UCL CENTRE FOR LANGUAGES
& INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Course Units 2015-2016
French for Academic Purposes - Introduction
Prerequisite for entry
Successful completion of French Syllabus B at the UCL CLIE or a similar course and have experience of dealing with
relevant authentic material; particularly relevant for students planning to spend time abroad or regular travellers to
France and French speaking countries.
Course duration
20 x 2-hour classes.
Self-Study
80 hours in total.
Course codes
LCFR6803, LCFRG803, LCFRM803.
Aims and Objectives
The course is designed for intermediate level students requiring the language for studying abroad for a short period (e.g.
2-3 months); aiming at a level C+.
The course comprises knowledge and understanding both of the structure of the French language and its use in
academic environments, such as attending cultural events and taking notes related to their studies. The course covers
academic culture and university life to prepare students for a short study period in French-speaking countries. Students
will develop critical thinking and read academic texts. This will be related back to the student’s degree subject.
The course will enhance knowledge and use of linguistic structures (a variety of styles and registers from a range of
appropriate authentic academic material). Various transferable skills will also be further developed.
Functions








Filling in administrative and academic forms;
reading basic academic material to acquire critical skills;
relating past events (news or personal circumstances);
extracting and presenting information from written or visual material and expressing their opinion;
getting more familiar with intercultural behaviour;
commenting, debating and criticising;
suggesting and speculating;
producing letters for practical purposes in answer to reading material (e.g. answering adverts, reacting to news).
Course Content
Main topics/themes to be covered

Practical vocabulary for student life in France (transports, registrations, French qualifications in Higher Education,
Administrative procedures in universities and colleges, current affairs related to Higher Education);

Accommodation (flat share, describing and looking for an accommodation);



Leisure (going out, cultural events, sports);
Work (looking for a job, interviews, work codes of conduct);
Press and Media (critical analysis of reality TV, the press and media), relating past events, describing and
comparing events);
Skills
Reading

Reading for gist: introduction to reading newspaper articles;

Reading for details: a selection of teaching and authentic materials;

Reading specific, authentic documents: administrative forms, adverts.
Writing

Story writing;

Simple reaction to text;

Personal project: own past experience;

Writing letters for practical: answering adverts, reacting to news, taking part in online forums;

Diaries and biographies.
Listening

Understanding the gist of a selection of authentic documents: films, radio extracts;

Understanding details of a selection of authentic documents.
Speaking

Talking about yourself and your environment;

Starting to debate;

Expressing opinions, justifying a point of view;
Transferable skills

Selecting authentic resources relevant to a specific topic;

Organising ideas and arguments;

Presentation of project.
Linguistic Structures
Grammar

Revision of the present, perfect and imperfect tenses as well as the near future;

Contrasted use of the past tenses (perfect / imperfect);

The conditional tense;

The future tense;

Prepositions of space;

Direct and indirect pronouns;

The pronouns of “y” and “en”;

Relative pronouns; QUI/QUE; CE QUI /CE QUE;

Negatives (personne ne / ne … rien / ne … plus / ne … jamais);

Descriptions of sizes, people, objects, uses;

Observing a variety of styles and registers;

Passive knowledge of subjunctive.
Learning Resources



Nouveau Rond-Point 2 (B1) – Textbook (Editions Maison des Langues, Paris, 2011) – ISBN 9788484436959
La Grammaire en Clair (+answer book), Long and Rodgers, (Editions Nelson) – ISBN: 9780174444206
Bilingual Dictionary – Pocket Edition (Collins/Robert)
A selection of authentic material will also be used.
In addition there is a wide range of language learning materials available for self-study in the Self-Access Centre.