Sommario
French Language I (Language and Phonology)
Professor Michela Murano
French Language Practical Classes (Year 1, Three-year Course Students)
Dr. Valérie Durand; Dr. Michela Murano; Dr. Franca Orione; Dr. Béatrice Remillieux;
Dr. Carolina Viola
French Language Practical Classes (One-year Course Students; Year 1, Two-year Course
Students)
Dr. Isabelle Morel
French Language I (Language and Phonology)
PROFESSOR MICHELA MURANO
COURSE AIMS
The course sets out to equip the student with the basic theoretical and practical
knowledge of French phonetics and phonology needed to consolidate their French
oral skills (speaking and comprehension). The course will also survey the phonetic
and phonological features of the varieties of French spoken in other Frenchspeaking countries.
COURSE CONTENT
Le français parlé
– Transcription de l’oral et API.
– Éléments de phonétique articulatoire, acoustique et perceptive.
– Système phonologique du français: voyelles, consonnes, semi-voyelles.
– Variétés du français parlé: la synchronie dynamique.
– Syllabe, pause, débit.
– Accentuation, rythme, mélodie, intonation.
– E caduc.
– Liaison et enchaînement.
– Les modes phonétiques du français.
READING LIST
Compulsory manuals:
P. DELATTRE, «Les modes phonétiques du français», The French Review, XXVII, 1 (October,
1953), pp. 59-63.
P. LEON, Phonétisme et prononciations du français, A. Colin, Paris, 2011, 6e éd.
The lecturer will provide additional information on the reading list during the course and
post it on Blackboard.
TEACHING METHOD
Classroom lectures that comprise listening to audio recordings and relative phonetic
analysis.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Final oral exam in French.
NOTES
Students must check Blackboard regularly for course updates and materials.
Three-year course students: each year of Language exams must start with either the
written or oral intermediate test. The student must pass both intermediate tests to qualify for
the final French Language I (Language and Phonology) exam. The student must attend the
French Language Practical Classes (Year 1, Three-year Course students) to prepare for the
intermediate tests.
The course is open also to one-year course students (title: French Language and
Linguistics) and to two-year course students (title: French Language and Linguistics 1, Twoyear Course) of the Language Sciences Faculty and those taking the interfacolty degree
course. These students must take the French Language Practical Classes (One-year Course
students; Year 1, Two-year Course students) and are referred to the course programme for
what concerns the syllabus and the assessment method for the Linguistics part.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.
French Language Practical Classes (Year 1, Three-year Course Students)
DR. VALÉRIE DURAND; DR. MICHELA MURANO; DR. FRANCA ORIONE; DR. BEATRICE
REMILLIEUX; DR. CAROLINA VIOLA
COURSE AIMS
The student will learn and/or systematize their basic knowledge of French
phonetics, morphosyntax and vocabulary with the aim of developing the spoken
and written abilities needed to interact and communicate in a correct and aware
manner.
COURSE CONTENT
– Develop oral comprehension and production abilities for communicating in
everyday situations;
– Discrimination and production of French phonemes and structures of rhythm
and tone, also through knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
– Basic morphology and syntax.
– Basic vocabulary.
READING LIST
Texts for all groups:
V. DURAND-F. ORIONE-C. VIOLA, Neuf contes pour nos enfants - Fiches pédagogiques, EDUCatt,
Milan.
CD-Rom Neuf contes pour nos enfants, Ed. De vive voix.
The CD can be purchased/downloaded from internet. The coursepack can be obtained from
EDUCatt (Università Cattolica, Via Necchi, 9).
Reading lists by group:
Groupe A (débutant/faux débutant)
C. VIOLA, Matériel pour le cours de français de 1re année,groupe A, EDUCatt, Milan, 2012.
C. VIOLA, Cahier des verbes et exercices de conjugaison, Libreriauniversitaria.it Ed., Padua, 2011.
D. ABRY-M.L. CHALARON, Les 500 exercices de Phonétique, Niveau A1/A2, Hachette FLE.
AA.VV., Alter Ego 1 Plus, Méthode de français, Niveau A1, Hachette.
Groupe B et Groupe C (intermédiaires)
Y. DELATOUR-D. JENNEPIN-M. LEON DUFOUR-B. TEYSSIER, Nouvelle Grammaire du Français. Cours de
Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, Hachette.
AA.VV., Les exercices de grammaire, Niveau B1, Hachette (livre + corrigés intégrés).
D. ABRY-M.L. CHALARON, Les 500 exercices de Phonétique, Niveau B1/B2, Hachette FLE.
Groupe D (avancé)
Y. DELATOUR-D. JENNEPIN-M. LEON DUFOUR-B. TEYSSIER, Nouvelle Grammaire du Français. Cours de
Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, Hachette.
AA.VV., Les exercices de grammaire,Niveau B1, Hachette (livre + corrigés intégrés).
