vargas. You will develop reading strategies and study narrative and suspense. Activities will include developing a hypothesis, debate, and vocabulary building. This unit will allow us to continue working with hypothesis and the conditional, negation, the future, and the subjunctive. We will spend the next two weeks with a graphic novel and film: Persepolis. Activities in this unit will include analysis of image and text, the acquisition of technical vocabulary pertaining to visual narration and comic strips, and the acquisition of film vocabulary. This unit will allow us to work with the more informal register and slang used in everyday speech as well as with the grammar of contrast and the past indirect discourse. Our final unit will be a creative project. First, we will study Chris Marker's short film La jete. Next, we will use the film as a springboard to create a digital narrative of our own post-apocalyptic vision using the software program Voicethread. This unit will allow us to acquire the ability to create a storyboard and use the narrative elements of suspense that we have studied up to this point. This unit will also allow us to work with the grammar of past-tense narration and the passive voice. II. General objectives of Intermediate French The primary objective of this intermediate level course is the acquisition of active and passive vocabulary. Within this primary objective, our goal this semester will be mastery of three central functions: questions, description, and narration. We will practice these functions using a variety of materials and at different levels of complexity. We will also systematically review grammar in order to increase your ability to actively use your French and develop fluidity. This course is designed to provide practice in each of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. A. Listening Comprehension: - course discussions - films - songs B. Speaking: - conversation and discussion (requesting and giving information, expressing opinions, narration, presenting an argument, making hypotheses) - oral presentations (introducing a subject, presenting or summarizing a document, presenting an argument)

- oral commentary (on a film, text, song, or event...) C. Reading Comprehension: - literary texts - information on the web - a graphic novel - a detective novel D. Writing: - pastiche - narrative - commentary - summaries III. Organization There will be three fifty-minute course meetings each week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). IV. Class materials Contrastes: Grammaire du franais courant Micro-Robert (poche) Debout les morts by Fred Vargas La premire gorge de bire et autres plaisirs minuscules by Phillip Delerm V. Course requirements Regular attendance. Learning a foreign language requires regular practice. For this reason regular attendance and active participation are required in this course. No more than three unexcused absences will be allowed. Beyond this limit, you must present a note from Health Services, a coach, or a dean. For every unexcused absence beyond the third, your course participation grade will be lowered by half a letter grade. (For instance, 4 unexcused absences would cause a B- to be lowered to a C+; 5 unexcused absences would cause a B- to be lowered to a C, etc.) Graded work includes quizzes, exams, and compositions. There will also be homework assignments. NB: Late work is not accepted. Under exceptional circumstances, quizzes and exams can be made up. No late homework assignments (including compositions) will be accepted. If you plan to be absent, please make arrangements for handing in your assignments with your instructor.

VI. Academic Code All work for this course must be your own. Violations of the Academic Code are taken very seriously. Students are not permitted to copy material from any other sources, including other students' work and published materials such as articles, books, or websites of any kind (including online translation sites). VII. Evaluation Your final grade will be calculated as follows: 30% Homework (including 3 compositions) 20% Class Participation, both quantity and quality 20% Oral exams (2) 20% Written exams (Tests) 10% Final Project

Je vous souhaite un excellent semestre !

Calendrier Lundi Introductions Les 1000 lieux Contrastes 10 La musique Comp 1 Prvert Contrastes 5 Mercredi Vendredi Une certaine ide de la France Une certaine ide Une certaine ide Contrastes 11 (7- Contrastes 14 9) Les 1000 lieux Les 1000 lieux Contrastes 13 Test La musique Oral Exam 1 Contrastes 6 Prvert Prvert Contrastes 3 Comp 1 ver 2 Delerm Test Debout Test Debout les morts

La Posie

Delerm Contrastes 7 Debout Comp 2

Delerm Debout Contrastes 11(1-6)

Debout Contrastes 12 Debout Contrastes 8 Persepolis (BD) Comp 3 Persepolis (Film) Contrastes 19 La jete Projet Projet

Debout Debout Persepolis (BD) Contrastes 15 Persepolis (Film) La jete Projet Contrastes 18 Projet

Debout Comp 2 ver 2 Debout Test Persepolis (BD) Test Persepolis (Film) Comp 3 ver 2 La jete Contrastes 9 Test Projet Test Oral 2 La jete Persepolis