This course will review and develop your practice and linguistic skills gained in previous levels. We shall do so around themes found throughout daily life in France, giving you useful knowledge to become better acquainted with Paris. Your motivation is fundamental to make it work as well as working as a group.
Research has demonstrated that study abroad can enhance every aspect of language ability. One of the most important general findings of this research is, however, that study abroad is most beneficial for the development of abilities related to social interaction. Students who go abroad are able to learn how to produce language in a variety of situations, such as the making of requests, the use of compliments and apologies, and they also may develop skills to interpret such interactions within the local cultural context…In short, and logically, study abroad has been show to enhance the aspects of communicative competence that are most difficult to foster in classroom settings (IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication, p. 6).
Student Profile
Students entering this level must be able to fulfill the learning outcomes of the Novice Abroad level, as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. Specifically, they should already be able to express themselves on a variety of concrete, everyday topics and meet their basic needs in the language. Although students may have been exposed previously to certain competencies taught at this level, they need additional practice and instruction to move toward mastery of these competencies.
As students gain more self-awareness and self-confidence, they will attempt more in the community. Paradoxically, this means they may also experience more miscommunications and frustration. Students will develop cultural awareness and skills to work through the challenges of adaptation the local culture and learn to recognize their autonomy with the language. They will begin to appreciate the value of these language and intercultural skills.
This course builds upon skills introduced in Novice Abroad. By the end of the course, the successful student will have begun to develop some communicative and cultural self-confidence necessary to attempt moderately complex tasks in the language, as described in the learning outcomes below.
Prerequisites:
Proficiency at a level equivalent to IES Abroad’s Novice Abroad, as determined by placement test.
Attendance policy:
You must be present in every class session. Every absence must be justified. Being absent more than two times will decrease your final grade.
Learning outcomes:
Students who are placed in this level should be capable of achieving the outcomes in the Novice Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication.
By the end of the course, students will be able to achieve some of the outcomes for the Emerging Independent Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:
I. Intercultural Communication
A. Students will be able to solve some daily unexpected situations and meet needs with limited help.
B. Students will be able to make some informed comparisons between the host culture and the students’ home cultures.
C. Students will be able to distinguish between verbal and nonverbal communication that reflects politeness, formality, or informality.
D. Students will be able to recognize simple patterns of intonation and their meaning.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to understand some interactions (media, speeches, music, conversations, etc.), especially if the speaker is used to interacting with non-native speakers.
B. Students will be able to understand direct requests, questions, and simple conversations on familiar and concrete topics.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to talk to a certain extent about persons and things in their immediate environment, as well as their plans and their experiences.
B. Students will be able to address moderately complicated situations (unexpected questions, small group discussions, etc.) involving familiar subjects.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to read passages and short texts (notes, detailed instructions, websites, etc.) on familiar topics and understand the general meaning.
B. Students will be able to support their understanding of texts through the use of context, visual aids, dictionaries, or with the assistance of others in order to facilitate comprehension.
V. Writing
A. Students will be able to communicate with limited effectiveness through notes, emails, and simple online discussions.
B. Students will be able to write short essays on concrete topics of limited levels of complexity, with reliance on the communicative patterns of their native language.
Method of presentation:
This course is based on communicative approach methodology where students and teacher will work in a collaborative way, conceptualize new structure, vocabulary and learn culture from each other (interaction between the students and the teacher as well as between students). This implies working in class but also after class, especially with group projects.
