Introduction to French 103 Course

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Sandra Reynolds-Villalobos

Elementary French I


Overview:

Elementary French I is an interactive presentation of French language and culture in a media-rich  environment.  It is designed to be used as a full course of study.

To successfully use this course, you should be a motivated student with a desire to learn about French language and francophone cultures, and be comfortable with computer technologies. The time commitment will typically average 6-8 hours per week.

Additional Course Details

Topics Covered:
Introductions, nationalities, school subjects, age, appearance, personality, preferences, activities, time, family, house and home activities, the workplace, dining, and shopping for clothing.

Estimated Time to Complete Course:
Fourteen weeks. The course is divided into SIX thematic lessons. Each lesson is designed to take two weeks to complete so working through an entire course will take the average student approximately fourteen weeks. Completing this course and Elementary French 2 will require two semesters or roughly thirty weeks at the university level. These courses have also been used successfully at the secondary level where they can be extended to cover two years or more.
Additional Software or Materials Required:
Student should have access to computer for online text and homework.  Also access to blog for discussions.
Course Last Updated Date:
August 2018

In-Depth Description

Each lesson opens with presentation of vocabulary and new grammar structures.  These will be practiced first in substitution drills and then in open-ended responses.  It will then be practiced by the class and in pairs or small groups.It will be supplemented with video and audio components.  Practice will also be done online at kahoot and quizlet.

The beginning of each lesson is always a set sequence, from simple recognition of language through explicit learning of grammar and pronunciation, to written and spoken production of variations on that language. After this initiation a number of activities are offered to the student in which the language learned is used in understanding new texts, or videos or in creative production (conversation or writing). Lesson tests and final exams, are generated from online text and in-class activities.

Meeting and greeting
meeting.jfifMeeting and greeting

Man meeting woman



Global objectives:

  • Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate core abilities as outlined in the  Raritan Valley Community  Community College Philosophy Statement for the Associate of Arts Degree. These abilities include:
  • Communicating effectively
  • Understanding oneself and others in interacting in a social political and economic world.
  • Thinking logically and critically

Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. Respond appropriately (through actions or spoken or written communication) to basic oral questions and verbal cues.
  2. Engage appropriately in basic conversations with classmates, the teacher, and other French speakers given specific cues.
  3. Make inferences from short texts in French and paraphrase accurately
  4. Compose simple sentences and short paragraphs in French using appropriate vocabulary, grammatical structures, and colloquialisms.
  5. Identify and locate Francophone countries and cultures in a global context; research a historical or local artifact of a non-European Francophone culture, country or region; research the place-name history of that culture, country or region.

Prerequisites:

Anyone can enroll in this course.


Learning activities:

For every module, activities have been divided into five categories: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and culture. The purpose is to ensure that instruction is balanced between the four skills.

Most modules include a series of speaking practice activities, which are designed for use with OER Commons. Speaking practice activities are designed for students to complete at home, with the help of a microphone or a video camera. The student records their answer and uploads it to Canvas ; the instructor may then listen to the student’s answer and provide feedback on pronunciation, inflection, etc.

Speaking practice activities are designed to allow the student to practice speaking in a low-pressure environment and to receive feedback without taking up excessive class time. The purpose of the speaking practice activities is to make students feel more comfortable with speaking before asking them to speak before others, thereby reducing anxiety.

Assessments and rubrics

The assessments and rubrics are designed to measure student achievement in terms of the course objectives.  They have thus been divided by competency (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Because the course will be accessible to all, assessments do not attempt to measure discrete skills (i.e. ability to conjugate être); instead, they take a more holistic approach to language acquisition (comprehension and comprehensibility) by measuring students’ ability to apply new skills (for example, by writing a sentence in which they must use the appropriate form of être).

Because the assessments take a holistic approach to learning, so do the rubrics used to grade the tests. The focus is on application and comprehensibility rather than mere memorization.


Global objectives:

Upon completion of the course, students will demonstrate core abilities as outlined in the Raritan Valley Community College course description for the Associate of Arts Degree. These abilities include:

  • Communicating effectively
  • Understanding oneself and others in interacting in a social political and economic world.
  • Thinking logically and critically

Course objectives:

  1. Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:Respond appropriately (through actions or spoken or written communication) to basic oral questions and verbal cues.

  1. Engage appropriately in basic conversations with classmates, the teacher, and other French speakers given specific cues.

  2. Make inferences from short texts in French and paraphrase accurately

  3. Compose simple sentences and short paragraphs in French using appropriate vocabulary, grammatical structures, and colloquialisms.

  4. Identify and locate Francophone countries and cultures in a global context; research a historical or local artifact of a non-European Francophone culture, country or region; research the place-name history of that culture, country or region.

Prerequisites:

Anyone can enroll in this course.


For every module, activities have been divided into five categories: reading, writing, speaking, listening, and culture. The purpose is to ensure that instruction is balanced between the four skills.

Course outline and syllabus


Most modules include a series of speaking practice activities, which are designed for use with Instructure Canvas. Speaking practice activities are designed for students to complete at home, with the help of a microphone or a video camera. The student records their answer and uploads it to Canvas; the instructor may then listen to the student’s answer and provide feedback on pronunciation, inflection, etc.

Speaking practice activities are designed to allow the student to practice speaking in a low-pressure environment and to receive feedback without taking up excessive class time. The purpose of the speaking practice activities is to make students feel more comfortable with speaking before asking them to speak before others, thereby reducing anxiety.

Students in the pilot course responded very positively to these activities; they reported that practicing speaking at home and still have the opportunity to get feedback helped get over the fear of making mistakes in speaking.

Assessments and rubrics

The assessments and rubrics are designed to measure student achievement in terms of the course objectives.  They have thus been divided by competency (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). Because the course will be accessible to all, assessments do not attempt to measure discrete skills (i.e. ability to conjugate être); instead, they take a more holistic approach to language acquisition (comprehension and comprehensibility) by measuring students’ ability to apply new skills (for example, by writing a sentence in which they must use the appropriate form of être).






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