Instructor:  D. Brian Mann, Ph.D.

Coordinates:

• Office: Dunlap 314 C
• Telephone: 864-1961
• E-Mail: bmann@ngcsu.edu.
• Web: faculty.northgeorgia.edu/bmann

Required Materials:

• Vis-à-vis (3^rd ed.) by Amon, Muskens, and Omaggio Hadley
• Workbook/Lab Manual for Vis-à-vis  
• Vis-à-vis CD ROM

• 501 French Verbs by Kendris or Le Bescherelle: Dictionnaire des verbes français
• A good French/English dictionary that includes explanations and idiomatic expressions. Cassell's, Collins-Robert, Harrap's are all good.
• 90-minute, normal-bias audio cassette for recording the lab programs. To minimize risk of breakage, I recommend a high-quality tape such as BASF, FUJI, JVC, Maxell, Memorex, Sony, or TDK.
  

Course Objectives:

• To continue developing the communicative skills of listening and speaking in French with the purpose of facilitating personalized exchange in the target language.
• To augment existing reading and writing skills with the purpose of acquiring intermediate literacy in the target language.
• To learn more about the ethnic, racial and cultural diversity within France and the Francophone world.
• To become more conversant with the relatedness of all cultures and to begin to understand those of the Francophone world.

• Guided communicative and cognitive activities involving professor and students in a whole-class situation.
• Small group cognitive and communicative activities and practice.
• Frequent review and submission of written homework.
• Explanations of essential grammatical structures.
• Internet activities and exercises.
• Video and audio materials
• Laboratory work.

• 3 scheduled exams: 40%. The scores for these three exams will be averaged together.
• Daily work: 35%. Homework, lab work, "pop" and announced quizzes, miscellaneous activities, and your willingness to practice the language in class and in the lab. Credit for this depends upon rigorous DAILY ATTENDANCE (see below). For grading purposes, I will divide this portion of your grade into three equal parts: Quizzes & Compositions, Laboratory work, and Homework. Your quizzes, compositions, and homework grades will be averaged and your lab grade will be compiled from your attendance in the lab as well as the tapes/lab assignments/audio files you turn in. It will be averaged in with the rest of your daily grades.

NOTA BENE: Homework earns a "check" (for completing the assignment as required), a "check minus" (for sub-standard work), and a "check plus" (for a decidedly superior effort that indicates to me you were really serious about learning from the assignment). A check is worth one homework assignment (100%), a check minus counts for 50% credit, and a check plus qualifies for 110% of the assignment's regular value. The accumulated extra points you earn here can compensate for missed quizzes or homework, a low test score, or just raise your overall average by a few points. Don't overlook this opportunity for success, and give your 110%!! 

Incomplete or significantly problematic assignments will be returned marked incomplete (I) or redo (R), and can be resubmitted the following class period only for 70% credit. Do not confuse these two categories. Incomplete usually means that you've omitted one or more sections of an assignment, and redo means that you've either misinterpreted an assignment or perhaps done it incorrectly in a global sort of way. In either case, you must complete or redo whatever section(s) I have indicated on a separate sheet of paper and hand it in along with the original in order to receive credit. Also, do not do this in class after I hand one back to you, as I will not accept it. This is because not only can you not concentrate on what went wrong with the assignment properly, but you won't be able to concentrate on the material at hand.

All compositions, whether they are drafts or revised documents, must follow the following format:

• Double-spaced throughout
• No header, only your name in the upper right or left-hand corner (I'm tired of double or triple-spaced headers that take up eight or ten lines and make the text run further down the page.)
• The title, if appropriate, one line below the name line
• 1" margins (not the 1.25" Microsoft default margins)
• 12 pt. font
• Word count at the end of the composition

I make all assignments, announcements, and other information pertinent to the daily running of the course available on the web, so I do not post them during class. Just click on the "Devoirs" link on my website to find out what's due or coming up. There are a number of very good reasons for this! Writing it on the board wastes valuable class time, and copying it at the end of class can cause you to be late for your next one. It can also make you miss something important as it's discussed. The main reason, however, is pedagogical: I make my decisions on what to assign you only after I've seen what you can do with the current material. Sometimes this means that I have to look over a current assignment, and sometimes it means that I need to judge your oral performance in class on a certain topic before I decide how to proceed. In any case, it allows me to make a sound and considered judgment of what we should do for the next class period rather than making a decision "on the fly." I post everything soon as I can, which usually means later that day. On occasion, I can't until the next day, but this doesn't happen often. If there's no post, there's no homework.

There's another advantage to this approach; if you must miss class, you can get the assignments easily once I post them. Understand, however, that to receive credit for an assignment, you must get your work to me BEFORE the class you miss is held. In addition, since you are missing that class, you cannot get a "check plus" on that assignment. By the way, I have e-mail, office hours, and a telephone, so technical problems with the web site or the network are no excuse for not turning in an assignment. By the way, be sure your browser updates the view every time the page loads or click "refresh" to make sure you've got the latest version of the page.

Another issue that often comes up in student evaluations regarding homework is the fact that I usually ask you to read, study, and complete assignments on material before we cover it in class. Again, there is a very good pedagogical reason for this. If you work with a concept before class, even if you don't understand it, the classroom coverage of that material will still be a review. Then, when we review it once again before moving on, usually the following day, you've activated the material three times, not two. This is a superior strategy, especially in language learning.  As we all know, learning from our mistakes is a very effective way of learning, because we end up seeing how to do things right as well as what the pitfalls are. As Mark Twain has pointed out, a man who has carried a cat home by the tail has learned worlds more than a man who hasn't.