15% Participation and behavior during class (oral participation, personal investment,seriousness of work, completion of homework)
20% « CORE » project : video project (¼ pertinence and clarity of the subject, ¼ speaking ability, ¼ seriousness of work, ¼ quality of vocabulary used)
25% Graded Assignments (oral and written comprehension, expression, grammar, vocabulary)
15% Midterm Exam (oral comprehension, written expression, grammar, vocabulary)
15% Final Exam (oral and writtencomprehension, written expression, culture, grammar, vocabulary)
content:
Week
Content
Assignments
Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)
Week 1, Intensive Session
1.Functional: politeness; describing an object, introducing someone and oneself, how to get information from someone, how to get directions, giving directions, talking about past events
2.Grammatical:
structure of a French sentence;
passé composé
present tense (review);
interrogatives (review);
space prepositions;
singular and plural (un, une, des, le, la, les) ; masculine and feminine (nouns and adjectives)
3.Vocabulary: food, stores, newspaper sections, expressions of time
4.Culture: what to do and not to do in Paris; differences between French and Americans in their everyday life; French and American stereotypes; gastronomy
Field trip to the Mouffetard neighborhood: discovering shops, open markets, the transportation system, cultural resources and history
5. Phonetics: the accents
Grammar exercises (verbs, nouns, adjectives)– Vocabulary exercises – discover Paris work
I.A, I.B, I.C, I.D, II.A, II.B,
Week 2, Intensive
1.Functional: how to present a newspaper article, talking about past events, how to describe in the past
2.Grammatical:
Passé composé
Past participle rules (I)
Imparfait
Adverbs: place in the sentences
Definite and indefinite articles and partitives
3.Vocabulary: differences between some verbs (savoir/connaître, revenir/ retourner/rentrer), quantity, units of measurement, expressions of time
4.Culture: French history, idiomatic expressions, la baguette, le croissant
Field trips to Le Marais and Montmartre
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
Graded quiz ending the intensive session
II.B, IV.A, IV.B
Week 1
1.Functional: how to approve and disapprove of someone
2.Grammatical: verbs with prepositions, adjectives
3.Vocabulary: health
4.Culture: French healthcare vs American healthcare
Read the text 2 page 7 of the manual and find the behaviors that Laurent disapproved of (find the expressions)
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
I.D, II.B, III.A, IV.B
Week 2
1.Functional: how to approve and disapprove of someone, how to congratulate someone, how to explain a medical problem; how to describe pain and symptom
2. Grammatical: expressions of time (il y a, depuis)
3.Vocabulary: health, object shapes, color
4.Culture: French parental education, French generations, ex: 30 year olds
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
II.A, III.B, IV.B
Week 3
1.Functional: describing objects, making comparisons; how to complain and make requests
2.Grammatical: comparison, superlatives
3. Vocabulary: description of objects continued: shapes, color, daily activities (getting ready, getting dressed, house cleaning…)
4.Culture: the French and money (role in society)
II.A, III.B, IV.A
Week 4
1.Functional: how to give someone advice; making comparisons; talking about past events, understanding oral resources
2. Grammatical: comparatives, superlatives, past tenses: passé composé vs imparfait
3.Vocabulary: traveling and sight-seeing (luggage, tickets)
4.Culture: French inventions
II.B, III.B
Week 5
1.Functional: talking about past events
2. Grammatical: passé composé vs imparfait
3. Vocabulary: expressions of time
4.Culture: movie genres
5. Phonetics: past vs present tenses
Write what you have done during your week end and give your comments
IV.B, V.A,
Week 6
1.Functional: talking about what happened
2.Grammatical: past tenses: passé composé vs imparfait
3.Vocabulary: animals
4.Culture: French symbols (I)
Mid-term exam (grammar, vocabulary, oral and written understanding)
I.B, II.A, IVA
Week 7
1.Functional: talking about future events, planning an event, expressing a hypothesis
2. Grammatical: futur simple
3.Vocabulary: media; press
4.Culture: the French media, humor in the press, body language
I.A, II.A, III.B, IV.B
Week 8
1.Functional: describing a landscape, complaining, talking about advantages and inconveniences of life in the city versus the countryside
2.Grammatical: pronouns (le, la, les, lui, leur), past participle rules (II)
3.Vocabulary: the media
4.Culture: French television, urban life vs countryside
I.D, II.A, III.A, IV.A, IV.B, V.A
Week 9
1.Functional: writing a personal letter, how to express obligation, prohibition, feelings, creating a list of rules
2.Grammatical: linking words, the imperative, the infinitive
3.Vocabulary: friendship, love relationship
4.Culture: French expressions of love, adding color to language, favorite French love stories
IV.B, V.B
Week 10
1.Functional: expressing your point of view, giving advice
2.Grammatical: relatives, duration
3.Vocabulary: expressions of time, geography, political and administration organization
4.Culture: French symbols (II); how French people express or don’t express their emotions
Video “CORE” presentations (all students)
I.D, I.E, II.B, V.A
Week 11
1.Functional: understanding SMS language, how to differentiate oral and written French
2.Grammatical: en & y, tout
3.Vocabulary: character and personality
4.Culture: the francophone world, evolution of the French language, different types of French (familiar, standard, polite French)
Reviewing assignment to prepare for the final
I.B, I.C, III.A, V.C
Week 12
1.Grammatical: review of everything
2.Vocabulary:review
3.Culture: Discussion of overall experience abroad
Final exam
Required readings:
À propos niveau A2 the manual, Catherine Metton, Annabelle Nachon, Fabienne Nugue et Cristelle Carenzi (ISBN : 9782706115691), Edition PUG
À propos niveau A2 the exercise book, Catherine Metton, Annabelle Nachon, Fabienne Nugue et Cristelle Carenzi (ISBN : 9782706115707), Edition PUG
Recommended readings:
Dictionnaire du français Le Robert & CLE International, sous la direction de Josette Rey-Debove, 1999.
