Professeur:

Dr. D. Brian Mann

Coordinées:

• Bureau: Dunlap 314A
• Téléphone: 864-1961
• I-mèl: bmann@ngcsu.edu.  J’aurai un site-toile prochainement.

Heures au bureau:

À décider.  Normalement, j’arrive vers 8h, alors c’est un bon moment pour me contacter.

Matériaux obligatoires:

• Baker/Cauvin, Panaché Littéraire
• Audiocassette à 90 minutes, normal bias.  Pour minimiser le risque de cassage, je préfère les marques de haute qualité suivantes: BASF, FUJI, JVC, Maxell, Memorex, Sony, et TDK.
• À ce point dans vos études, vous avez besoin d’un bon dictionnaire bilingue.

2 examens, 2 récitations, 4 compositions*, exercices de compréhension et transcription, contrôles de vocabulaire et de grammaire, examen final.

 Travail continu et indépendant:  Lecture des textes, exercices de prononciation et d'écoute (labo), exposé.

 Évaluation:   Examens 25%, *Compositions de première importance 25%,  Travail quotidien 25%,  Examen final 25%

 Description officielle du cours (en anglais pour notre public):

• “Prerequisite: FREN 2001 and 2002,  or departmental permission.  Practice in conversational French based on discussions of texts and audio-visual media.  Emphasis on vocabulary building, improved fluency, and ability to state an opinion, defend a position, get information, and resolve problems as well as discuss abstract topics.  Class conducted in French” (Bulletin 191)

Course Objectives:

• To continue the development of the communicative skills of listening and speaking in French with the purpose of facilitating sophisticated, personalized exchange with native speakers in the target language.
• To augment existing reading, writing, and interpretive skills with the purpose of acquiring a high degree of literacy in the target language.
•  To be able to understand and benefit from various sources of electronic media, such as radio, TV, film, and the web.

• Guided communicative activities between professor and students in a whole-class situation.
• Review of written homework.
• Memorization, recitation, and transcription exercises.
• Work with electronic media, including audio and video cassettes, internet, film, and music.

Final Grade:  Your final grade will reflect your performance in the course of the semester and will be determined in the following manner:
 

• 2 scheduled exams: 25%.  The scores for the exams will be averaged.
• Daily work: 25%.  Homework, lab work, pop quizzes, and oral practice, credit for which is dependent upon DAILY ATTENDANCE (see following page).  I will divide this portion of your grade into three equal parts: Oral performance, quizzes, and homework.  Your quizzes and homework grades*  will be averaged, and your oral performance grade will be compiled from the various oral exercises.
• Compositions: 25%  Although I would like to decide on specific topics based on student interests, they will arise from either the readings or other class activities.  They must be typed on the computer, which will facilitate their revision.
•  Final exam: 25%.  The written portion of this exam will be take home, and the oral portion will consist of an oral exposé on a subject of your choice.  You will first present it to your colleagues, and then make an appointment to discuss the topic with me at the end of the semester over coffee.
• * Homework earns a ? (for completing the assignment as required), a ?- (for sub-standard work), and a ?+ (for a decidedly superior effort that indicates to me you were really serious about learning from the assignment).  A ? is worth one homework assignment, a ?- counts for half credit, and a ?+ counts for 1.5 homework assignments.  The accumulated extra points you earn here will compensate for missed quizzes or homework, a low test score, or just raising your overall average.  Don’t overlook this opportunity for success!!

Discipline/Academic dishonesty:  The language learning environment is a delicate one, and I work hard to initiate and maintain it.  Therefore, disruptive behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Students are also expected to follow the Academic Integrity Policy of North Georgia College and State University, found on pages 64-67 of the 1998-2000 Undergraduate Bulletin, and to adhere to the integrity code: “On my honor I will not lie, cheat, steal, plagiarize, evade the truth or tolerate those who do” (p. 65).  Violations will be referred to the Academic Integrity Council.

Attendance policy:  In French 4450, I expect you to uphold the standards of the institution to whose curriculum this class belongs: "The university expects all students to attend all regularly scheduled for instruction an examination” (Bulletin p. 59).  Although I understand that circumstances beyond your control or your own personal priorities might lead you to miss class, this university insists that you take responsibility for the decisions you make regarding attendance: “The student is responsible for all material presented in class and for all announcements and assignments” (p. 59).

