Professeur: Dr. D. Brian Mann

Coordinées:

• Bureau: Dunlap 314C, NGCSU
• Téléphone: 706/864-1961
• I-mèl: bmann@ngcsu.edu.
• Site ouèbe: faculty.northgeorgia.edu/bmann

Heures de bureau: À annoncer et à poster sur internet et la porte de Dunlap 314C.  

Materiaux Obligatoires:

• Bragger, Jeanette et Donald Rice, Du tac au Tac, 2nd edition, Heinle & Heinle 1991.
• Coffman-Crocker, Mary, French Grammar, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill 1999.
• 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, un dictionnaire bilingue d'une sophistication considérable est essentiel pour la lecture et pour la composition de vos travaux.

Travaux communs:

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

Travail continu et indépendant:  Lecture des textes, devoirs, exercices de prononciation et d'écoute (labo), exposé.  Il vous faudra une lecture et une pratique régulière pour faciliter et guider nos discussions quotidiennes. Je vous en chargerai à l'improviste, alors il vous faudra aussi une assistance quotidienne soigneusement ménagée pour en profiter (cf. en bas).

•  Vos devoirs gagneront un "check" (fait comme il faut), un "check minus" (effort décidément inférieur), et un "check plus (effort supérieur qui m'indique un désir de profiter autant que possible du travail). Un "check" vaut 1 devoir, un "check minus" comptera la moitié, and a "check plus" qualifie pour un supplément de ,25 devoirs chacun. Les points accumulés de cette façon vous récompenseront pour les difficultés éprouvées au cours des autres travaux. Ne perdez pas cette occasion ! ! Les travaux incomplets ou équivoqués vous seront rendus (I), et vous pouvez les remettre en considération le jour suivant pour un crédit 50% ("check minus").

• L'examen final** comprendra 25% de la note finale.  À NOTER: « The final exam is a scheduled part of the class. When a student registers for a class, he or she is registering for the scheduled final examination as well. Therefore, it is the student's responsibility to be available to take the examination at the times scheduled » (Bulletin p. 5). Si vous anticipez quelque difficulté là dessus, vous pouvez m'adresser une pétition, mais soyez avisés que les considérations personnelles (projets de vacances, réservations d'avion, etc.) ne justifieront pas un changement d'horaire.

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

Le plagiat est plus souvent une erreur d'omission qu'un acte de défi, mais le résultat est le même: on a violé les droits intellectuels d'un autre. La recherche consiste à respecter ces droits en citant les mots ou les idées de cet autre dans notre propre travail, et le plagiat consiste à les y mettre sans attribution. Commise par libre arbitre ou par mégarde innocente, une telle erreur suscitera la réaction la plus sévère.

Présence et préparation en cours: « The university expects all students to attend all regularly scheduled for instruction an examination » (Bulletin 59). Bien que les circonstances puissent causer votre absence de temps en temps, la responsabilité de suivre les règlements exigés par ce cours est la vôtre : « The student is responsible for all material presented in class and for all announcements and assignments » (59). Quatre absences sont permises dans ce cours pour des raisons constatées dans le Bulletin. Avec votre cinquième absence, pour quelque raison qu'il soit, vous risquez votre déménagement involontaire du cours ou une note de WF : « If the total number of a student's absences exceeds 14% of the scheduled classes, 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 » (60).

En plus, aucun travail quotidien sera accepté en retard, et la non-assistance à toute activité quotidienne est irrémédiable. Si vous êtes absent(e) pour l'un des 2 examens  le prochain examen comptera deux fois. Si vous ratez le dernier examen, la note sera l'équivalent de celle de votre examen final. Toutes les deux arrivées en retard (ou les départs précoces) compteront pour une absence. Évidemment, pour réussir dans ce cours, votre présence est essentielle!

The Nitty Gritty (en anglais pour notre public):  

French 3450 is a course designed to build your proficiency in the productive skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Our text, Du Tac au tac (a fencing term that means roughly "to parry the thrust"), offers a functional/notional approach to French conversation.  Instead of being organized around grammar structures like most elementary and intermediate texts, it is organized around linguistic functions: e.g. greeting people, introducing yourself, making requests, etc.  Because FREN 3450 IS essentially a conversation course, I do not want to spend too much class time explicitly on grammar.  However, like the operating system of a computer, 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 work with some of the exercises in the grammar book as I perceive their necessity to improving our mastery of a particular linguistic function.

This is a third-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, as will the final.  You will also offer an oral "exposé" to the class.  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 also 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 will also look into organizing a campus French conversation group and convening meetings at the local French café.  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.

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.  As you have perhaps noted from my use of the pronoun "we," 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.  For those who already know me, this will indeed be another version of "French Without a Net." Au fur et à mesure, amusons-nous!

Click here for a copy of the Questionnaire/Office Hour Request/Concurrence Voucher.  Sign it, date it, and turn it in to me as soon as possible, as I cannot process any grades for you until you do so.

Click here for a copy of the course schedule.  It is subject to change, and does not reflect daily assignments.  Consult "Devoirs" from my home page for these.

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