Free newspapers: Direct Matin, 20 Minutes, Metro Paris, À nous Paris
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Trúc Long VÕ TRÂN earned a "DEA de didactique des langues et des cultures" from la Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris) and a « licence de droit » from Nanterre University. He has taught French as a second language for more than ten years in different schools (la Mairie de Paris, l’Alliance française de Paris, Nanterre University…) and as a freelancer in different firms. In 2000, his experience at South Orange Middle School (New Jersey) as a French teacher and assistant coach in cheerleading and his participation in other activities (cooking lessons, chess club) allowed him to see the United States and its population differently. He has been teaching at IES Abroad Paris since 2003 and currently teaches Business French in addition to French language.
French Language in Context: Emerging Independent Abroad I
This course will review and develop your practice and linguistic skills gained in previous levels. We shall do so around themes found throughout daily life in France, giving you useful knowledge to become better acquainted with Paris. Your motivation is fundamental to make it work as well as working as a group.
Research has demonstrated that study abroad can enhance every aspect of language ability. One of the most important general findings of this research is, however, that study abroad is most beneficial for the development of abilities related to social interaction. Students who go abroad are able to learn how to produce language in a variety of situations, such as the making of requests, the use of compliments and apologies, and they also may develop skills to interpret such interactions within the local cultural context…In short, and logically, study abroad has been show to enhance the aspects of communicative competence that are most difficult to foster in classroom settings (IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication, p. 6).
Student Profile
Students entering this level must be able to fulfill the learning outcomes of the Novice Abroad level, as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. Specifically, they should already be able to express themselves on a variety of concrete, everyday topics and meet their basic needs in the language. Although students may have been exposed previously to certain competencies taught at this level, they need additional practice and instruction to move toward mastery of these competencies.
As students gain more self-awareness and self-confidence, they will attempt more in the community. Paradoxically, this means they may also experience more miscommunications and frustration. Students will develop cultural awareness and skills to work through the challenges of adaptation the local culture and learn to recognize their autonomy with the language. They will begin to appreciate the value of these language and intercultural skills.
This course builds upon skills introduced in Novice Abroad. By the end of the course, the successful student will have begun to develop some communicative and cultural self-confidence necessary to attempt moderately complex tasks in the language, as described in the learning outcomes below.
Proficiency at a level equivalent to IES Abroad’s Novice Abroad, as determined by placement test.
You must be present in every class session. Every absence must be justified. Being absent more than two times will decrease your final grade.
Students who are placed in this level should be capable of achieving the outcomes in the Novice Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication.
By the end of the course, students will be able to achieve some of the outcomes for the Emerging Independent Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:
I. Intercultural Communication
A. Students will be able to solve some daily unexpected situations and meet needs with limited help.
B. Students will be able to make some informed comparisons between the host culture and the students’ home cultures.
C. Students will be able to distinguish between verbal and nonverbal communication that reflects politeness, formality, or informality.
D. Students will be able to recognize simple patterns of intonation and their meaning.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to understand some interactions (media, speeches, music, conversations, etc.), especially if the speaker is used to interacting with non-native speakers.
B. Students will be able to understand direct requests, questions, and simple conversations on familiar and concrete topics.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to talk to a certain extent about persons and things in their immediate environment, as well as their plans and their experiences.
B. Students will be able to address moderately complicated situations (unexpected questions, small group discussions, etc.) involving familiar subjects.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to read passages and short texts (notes, detailed instructions, websites, etc.) on familiar topics and understand the general meaning.
B. Students will be able to support their understanding of texts through the use of context, visual aids, dictionaries, or with the assistance of others in order to facilitate comprehension.
V. Writing
A. Students will be able to communicate with limited effectiveness through notes, emails, and simple online discussions.
B. Students will be able to write short essays on concrete topics of limited levels of complexity, with reliance on the communicative patterns of their native language.
This course is based on communicative approach methodology where students and teacher will work in a collaborative way, conceptualize new structure, vocabulary and learn culture from each other (interaction between the students and the teacher as well as between students). This implies working in class but also after class, especially with group projects.
