Follows FRE-132 and is the first of two intermediate-level French courses focusing on communication in a cultural context. Develops students' reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in French, expands their vocabulary, and deepens their knowledge of pronunciation and grammatical principles in order to comprehend and express essential ideas in both spoken and written French. Presents francophone culture.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
FRE-231 is designed to enable students to reach the Intermediate Low level on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency scale, focusing on language learning through communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities.
- Pronunciation
- Present-tense verbs
- Subjunctive verbs
- Hypothetical expressions
- Perfect verb forms
- Future
- Commands
- Gender and number agreement
- Affirmation and negation
- Pronouns
- Essay composition
- Critical listening, speaking, and writing
- Critical reading
- Francophone culture
- Demonstrate developing knowledge of pronunciation of French words and phrases
- Demonstrate correct usage of present-tense verbs ouvrir, offrir, voir, recevoir, apercevoir, and croire
- Recognize and produce both present and imperfect subjunctive forms, including regulars and irregulars, with appropriate independent verb clauses
- Recognize and produce hypotheses using conditional verb forms appropriately, including regulars and irregulars
- Demonstrate correct usage of both present and past perfect verb forms, including regular and irregular participles
- Recognize and produce regular and irregular verbs in the future simple
- Recognize and produce formal and informal commands, including regulars, irregulars and those with reflexive and direct and indirect object pronouns
- Demonstrate correct usage of possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns with appropriate gender and number agreement
- Demonstrate correct usage of indefinite and negative expressions in affirmative and negative statements and questions
- Demonstrate correct usage of lequel; various relative pronouns (qui, que, dont, and où); demonstrative pronouns, and reciprocal pronouns
- Write simple descriptive, narrative, and informative essays related to themes presented in each chapter/unit of the textbook using appropriate register
- Interpret short authentic audio and visual materials and respond critically in French
- Summarize French-language materials in written compositions and oral presentations
- Analyze cultural differences as manifested through language differences
Note: A grade of C- is not transferable and is not accepted by some programs at HFC.
Assessment and Requirements
Assessment of academic achievement will be identified and implemented by the class instructor. Methods will include, but not be limited to:
- Participation
- Homework assignments
- Weekly/regular quizzes
- Weekly/regular compositions
- Chapter/unit tests
- Oral presentation(s)/project(s)
- Midterm/final exam
All sections of this level will use a textbook (and any accompanying materials) selected by the course coordinator and approved by the World Languages Committee.
Outcomes
- Humanities and Fine Arts
- Category 5: Humanities and Fine Arts