French Course Descriptions
Dept. of Modern Languages
Fall 2015
French I-IV Sequence: Elementary & Intermediate
French (FREN 101, 102, 103, 201, 301)
The French I-IV sequence forms a unified program
designed to help you develop the ability to speak, read,
write, and understand the language at the intermediate
level. You will also learn about how various people
who speak French conduct their lives and a bit of
history of the development of the French-speaking
world. We follow the communicative approach.
Simply put, our goal is that by the time you have
completed French 4 you will be able to communicate
with native French speakers, both in writing and
through the spoken language. In order to reach this
goal, the majority of class time will be spent working
on speaking French; you will develop the other skills
primarily through assignments.
FREN 510: Contemporary France
FREN 514 (Contemporary France) offers a survey of
the historical forces (history, language, religion) and
contemporary factors (immigration, multiculturalism,
education) that have made the French Republic the
complex society that it is today. A textbook that gives
a thorough treatment of these themes is complemented
by other readings and films on which students will
write a series of reaction papers. Students will also be
expected to participate in online discussion and do a
final presentation on a topic of their choice.
FREN 516: Readings
This fifth semester course is a prerequisite for French
Literature I and II (FREN 520 and 521) as it prepares
students to read whole literary texts. Its emphasis is on
enlarging the French vocabulary and developing a
number of tactics to grasp the meanings of a text
without understanding every word. With the
book Explorations, students are introduced to
interesting French poetry, tales, and novels as well as
some texts coming from the francophone world.
Students will speak French in class, and write
compositions about subjects relating to the texts read.
Some difficult grammatical points will be reviewed in
conjunction with the studied texts.
FREN 517: Commercial French
This course prepares students to work and
communicate in a French-speaking context. With over
200 million speakers, French is an important language
for global business and industry. In this course, we will
learn not only how to analyze your professional goals
but also how to act in different cultural situations
within a business context, create a marketing
campaign, prepare a professional dossier, and succeed
at a job interview, all in French. Given in French and
open to all students who have completed FREN 301
(French 4).
FREN 521: Introduction to French Literature II
FREN 521 (Introduction to French Literature II)
consists of a survey of representative works of
literature from the Middle Ages to the end of the
eighteenth century. Among the texts included are La
Chanson de Roland, Rabelais’ Gargantua,
Montaigne’s Essais, and Voltaire’s Candide. Students
will write two short papers on the texts and do a final
presentation on a topic of their choice. Strong
participation in class discussions is expected.
FREN 719: Advanced Spoken and Written French
This course is centered on a systematic review of
French grammar, reviewing difficult points for native
English speakers such as relative pronouns, the use of
“passé composé” and imperfect tenses, the use of
tenses in complex sentences. The book used, Un style
certain, offers clear explanations, a large vocabulary,
excellent exercises, lists of essential expressions, etc.
FREN 721: Francophone Literature and Culture
In French 721 (Francophone Literature and Culture),
students explore the novels, poetry, plays, films, comic
books, and visual arts of global Francophone countries
including Algeria, Senegal, Haiti, Guadeloupe,
Martinique, and Québec. We learn about the history of
French colonization and de-colonization, and the
impact of this history on the culture and literature of
the Francophone world.
If interested, contact a member of the French faculty
for further information:
Dr. Kathleen Antonioli, Assistant Professor of French,
kantonioli@ksu.edu
Dr. Robert Clark, Professor of French, rclark@ksu.edu
Dr. Melinda Cro, Assistant Professor of French &
French Language Program Coordinator (100-300
levels), macro@ksu.edu
Dr. Claire Dehon, Professor of French,
dehoncl@ksu.edu