Syllabus

 FR 201: Intermediate French 

Instructor: Dr. Julie Human                                   Semester: Spring 2013

Office: Patterson Office Tower 1035                     Section: FR 201-002

Office hours: M 12:30p-3p & by appointment        Class days & time: MWF 10-10:50a

Office Telephone: (859) 257-8681                        Classroom: Chem Phys 211

Email: julie.human@gmail.com*                              Website: https://fr201.wordpress.com/

*preferred contact method

Course Description

Reading, conversation and oral comprehension are the basic aims of this course, which is structured around contemporary texts.  3 credit hours.

In this course, you will improve your French skills, adding to your previous work in the language.  Please note that you will be expected to prepare for this course before each class meeting.  The reason for this is simple:  in a language course, you are learning skills in addition to facts; in other words, at the end of the semester you will be expected to do certain things, in addition to knowing them.  Therefore, success will require daily practice—you cannot “cram” for a French exam any more successfully than you can for a basketball game. Your daily practice will take the following forms: study and review, homework, and class participation.

The class will be conducted entirely (or almost entirely) in French as we develop all four skills of the language:  listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word you hear—if you focus on communicating only in French in class, you will soon find the language beginning to come naturally to you.   

Prerequisites

FR 102 or FR 106 at the University of Kentucky with a grade of D or higher; or a placement exam score of 315 or higher; or permission from Director of Beginning French, Dr. Stephanie Coker, POT 1021, stephanie.coker@uky.edu.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this semester you should be able to accomplish the chapter tasks below while using appropriate vocabulary and grammar.

  • Chapter 1:  You will explore francophone Louisiana, talk about travel and work in the francophone world, review greetings and introductions as well as preferences and routines.
  • Chapter 2:  You will explore Haiti and gastronomy of the francophone world.  You will also formulate invitations, pose questions, learn restaurant interactions, as well as give orders, encourage or warn someone, and describe events in the past.
  • Chapter 3:  You will explore Paris and discover clothing in the francophone world.  You will also describe people, clothes, and events in the past.
  • Chapter 4:  You will explore Maghreb culture and discover music of the francophone world.  You will also describe family members and their personalities, express disagreement and agreement, ask questions, express nostalgia and describe events in the past with more precision.
  • Chapter 5:  You will explore the cultures and history of the French DOM-TOM, the European Union and discover media and press of the francophone world.  You will also talk about news and events, express hopes and emotions, tell others about a story and give opinions and advice.
  • You will learn to write creatively in French while developing your own fictional story over the course of the semester.

Required Materials

The following materials are required and are available at university bookstores.  You need your textbook from the very beginning of the course; you will have homework using it due the second day of class.  Please be sure the bundle you purchase includes the textbook and a code to access the online workbook.

  • Intrigue, 3rd ed. (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011)
  • Access code for online workbook to accompany Intrigue: http://www.myfrenchlab.com.   You will need to purchase an individual access code for MyFrenchLab when you purchase your textbook.  Course ID: CRSKLNV-2004490. (The course ID and the individual access code are different, and you need both to create your MyFrenchLab account).

Course Assignments

Daily Homework                                            15%

  • You will have homework in the textbook to complete each day before coming to class. These exercises, which you will do before the material is treated in class, will serve as your first round of practice.  Generally, I will circulate in class and give homework grades based on whether or not you have completed the assignment.  Occasionally I may collect these and give grades based on accuracy.  For detailed assignments, see our course website (https://fr201.wordpress.com/homework/) and download the chapter set you need.
  • After we cover the topics in class that you prepared for homework, you will be assigned activities in the online workbook, MyFrenchLab (http://myfrenchlab.com/), to reinforce your comprehension of grammar and vocabulary.  These assignments will be accessible on the MFL website, and will NOT be listed individually on the homework sheets.  I grade the online homework on quiz days, so you must have completed all the work due prior to each quiz in order to earn credit for it.

Daily Participation                                          20%

  • After your first contact with each lesson at home, we will spend some time in class working with the material. In most cases, in-class explanations of the material will be brief, and in French; the majority of class time will be spent using and practicingwhat you have learned. Specifically, class time will focus on speaking the language, since your at-home study will most likely emphasize reading and writing.
  • You can earn up to 5 points each day for participation.  In order to earn the full 5 points, you should complete your homework before class, arrive on time and stay the entire class period, volunteer to speak or ask a question at least once per class period, speak often and willingly during group and partner work, and speak only in French.  You should also refrain from using electronic devices for anything other than class-related activities.  You will lose one point each for each of the following reasons:  tardiness, incomplete homework, speaking English, lack of volunteering, lack of cooperation during group/partner work, sleeping or otherwise not paying attention, using electronic devices for purposes other than those required by class, or reading or working on material that is not related to class.  Disruptive or disrespectful behavior will result in a zero for that day’s participation grade.  If you must be absent and provide documentation for an excused absence, you will neither earn nor lose participation points for the class period in question.
  • Pop quizzes may also count towards your daily participation grade.  These will generally not be announced, and will check your preparation of the assigned material.

