French 103, Dr. Crowder
OFFICE: 310 College Hall, X4345
REQUIRED TEXTS: (1) Chez Nous textbook 3rd ed.
(2) Chez Nous lab and activities manual
CLASS MEETINGS: M-F, 9-11 am, 1-3 M-Th pm.
Office hours: 3-4 M-Th, by appointment, or informally. Please note that I am allergic to my office (dust and molds in an old building) and get sick if I stay there too much. So I am not generally hanging around. I try diligently to keep office hours, barring unavoidable conflicts, and you can always call me at home (895-8580) to make an appointment (call reasonable hours, not after 6 pm unless it is a real emergency).
COURSE GOALS : This course is designed to promote development of four basic skills in French: (1) Speaking with correct sentence structure and pronunciation in order to express your own ideas; (2) Listening to oral French with optimal comprehension; (3) Reading with ease modern French texts; and (4) Writing clearly with correct spelling and sentence structure.
As this course is a continuation of French 101 and 102, the material you will be learning builds upon knowledge you have already acquired. It is therefore imperative, whenever you may feel some uncertainty concerning material contained in Chapters 1-8 of Chez Nous, that you review that material by yourself. Think of the textbook both as an introduction to new material and as an indispensable reference tool.
ACTIVITIES : Language skills must be practiced before they can become automatic. For this reason, several different kinds of practice are built into the course: (1) Classwork, including oral repetition, drills, guided conversation and writing, and various group activities; (2) Use of laboratory for practice in speaking and aural comprehension; (3) Use of computer software for practice in reading and writing; and (4) Homework for development of reading and writing skills and practice of various grammatical constructions.
CLASSWORK : Attendance is rigorously required for all class meetings. The OCAAT plan creates an intensive learning situation. "Cramming" is a very poor learning technique in any course; it is even worse for learning a foreign language, even for the most gifted of students. Therefore, it is imperative that you remain alert and actively involved in the learning process so that the bulk of your initial learning will take place during class time. You will find that one hour of class time missed can equal 2 to 3 hours of extra independant work just to catch up.
HOMEWORK : (1) You should arrive in class having already read ahead in the textbook. Advance familiarity with new material greatly facilitates your assimilation of it. There will be regular assignments of written and oral material in the textbook to be performed in some way in class. In general, you should be constantly referring to the textbook, either to refresh your memory or memorize new material, verb forms, idioms, vocabulary, etc. (2) there will be some written assignments from your Cahier to be handed in. I will assign these as required. (3) You should listen to the audio material both before we begin a chapter and again at the end of the chapter. Exams may include audio material. (4) In each section of a chapter there is new grammar material. It is not sufficient to simply read over the grammar explanations. You must practice until the material becomes automatic. You should work through (at least mentally) all the exercises in the Cahier, and then try making up your own sentences using the new material and vocabulary. As a rule of thumb, a new word or construction isn't really learned until you have used it in your own sentences at least ten times. Reminder: DO NOT FALL BEHIND!! On the block plan, it is very difficult to catch up when learning a new language.
The College drop policy will be strictly enforced. You may not drop on the 15th day unless you have completed all requirements of the course up to that point.
Accomodations for all Students: Cornell College is committed to providing equal educational opportunities to all students. If you have a documented learning disability and will need any accommodation in this course, you must request the accommodation(s) from me as early as possible and no later than the third day of the term. Additional information about the policies and procedures for accommodation of learning disabilities is available on the Cornell web site at http://www.cornellcollege.edu/academic_affairs/disabilities/.
COMPOSITIONS : Compositions must be typed neatly, double-spaced, and have all accent marks, etc. I want you to use Systeme-D for your compositions. Since Systeme-D makes it so easy to look up verb conjugations, grammar points, spelling, and gender of nouns, etc., you are expected to correct as many of your own mistakes as possible before you hand in the composition. I will then read the composition and make notes on it for both technical errors and for general readability. I will assign a grade to this first version. You will then rewrite the composition, correcting any errors and making improvements. You will hand in both the original version and the corrected version. I will grade the final version, and your overall grade for the composition will be an average of the two grades.
GRADES : Based on (1) exams and quizzes, (2) compositions, (3) class participation, and (4) homework. I grade on a “10%” scale, which means I take all the possible points for all the assignments, then divide that number into your total points, and assign a grade according to a scale in which 90-100% is the “A” range, 80-89% the “B” range, etc. You can figure your own grade at any point in the course by doing this. You will have some input into your class participation grade (worth 200 pts.) A typical 100-level class ends up with about 12-1500 points.
Academic dishonesty is not tolerated. Please re-read the relevant section in the Compass if you have not done so this year. If I determine, after careful consideration, that academic dishonesty has occurred, the work in question will be assigned a grade of 0. There are always further penalties, including the assignment of a grade of F in the course. The circumstances will be communicated to the Registrar's Office.
Of particular concern to French 102 is electronic translation (including both web-based and software). It is permissible to put an Engish word or short phrase into an electronic dictionary. It is not permissible to put a full English sentence in and offer the French result as your own work for credit. Similarly, students are not allowed to submit French writing that is the work of anyone else.
Tentative Syllabus:
Week 1
Day 1 Ch.9, étape 1
Day 2 Ch. 9, étape 2;
Day 3 Ch. 9, étape 3
Day 4 Ch. 9, étape 4; composition1 due. Examen, Ch. 9
Day 5 Ch. 10, étape 1
Week 2
Day 6 Ch. 10, étape 2
Day 7 Ch. 10, étape 3
Day 8 Ch. 10, étape 4 composition 2 due
Day 9 Examen du mi-terme; Ch. 11, étape 1
Day 10 Ch. 11, étape 2
Week 3
Day 11 Ch. 11, étape 3;
Day 12 Ch. 11, étape 4 composition 3 due , examen Ch. 11
Day 13 Ch. 12, étape 1
Day 14 Ch. 12, étape 2
Day 15 Ch 12, étape 3
Week 4
Day 16 Ch. 12, étape 4, composition 4 due
Day 17 révision. pm: examen oral
Day 18 Final Exam
Last updated 2/3/08