Ateneo - UPO

French Language I

Reference text to be used for the entire three-year course: Françoise Bidaud, "La nouvelle grammaire du français pour italophones," Turin, Utet, 2015 (third edition), ISBN 978-8860084583. For non-attending students only: F. Bidaud, "Exercices de français pour italophones," Turin, Utet, 2016, ISBN: 9788860084675 (or 2021 edition, ISBN-10 : 8860086523).

The objectives are those recommended at B1 Level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR): https://europass.europa.eu/it/common-european-framework-reference-language-skills.

Group C (GR3) is aimed at those who have never studied the French language, or those who over the years have lost the knowledge and skills acquired during their period of study. Groupe placement will be carried out through a compulsory test to be taken during the first lesson of the course, intended to verify the level of linguistic competence.

Lectures supported by audiovisual aids (lecture-based instruction: approximately 50%). Interaction among students, and between students and instructors; in-class correction of exercises (interactive instruction: approximately 50%). The course's DIR page features exercises to be completed independently, as well as supplementary and in-depth instructional materials, which serve as an essential complement to classroom activities.

The DIR service will provide detailed programs, instructions for the obligatory work, examples of written tests, exercise sheets, and dictations to be made. Students with disabilities or with Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) or Special Educational Needs (BES) may request specific services and tools dedicated to them by contacting the Career Development and Coordination Staff and Student Services and consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studenti-disabili-e-dsa Students with disabilities, DSA, BES, once they have contacted the University Staff, may contact the teacher in charge of the course in relation to the declination of the examination methods, with regard to teaching aspects.

One written exam and one oral exam. Written exam (total duration: 3 hours) consisting of a grammar test (60 questions; graded out of 30) and a written comprehension and production test (graded out of 30). Passing both tests with a minimum grade of 18/30 is required to pass the entire exam. Please note that if the grammar test is passed but the written comprehension and production test is not, the grammar test grade can be retained for the entire academic year; therefore, students will only need to retake the written comprehension and production test in subsequent exam sessions. The overall grade for the written exam is the average of the grades of its two component tests. Grading will be divided into 5 bands:(1) Excellent (30 with honors/30): Excellent knowledge of all course content and full mastery of all expected skills; precise, correct, and effective expression.(2) Very Good (30-28/30): Very good knowledge of all course content and achievement of all expected skills; expression free of significant errors.(3) Good (27-24/30): Good knowledge of course content and satisfactory achievement of all expected skills; overall correct expression.(4) Sufficient/Pass (23-18/30): Acceptable knowledge of course content and sufficient achievement of expected skills; presence of some errors in expression.(5) Insufficient/Fail (less than 18): Partial and superficial knowledge of course content and failure to achieve expected skills; expression marred by numerous errors. Once the written exam is successfully passed, students may take the oral exam, which consists of presenting the mandatory work monitored during the academic year. Students will be given the opportunity to take an early session of the summer oral exam during the final classes of the course, provided they submit the mandatory work by May 2027 (please remember to carefully follow the instructions provided on the DIR platform and to respect the deadlines). Those who do not submit the mandatory work on time will not be allowed to take the early exam session under any circumstances. The oral exam awards a maximum of 3 points (1 for fluency, 1 for grammatical accuracy, 1 for phonological correctness according to the objectives stated for the CEFR B1 level): the overall grade for the French Language I course is obtained by adding the grade achieved in the written exam and the points earned in the oral exam. The ability to apply grammatical rules is assessed both in the first test of the written exam and in the oral exam; written comprehension and production skills are assessed in the second test of the written exam; the ability to express personal opinions is assessed both in the second test of the written exam and in the oral exam. Learning and study skills are assessed in both the written and oral exams, during which students must apply all the skills developed throughout the course.

Study of French grammar (CEFR B1 level); study of phonology and phonetics (introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet; phonetic transcription; practice in pronunciation and dictation); development of B1-level written and oral production and comprehension skills; acquisition of idioms. Throughout the course, the teacher will monitor a mandatory individual assignment, which is required to take the oral exam and is described in detail on the course DIR page. Ten hours of the course, taught by Prof. Maurizio Busca, will be dedicated to an in-depth morphosyntactic study from a contrastive perspective (Italian / French).

Achievement of the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the various skills: understanding the main points of clear standard speech or written text on familiar matters, current affairs, or topics of personal interest to the students; ability to deal with most routine situations likely to arise when interacting with French speakers and to enter into conversations on familiar topics, matters of personal interest, or daily life; ability to briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans; ability to write simple connected texts on topics which are familiar or of personal interest.