• Final exam: 25%. The emphasis on the comprehensive final exam reflects the fact that French 1001 is part of a 4-semester sequence. You must thus demonstrate at the end of each semester that you have acquired the skills to succeed in the following course. There will be a written and an oral component to the exam weighted at 80%/20% respectively.

N.B. 2: "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" ( http://apache.northgeorgia.edu/events/sprgexam.htm ). If you think you will have difficulty doing so, you may petition the department for an exception, but none will be made for such things as advance plane reservations, vacation plans, etc. You must see me to get this process underway no later than April 1.

Attendance policy: 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 classes for instruction and examination" (Bulletin p. 67). 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. 67).

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 quizzes, dictées, homework, lab work, or the daily practice necessary for the development of proficiency in the target language. In addition, there is no make-up for scheduled exams. Rather, the score on the subsequent scheduled exam will count twice.

If your absences become numerous, the University gives me the authority to make unpleasant decisions about your enrollment that will 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. 60). 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 will either remove you from the roster or just let you fail the course. Two tardies count as one absence as do two early departures, and I get to answer any cell phone calls you may receive in class (in French, of course).  And remember: it is your responsibility to be informed of the deadlines concerning your student status or any changes in your registration.

The Language Lab: Because listening and responding to the speech patterns of native speakers is so important, you are required to work with the Vis-à-vis audiocassettes, Vis-à-vis multimedia program, or other French-related materials for a minimum of 50 minutes per week (not per lesson). You must complete the listening and workbook exercises for each lesson while we are covering that lesson in class, and I will let you know what I want you to turn in when we get to the end of the chapter. As in the case of regular homework, no credit is given for lab tapes, audio files, or exercises turned in after the due date or not properly submitted.

It is your responsibility to go to the lab, make sure your attendance is documented, and verify that your tapes have the proper lessons recorded on them. It is also your responsibility to make sure that your responses to the exercises are properly recorded either on the tapes or in digital format for me to review. You also have your CD ROM's, which contain the Vidéothèque, our text's video program, as well as other supplementary exercises. This program is also on some of the lab's computers. I may also ask you to use the Internet, watch French films, and/or read an article on French culture, politics, history, etc. Dr. Chesnut has put together a series of exercises on the web, and you can find the link under "Student Resources" on my website. There are also instructions on recording tapes and sound files as well as other useful information. The website for our textbook offers additional activities for practice and enhancement of your skills at the textbook website.

N.B. 3: There is always new equipment and software coming into the lab, and there will be always a learning curve for us as we all learn how to use it. Procedures and hardware/software configurations often change, and I may not always be informed on these changes. I will try to be reasonable about any problems that occur, but I still expect you to fulfill the lab requirement within the parameters of the lab's availability. Be sure to keep up on the lab schedule, as sometimes it is closed for whole-class activities. Again, I will not make deadline changes due to computer system problems or lab closures.

Class participation: I expect you to prepare the basic grammar and vocabulary lessons at home, usually before we cover them in class. By doing so, you will make it possible for us to spend a larger portion of class time speaking and practicing French and resolving problems. I expect you to keep abreast of the upcoming material in the textbook and to do exercises in the workbook, then to come to class with any questions you might have. Bring both books with you every day. On some of the more difficult grammar items, I will make introductory explanations in class before asking you to study the material at home, but your advance preparation will make understanding these concepts much easier. If you do not prepare in advance, it is unlikely that you will be able to keep up with the pace. Any time you are having trouble, of course, you should see me and/or the tutor in the lab as soon as possible.

Aspects of Leadership in French 1002: On the surface, this course may not seem to offer much in the way of the leadership training that NGCSU maintains as one of its most important missions. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you have studied this syllabus carefully, you have noticed that exercising your personal responsibility is the key to success.  I will prepare my lessons and administer the course, but I leave it to you to come to class, do your work, go to lab, study regularly, take advantage of your resources, see me or a tutor if you have academic problems, and make sure I am aware of any personal challenges you are facing.  These are your duties to yourself and to your ultimate goal of completing your degree, even if it isn't in French.

This kind of behavior not only sets an example for others, but it assures you that either your success or your failure is truly yours.  I cannot make you learn.  I can only show you how, and I do so by offering you the appropriate challenges.  Face them like an adult, ask for help when you need it, and accept your real weaknesses with responsibility.  Doing so will not only help you in this course, but it will help you in all your classes and throughout your life.  These, I believe, are the basic qualities of an effective leader.  From there you can work on your capacity to help others, which, as you will see, is another important part of this course.  It goes without saying that if you are in a situation that requires French and you're the only one around who knows any, you're going to be a leader.  Nothing is more powerless than a person who can neither understand what's going on around her nor communicate her needs.

ADA Statement: North Georgia College & State University is committed to equal access to its programs, services, and activities for individuals with disabilities. If you believe that you have a disability requiring an accommodation, reasonable prior notice must be given to the instructor and the Office of Student Disability Resources. Please contact Mr. Rodney E. Pennamon, Coordinator Office of Student Disability Resources, at Barnes Hall, Room 221 or call 867-2782.

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. It counts for a homework grade, and I will not 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 the "Devoirs" link on my website for those.

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