Week
Content
Assignments
Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)
Week 1, Intensive Session
1.Functional: politeness; describing an object, introducing someone and oneself, how to get information from someone, how to get directions, giving directions, talking about past events
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary: food, stores, newspaper sections, expressions of time
4.Culture: what to do and not to do in Paris; differences between French and Americans in their everyday life; French and American stereotypes; gastronomy
Field trip to the Mouffetard neighborhood: discovering shops, open markets, the transportation system, cultural resources and history
5. Phonetics: the accents
Grammar exercises (verbs, nouns, adjectives)– Vocabulary exercises – discover Paris work
I.A, I.B, I.C, I.D, II.A, II.B,
Week 2, Intensive
1.Functional: how to present a newspaper article, talking about past events, how to describe in the past
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary: differences between some verbs (savoir/connaître, revenir/ retourner/rentrer), quantity, units of measurement, expressions of time
4.Culture: French history, idiomatic expressions, la baguette, le croissant
Field trips to Le Marais and Montmartre
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
Graded quiz ending the intensive session
II.B, IV.A, IV.B
Week 1
1.Functional: how to approve and disapprove of someone
2.Grammatical: verbs with prepositions, adjectives
3.Vocabulary: health
4.Culture: French healthcare vs American healthcare
Read the text 2 page 7 of the manual and find the behaviors that Laurent disapproved of (find the expressions)
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
I.D, II.B, III.A, IV.B
Week 2
1.Functional: how to approve and disapprove of someone, how to congratulate someone, how to explain a medical problem; how to describe pain and symptom
2. Grammatical: expressions of time (il y a, depuis)
3.Vocabulary: health, object shapes, color
4.Culture: French parental education, French generations, ex: 30 year olds
Grammar exercises – vocabulary exercises
II.A, III.B, IV.B
Week 3
1.Functional: describing objects, making comparisons; how to complain and make requests
2.Grammatical: comparison, superlatives
3. Vocabulary: description of objects continued: shapes, color, daily activities (getting ready, getting dressed, house cleaning…)
4.Culture: the French and money (role in society)
II.A, III.B, IV.A
Week 4
1.Functional: how to give someone advice; making comparisons; talking about past events, understanding oral resources
2. Grammatical: comparatives, superlatives, past tenses: passé composé vs imparfait
3.Vocabulary: traveling and sight-seeing (luggage, tickets)
4.Culture: French inventions
II.B, III.B
Week 5
1.Functional: talking about past events
2. Grammatical: passé composé vs imparfait
3. Vocabulary: expressions of time
4.Culture: movie genres
5. Phonetics: past vs present tenses
Write what you have done during your week end and give your comments
IV.B, V.A,
Week 6
1.Functional: talking about what happened
2.Grammatical: past tenses: passé composé vs imparfait
3.Vocabulary: animals
4.Culture: French symbols (I)
Mid-term exam (grammar, vocabulary, oral and written understanding)
I.B, II.A, IVA
Week 7
1.Functional: talking about future events, planning an event, expressing a hypothesis
2. Grammatical: futur simple
3.Vocabulary: media; press
4.Culture: the French media, humor in the press, body language
I.A, II.A, III.B, IV.B
Week 8
1.Functional: describing a landscape, complaining, talking about advantages and inconveniences of life in the city versus the countryside
2.Grammatical: pronouns (le, la, les, lui, leur), past participle rules (II)
3.Vocabulary: the media
4.Culture: French television, urban life vs countryside
I.D, II.A, III.A, IV.A, IV.B, V.A
Week 9
1.Functional: writing a personal letter, how to express obligation, prohibition, feelings, creating a list of rules
2.Grammatical: linking words, the imperative, the infinitive
3.Vocabulary: friendship, love relationship
4.Culture: French expressions of love, adding color to language, favorite French love stories
IV.B, V.B
Week 10
1.Functional: expressing your point of view, giving advice
2.Grammatical: relatives, duration
3.Vocabulary: expressions of time, geography, political and administration organization
4.Culture: French symbols (II); how French people express or don’t express their emotions
Video “CORE” presentations (all students)
I.D, I.E, II.B, V.A
Week 11
1.Functional: understanding SMS language, how to differentiate oral and written French
2.Grammatical: en & y, tout
3.Vocabulary: character and personality
4.Culture: the francophone world, evolution of the French language, different types of French (familiar, standard, polite French)
Reviewing assignment to prepare for the final
I.B, I.C, III.A, V.C
Week 12
1.Grammatical: review of everything
2.Vocabulary:review
3.Culture: Discussion of overall experience abroad
Final exam
À propos niveau A2 the manual, Catherine Metton, Annabelle Nachon, Fabienne Nugue et Cristelle Carenzi (ISBN : 9782706115691), Edition PUG
À propos niveau A2 the exercise book, Catherine Metton, Annabelle Nachon, Fabienne Nugue et Cristelle Carenzi (ISBN : 9782706115707), Edition PUG
Dictionnaire du français Le Robert & CLE International, sous la direction de Josette Rey-Debove, 1999.
Free newspapers: Direct Matin, 20 Minutes, Metro Paris, À nous Paris
Trúc Long VÕ TRÂN earned a "DEA de didactique des langues et des cultures" from la Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris) and a « licence de droit » from Nanterre University. He has taught French as a second language for more than ten years in different schools (la Mairie de Paris, l’Alliance française de Paris, Nanterre University…) and as a freelancer in different firms. In 2000, his experience at South Orange Middle School (New Jersey) as a French teacher and assistant coach in cheerleading and his participation in other activities (cooking lessons, chess club) allowed him to see the United States and its population differently. He has been teaching at IES Abroad Paris since 2003 and currently teaches Business French in addition to French language.