Upper-Intermediate French II
The Department of FHIS offers a series of eight courses designed to build students’ skills progressively in the four basic communicative functions of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. FREN 402 is the second of a pair of Upper-Intermediate courses—401 and 402—aligned with level B2 objectives of the Common European Framework of Reference.
With an approach that is communicative and collaborative, inductive and interactive, the course aims to refine the skills acquired in Intermediate French I & II or equivalent courses and to enhance students’ knowledge of French and the Francophone world. Students will be able to consolidate and expand their comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills in French.
The course is devoted to providing students with tools for interacting with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers possible without strain for either party.
The course is focused on:
- grammatical analysis, vocabulary enrichment, and socio-cultural competency using a wide variety of authentic documents of the French-Speaking world (news, literature, songs, etc.);
- the deep understanding of both concrete and abstract topics in a complex document (written or oral);
- the ability to research Francophone relevant resources and synthesize them;
- the production of clear, detailed, nuanced, and well-structured written and oral communication on a number of topics (use of critical thinking and creativity, construction of arguments to defend one’s opinion and explain one’s viewpoint, use of rhetorical strategies);
- the ability to correct one’s own mistakes (when writing or speaking) and constantly improve;
- the development of learner’s autonomy.
Both individually and in collaborative small groups, students will produce and share ideas in workshops, whole class discussions, oral presentations, debates, or other writing assignments. French grammatical structures such as relative pronouns, the passive form, the subjunctive, and logic connectors will be studied within a task-based approach so that students reach a greater degree of complexity and sophistication when expressing themselves.
Lectures and class discussions are all conducted in French.
Required texts:
La nouvelle grammaire en contexte : notions et exercices – niveau intermédiaire, by Sarah Bertrand-Savard, Marie-Maude Cayouette, Claire Minet, and Suzie Beaulieu (Anjou [Québec], Les Éditions CEC, 2018 [2013]).
Required for both FREN 401 and FREN 402.
*Extra documents and resources will be provided by the instructor throughout the term.
Prerequisite: One of FREN 224, FREN 401 or assignment based on placement test.
Language of instruction: French
The sequence of French language courses FREN 101, 102, 201, 202, 301, 302, 401, and 402 is designed for non-native speakers. UBC’s French language course sequence should be taken in order and one course at a time: FREN 101 then 102, followed by 201 and 202, and so on.
The Department of FHIS reserves the right to refuse enrollment to any of its language courses to a student who has, in the view of the Department, a level of competence unsuited to that course. Enrollment at or below the level the student has already attained is not permitted.