TEACHING METHOD
Lectures will revolve around the following activities:
–
listening and oral comprehension;
–
phonetic tension and correction;
–
oral expression;
–
explanation of grammatical features; drills; sentence translation;
–
preparing to take dictation.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The final exam is split into a written and an oral part (called ‘intermediate tests’).
The written exam will test the student’s ability to take dictation and their knowledge of
French grammar with written comprehension and production. The oral exam will draw on
passages from the “Neuf contes pour nos enfants” CD to test the student’s ability to interact,
recount and express their views on everyday matters. Final grades will take account of
phonetic, grammatical and lexical correctness. In addition, they will be quizzed in French on
the morphosyntactic structures dealt with in class and their ability to read the IPA.
NOTES
First-year students will be split into four groups:
–
A beginner/false beginner;
–
B intermediate;
–
C intermediate;
–
D advanced.
Each student will take an admission exam to identify their language level prior to the
start of the academic year.
All groups will dedicate several hours per week to developing specifically their oral
French skills: phonetic discrimination and correction, listening, comprehension and oral
expression.
The student must regularly attend lectures to progress their learning benefits in an
orderly manner and to achieve the course aims. Students unable to attend lectures must
contact the course instructor once lessons begin.
Information on how the practical classes are organized can be found on the French
notice board at the Via Morozzo della Rocca 2/A campus, ground floor, facing the study
room.
A recovery course has been scheduled exclusively for second- and third-year students
who either have not yet passed the first-year exam or did not finish their studies within the
prescribed timeframe. The recovery course is held by Dr. Durand during the teaching year in
accordance with the Faculty’s regular teaching hours. Students are strongly advised to attend
lectures regularly.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG, or on the Faculty notice
board.
French Language Practical Classes (One-year Course Students; Year 1, Twoyear Course Students)
DR. ISABELLE MOREL
COURSE AIMS
The course has two aims:
1. Provide and consolidate the student’s basic knowledge of French to develop
their oral comprehension and output abilities and to teach them how to write
simple acts of speech on general topics and on everyday life.
The student is expected to achieve the B1 threshold of the European Language
Framework of Reference, for which the corresponding level in French is the
international DELF Niveau B1 Certificate (formerly DELF grade I) issued by the
French Ministry for Public Education at its cultural centres.
2. Develop the student’s written comprehension skills, consolidating their ability to
read, understand and translate complete literary texts in preparation for the French
Language and Literature exam held by Professor Marisa Verna and the Language
and Linguistics 1 exam held by Dr. Michela Murano.
COURSE CONTENT
Study of phonetics and basic grammar. Basic vocabulary to communicate in
everyday situations. Development of listening and comprehension abilities with the
aid of audiovisuals. Development of the ability to read a literary text.
The first semester is reserved for beginner and intermediate students.
Advanced students (language lyceum) or those who have already studied
French for more than 3 years should attend the course starting the second
semester.
READING LIST
Semester 1:
Language acquisition handbook, selection of situations and dialogues:
CLAIRE MIQUEL, Vite et Bien 1, Cle International.
Semester 2:
Course pack for preparation of the Year 1 written exam, one-year/two-year course students
Recommended bilingual dictionary:
R. BOCH, Dizionario bilingue italiano-francese, Zanichelli, latest edition.
The literary text will be indicated on Dr. Morel’s Blackboard course page.
TEACHING METHOD
Language lessons in the classroom, progressing quickly from the basic structural
elements - phonetics, lexicon, word formation and syntax - for beginners to listening
activities, repetition of acts of speech and structural grammar exercises.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Final exam in French split into two parts, as follows:
1.
short written test to verify thte student’s written comprehension and knowledge of
basic vocabulary and morphosyntax. The student will be asked to listen to a French text and
to respond to the oral comprehension questionnaire and to complete grammar exercises;
2.
Once the student has passed the oral comprehension part, they can proceed to the
oral language part, which will consist of reading, translating and commenting a Frenchlanguage passage taken from the literary text in preparation for the literature or linguistics
course. The language exam will be marked out of 30 and the final result will be computed
using the following assessment grid: 10 marks for oral comprehension; 5 for the written test;
8 for phonetics; 4 for correct morphosyntax; and 3 for fluency.
It is mandatory that the student sit the written and oral parts of the language exam on the
same day as the literature exam held by Professor Marisa Verna. The student must pass the
language exam to qualify for the Literature exam, which must be sat in the same session, or
the Linguistics exam, which must be sat in and no later than the same exam session.
NOTES
The course is open to students reading Foreign Languages and Literature (first-level
degree) who plan to take a one-year or two-year course in a third language (Language C); to
students of the Arts Faculty taking French (10 credits); and Master’s Degree students
reading Language Sciences and Foreign Languages, Literature and Cultures who plan to
take a one-year or two-year course in a third language.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG, or on the Faculty notice
board.