Because of the cumulative nature of language learning, missing class will put your grade at risk almost immediately.  Daily assignments can always be obtained from the instructor or a classmate, but there is no make-up for missed pop-quizzes, homework, lab work, or the daily practice necessary for the development of proficiency in the target language.  In addition, there is no make-up if you miss a scheduled exam without informing me in advance of your situation. Rather, the score on the subsequent scheduled exam will count twice.

When absences become numerous, the university gives me the authority to make unpleasant decisions about your enrollment that affect your academic standing: “If the total number of a student’s absences exceeds 14% of the scheduled classes [in our case 6], it shall become the prerogative of the instructor to drop the student from the class roll with a W or WF, or to continue the student in class” (p. 59).  I want you to have every opportunity to succeed in this class, but I expect you to be adult enough to speak with me privately about any personal situation that causes or might cause you to miss more than six classes.  If you don’t, I must assume that you are acting irresponsibly and I will remove you from the roster.  By the way, two tardies count as one absence.  And remember: it is your responsibility to be informed of the deadlines concerning your student status or any changes in your registration.

The Nitty Gritty:  French 4450 is a course designed to build your proficiency in the productive skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Our text, Panaché Littéraire, offers a wide variety of literary selections.  I have chosen enough to get us through the first third of the semester, but I will choose the rest once we get started and I know you all a little better.  This way, I can maximize the opportunity for conversation.  It goes without saying that if I choose a selection about which nobody has an opinion, we’re likely to have little to say.  And because FREN 4450 is essentially a conversation course, I do not want to spend too much class time explicitly on grammar.  Like the operating system of a computer, however, grammar drives all of our language functions, and I think it is important that we refine our use and understanding of the French grammatical system (notice I said "we").  Therefore, we’ll be doing some of the grammar exercises in the book.

This is fourth-year course, and I assume that all of us are serious students of French.  I expect you to be present and on time every day, and I expect all written work to be turned in on time, whether you are present in class or not.  We will be working hard, covering a lot of material, and spending a lot of time doing so.  Three hours per week in class assumes at least six in preparation, but if we invest this time judiciously as we go along, our class will run smoothly, and we will finish the course far more able to communicate in French than at the beginning of the course (notice I said "we" again).

The two scheduled exams will have an oral component, and the final will be take-home.  The four major compositions should be typed on a computer, which may be new for you, but since you will be revising these compositions, having them on disk will pay off in the long run.  It also helps you avoid the kind of mechanical rewriting in which you leave things out accidentally.  I may ask you to  present your ideas to your classmates, attend lectures or films, or do anything else (well, almost anything else) that presents itself as an opportunity for improvement of language skills.

I cannot overstate the importance of the language and computer laboratories for practicing your language skills.  I expect you to spend at least an hour every week either trolling the web for interesting Francophone sites or working with media I dig up for our course.  I am not a native speaker of French, so if you rely only on me as a model for your language skills, you are doing yourself an injustice.

I have provided a programme for your reference, to which we will adhere to the best of our ability.  It describes what I expect you (and myself) to have prepared chez vous for that day.  It is only a guide, as we might not always get to  everything on the programme, or I might find something I want to add in to enhance our conversations.   By the way,  I need you to let me know if you are having difficulties with the course or its content.  This is your responsibility to yourself and to your classmates, just as it is my responsibility to help you learn as much French as you can.

The French 4450 course is a new course for me as well as for you.  I am new to NGCSU, and I am taking risks in the preparation of our agenda, just as you have taken risks in signing up.   However, it is this element of risk that I hope will generate spontaneous, sincere, and genuine opportunities for learning among us, and lead to the formation of a cohesive group of classmates who become friends through our common interest in the French language.  As you know by now, learning a language is never easy, and when it comes right down to it, we are really on our own in doing so.  My experience has been that a cooperative effort is the best way to achieve  our goals, and is even essential to our success.  I am a student too, far from perfect, and as I show you how to learn some of the things I have learned, I want to learn from you.  This is why I like to call this course "Le Français sans filet."  Au fur et à mesure, amusons-nous!

 * I may find it necessary to adjust the calendar for any or all of these activities save for the final exam, and as the semester progresses, I will update this sheet as necessary.

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