French Level 6

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Process and engage with extended native speech with ease, recognising explicit, implicit, and culturally relevant meanings.
• Interact with ease in a variety of social and professional contexts, conveying meaning precisely, persuasively and effectively, to adapt to the demands of each communicative context.
• Navigate and critique a broad range of complex fictional, non-fictional texts and specialised articles, and write clear and smoothly-flowing complex texts, employing conventions of a variety of genres and using sophisticated linguistic structures, register, style of C1.2 level.
• Demonstrate a high level of intercultural awareness in critically-appraising cultural, scientific practices and socio-political perspectives from French-speaking contexts, comparing these with your own backgrounds and contexts of practice.
• Expand your knowledge independently in using a range of language learning and research tools effectively to tackle sophisticated communication and cultural translation.

In this module, you will:

• Explore social and demographic trends in contemporary France, alongside cultural, economic and STEM-related issues from French-speaking contexts
• Work with advanced language structures, enhancing your awareness of discursive style, and register your understanding of linguistic purpose and function in practical situations
• Expand your essay-writing skills and engage critically with a broad range of texts (literary, scientific, etc.)
• Present, debate and/or report on current affairs
• Apply research strategies to data collection and presentation, producing texts and other relevant materials to a professional standard
• Work with different registers to improve communicative sophistication

In line with modern foreign languages communicative and active learning methodologies, the in-class activities you will complete will cover all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). These will include pair work and groupwork (critical evaluation of texts, audio and video material and discussion); individual tasks (presentations); discovery and formulation of grammatical rules. Homework and coursework tasks will give you the opportunity to revise and consolidate your knowledge and skills and to develop your awareness of how to use language-learning tools independently. Our approach not only ensures you engage with a wide range of tasks and activities, but also seeks to support different learning styles.

Your coursework will be marked and returned within two weeks. Rubrics and revision guidance (how-to guides) will be included as needed with each coursework. You will receive detailed feedback alongside suggestions for improvement and an overall percentage showing your provisional grade for that assessment.

• Coursework (15%): Mid-autumn term project-based coursework on the virtual learning environment: reading/ listening/ writing (450 words).
• Examination (10%): In-class test run on the virtual learning environment (bring your own device). This 1-hour test will take place at the end of autumn term and will be a 450-470 word-essay.
• Coursework (20%): Mid-spring term project-based coursework on the virtual learning environment: speaking (pre-recorded presentation: 8 minutes)/ writing (450 words).
• Examination (20%): In-class test run on the virtual learning environment (bring your own device). This 1-hour test will take place at the end of spring term and will be a 500-word essay.
• Practical (35%): Oral examination in the summer term, including presentation of topics and summary/commentary of text (25 minutes).

Assessment information for students on a course with a year abroad

• 7.5 ECTS points awarded on successful completion of the module.
• Available to take for credit towards your degree where your department allows. Also available for extra credit.
• You must be prepared to attend all classes and and undertake approximately 3 hours of private study each week in addition to the assessment.

Grammar support:
Students need a good grammar reference book such as French Grammar and Usage, Fourth edition by Roger Hawkins, Richard Towell, Routledge 2015. ISBN: 978-1138851108

Additional material:
Prescribed text (autumn term): Bel-Ami de Guy de Maupassant. ISBN-10: 2218991454// ISBN-13: 978-2218991455. Published by Hatier, 2016

Articles from contemporary French press and scientific journals supplemented by audio and video material, films and literary texts: TBC.

Further information for Year Abroad/ Year-in-Europe Students
Further information for BSc Hons and MSc Language for Science Degrees