Chapter Quizzes                                              15%

  • Chapter quizzes will be given to assess your progress in the class.  See the course schedule for planned quiz dates. There will be no make-ups for unexcused absences.

In-Class Compositions                                    15%

  • This semester, we will follow characters in the textbook as they work to solve the mystery of a missing manuscript.  You will also write your own mystery story in stages, with different parts of your story due as compositions over the course of the semester.  See the course schedule for due dates.  Each specific composition assignment will be included on chapter homework sheets, and an outline of all the composition assignments is available on the course website under Homework.  Please see the course policy on academic integrity for some important information about plagiarism to consider as you prepare to write your compositions.  I encourage you to start thinking now about what kind of story you would like to tell.
  • You will write your composition in class.  You may bring in notes written on a note-card or a half-sheet of paper.  These notes can consist of plot points, vocabulary words, character names, an outline; you may not include any full sentences.
  • You have the option of submitting revisions of all compositions for up to one letter grade’s worth of extra credit on the assignment.  For example, if you make a clear effort to correct every mistake, and your original grade was a 78%, your new grade would be an 88%.  No grade will exceed 100%, so if you originally earn a 95% and correct every mistake, the maximum number of percentage points you could earn is 5.  Revisions must be typed and are due the following class period after I return papers in class, even if you are absent on the original return date.  If you are absent, I will leave your composition outside my office so you can collect in it time to do revisions.  In order to receive credit, you must submit your original draft and your new draft, stapled together.
  • You will be required to submit via email a revised Word document version of your completed story for inclusion in a class anthology eBook, which will be available for download on our website.  Each completed mystery story must be double-spaced, typed using Times New Roman 12-point font, and have 1-inch margins.

Topic and Video Presentations                      20%

  • You will make an in-class presentation on one of the authors or cultural topics featured in the textbook.  Your presentation will include information not found in the textbook, and will feature your own research on your topic.  This presentation should last 3-4 minutes per student and should include audiovisual materials—a PowerPoint/Prezi presentation with a video, or music, or other possibilities.  It should also include questions you can pose to your classmates to encourage discussion after you have completed the presentation.  You should use your own words in this presentation.  Do not copy and paste from websites or any other source.  I will determine your grade based on your speaking ability as well as on how effectively you present the material; the rubric I use to grade is available on the course website under Grading.
  • We will spend a few days at the end of the semester watching the videos you make to present your mystery stories.  You will have the opportunity to work on this project during class time, but you may also need to spend some time outside of class on it.  You can act out your story, or use dolls or puppets or musical instruments or any number of other means to present the plot and the main ideas of your story to the class.  For this project, you can work alone or with your classmates.  Please note: for each presentation, only the student whose creative piece it is will be graded.  If classmates help each other, they can earn extra credit in the participation section of their final grade, but they will not be graded on presentations of others’ work.  Each video should last at least 3 minutes and no longer than 4 minutes, and must be uploaded to YouTube by the due date.  The rubric I use to grade is available on the course website under Grading.
  • Please make certain well in advance that your technology (flash drive, YouTube video, etc.) is compatible with the computer setup in the classroom so as not to squander class time.  It is wise to have backup tech: save your presentation on your flash drive, in your email, and on Dropbox, for example, in order to be sure you can access it.

Final Exam                              15­­­­­%

  • This exam is cumulative but similar to chapter quizzes.  There will be no make-up for unexcused absences.  Any student who needs to reschedule the final exam because of a conflict with another final must submit a request in writing (email is fine) at least two weeks before the last day of class.  Please see the course schedule for date and time of the final exam.

Grading Scale

90-100=A        80-89=B          70-79=C          60-69=D          0-59=E

Mid-term Grade

Mid-term grades will be posted in myUK by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar (http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/AcademicCalendar.htm).

Course Policies

Submission of Assignments

  • I do not accept late daily homework, unless you are absent and have a documented excuse.  Make-up homework must be submitted within one week of the excused absence in order to be graded.
  • If you are absent on the day of an in-class composition, and the absence is excused, you may schedule an appointment to make up the composition in my office.  If your absence is unexcused, you will earn a zero on the composition.  You must schedule the makeup within one week of your absence in order to receive credit for the composition.
  • If you are absent on the day of your in-class topic presentation, you will have one opportunity to present on a different topic at a later date if your absence is excused.  If the absence is unexcused, or if you miss the make-up opportunity, you will earn a zero on the presentation.
  • Videos must be submitted online by uploading to YouTube and then emailing me the link by the due date and time, and will be penalized by one letter grade per hour they are late.

Attendance Policy

  • Attendance is mandatory in this course, and I take attendance every day at the beginning of the period.
  • Arriving between 1 and 15 minutes after the beginning of the class period or leaving before the end of class will result in a tardy, which affects your class participation grade as detailed above.
  • Three tardies are the equivalent of an unexcused absence, and arriving more than 15 minutes late also equals an absence.
  • Students are permitted three unexcused absences before the final grade is lowered, but after those three, each absence results in a loss of one percentage point of the final grade.  So, for example, if a student is tardy 6 times and has 3 unexcused absences, and would have had a final grade of 91%, the actual final grade is 89%.
  • Please notify me via email of absences prior to class when possible. S.R. 5.2.4.2 defines the following as acceptable reasons for excused absences: (a) serious illness, (b) illness or death of family member, (c) University-related trips, (d) major religious holidays, and (e) other circumstances found to fit “reasonable cause for nonattendance” by the instructor. Students anticipating an absence for a major religious holiday are responsible for notifying me in writing (email is fine) of anticipated absences due to their observance of such holidays no later than the last day in the semester to add a class. Information regarding dates of major religious holidays may be obtained through the religious liaison, Mr. Jake Karnes, at (859) 257-2754.
  • In order for an absence to be excused, you must bring written documentation to class to show me within one week of your absence.  In cases where you are too ill to come to class but not ill enough to seek medical attention, or you have scheduled an appointment during our class period, or you need to register for next semester’s classes, you may use one of your three permitted unexcused absences.
  • Students are expected to withdraw from the class if more than 20% of the classes scheduled for the semester are missed (excused or unexcused) per university policy. For a MWF course, this means that students must withdraw or automatically fail the course if they miss more than 8 class periods.  I encourage you to track your absences carefully.

Academic Integrity

In language courses, one of the most common ways in which students plagiarize is by using online translators in place of their own original writing.  Students often do not realize that this is plagiarism, and the line between using an online dictionary and an online translator is fine.  A basic rule to keep in mind is that if you have used the internet to create anything beyond a phrase—if you have a complete sentence that is not your own work, this is considered plagiaristic.  Please do not use online translators in this course.  Wordreference.com is acceptable; I use it all the time myself.  But online translators often produce French that is easily recognizable as computer-generated and will result in a zero on the assignment in question and may be reported to University authorities.

Students are expected to adhere to University policy on cheating and plagiarism in all courses.  The minimum penalty for a first offense is a zero on the assignment on which the offense occurred.  If the offense is considered severe or the student has other academic offenses on their record, more serious penalties, up to suspension or even expulsion from the University, may be imposed.

Plagiarism and cheating are serious breaches of academic conduct.  Each student is advised to become familiar with the various forms of academic dishonesty as explained in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.  Complete information can be found at the following website: http://www.uky.edu/Ombud.  A plea of ignorance is not acceptable as a defense against the charge of academic dishonesty. It is important that you review this information as all ideas borrowed from others need to be properly credited.

Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities (available at  http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/part2.html) states that all academic work, written or otherwise, submitted by students to their instructors or other academic supervisors, is expected to be the result of their own thought, research, or self-expression.  In cases where students feel unsure about the question of plagiarism involving their own work, they are obliged to consult their instructors on the matter before submission.

Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else’s work, whether it is a published article, chapter of a book, a paper from a friend or a file from the internet, or anything similar to this. Plagiarism also includes the practice of employing or allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a student submits as his/her own.

Students may discuss assignments among themselves or with an instructor or tutor, but when the actual work is done, it must be done by the student, and the student alone. When a student’s assignment involves research in outside sources of information, the student must carefully acknowledge exactly what, where and how he/she employed them, using the MLA citation style.  If the words of someone else are used, the student must put quotation marks around the passage in question and add an appropriate indication of its origin. Making simple changes while leaving the organization, content and phraseology intact is plagiaristic.

Please note:  Any assignment you turn in may be submitted to an electronic database to check for plagiarism.

Accommodations due to disability

If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please see me as soon as possible by appointment or during scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide me with a Letter of Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Room 2, Alumni Gym, 257-2754, email address: jkarnes@email.uky.edu) for coordination of campus disability services available to students with disabilities.

Classroom Behavior

I seek to create an environment of mutual respect in my classes, and I expect everyone in the classroom to treat everyone else courteously. Disagreements are bound to happen, and in fact spirited debate and discussion can lead to some of the best class periods of a course.  Please be sure your participation in discussions remains civil and does not include attacks of a personal nature or statements denigrating another on the basis of race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, national/regional origin or other such factors.