AP French Language and Culture
Syllabus
Instructor: Thérèse C. Monyé
Course Objectives
In this class, students will be encouraged to use the French language in
discussing issues ranging from various topics such as day to day events
from magazines and newspaper, literary texts, music, films, etc. The
class is taught 98% in French. This will help them achieve a high level
of oral and written expression, which will range from simple to complex
phrases that will allow them to attain proficiency in accordance with
National Standards and ACTFL Guidelines.
Materials/Resources


CR1: The
teacher uses
French almost
exclusively in
class and
encourages
students to do
likewise.
CR2c:
Instructional
materials include
a variety of
authentic literary
texts.
We shall be using the following textbooks: “Allons au delà.
Preparing for the French Language and Culture Exam” and “AP
French” book, both by Pearson editors and authored by Richard
Ladd; and other similar materials that might improve students’
proficiency.
We will also rely on journals that relate to daily events, but our
main grammatical focus will be based on “Interaction”, 7th
edition, authors: Susan St. Onge and Ronald St. Onge.
CR2b:
Instructional
materials include
a variety of
authentic nonliterary texts
such as
newspaper and
magazine
articles.
Resources used to complement books:
 VDs
 http://www.lepointdufle.net/chansons.htm
 www.lemonde.fr
 www.tv5.org
 www.francetelevisions
 www.rfi.fr
 www.momes.com
 www.paroles.net
 www.africanet.com
 www.chantefrance.com
 www.video.tf1.fr/video
 www.youtube.com
 http://fr.news.yahoo.com
CR2a:
Instructional
materials include
a variety of
authentic audio
and video
recordings.
1
Course Planner and Sample Thematic Units
1. Global Challenges: Environment
CR6a: The course
explicitly addresses
the Global
Challenges theme.

Students read vocabulary associated with nature and
environment

Class reads and discusses Jean Giono’s “L’homme qui
plantait des arbres.”

View and discuss accompanying short movie

Complement discussion with viewing Yannick Noah’s “Aux
arbres citoyens.”

Students debate current events and controversial issues,
including their own personal experiences.

Sub Themes: Diversity Issues; Economic Issues;
Environmental Issues; Health; Human Rights; Nutrition and
Food Safety; Peace and War; and Economy.
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which are
not limited to the following: Viewing/ reading, brainstorming and
discussions

Structures and Vocabulary: Present tense of Regular –er
Verbs, Stem-Changing; the Imperative; Irregular verbs être,
avoir, faire, aller; nouns, articles, voilà and il y a; Regular –
ir and –re verbs; negation.

Work on some AP Exam Samples
2. Science and Technology

Students brainstorm on various discoveries and
breakthroughs by French scientists.

Read and discuss Amelie Nothab’s “Acide sulfurique”

Read and discuss article on the kindle: La mauvaise surprise
Kindle.

Discuss advantages and disadvantages between books and
eBooks.
CR6b: The course
explicitly addresses
the Science and
Technology theme.
2

Sub Themes: Current Research Topics; Discoveries and
Inventions; Ethical Questions; Intellectual Property; The
News Media; and Social Impact of Technology
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which are
not limited to the following: Viewing/Reading, brainstorming
and discussions.

Structures and Vocabulary: Basic Question Patterns;
Reflexive and Reciprocal verbs, Irregular –oir Verbs; Idioms
with être and avoir; Depuis + Present Tense; Irregular –ir
verbs; Descriptive Adjectives.

Work on some AP Exam Samples
3. Contemporary Life

Ice-breaker on students’ daily lives where they describe their
personal lives and compare them to those of their peers; and
that of people from different cultures that are in the same
class.

Read and discuss Bernard Daier’s “Le pagne noir”

Second reading of article: “Allô maman, j’ai décroché le
bac…”

Discussion on the SDF or the homeless

Sub Themes: Advertising and Assimilation; Education;
Holidays and Celebrations; Housing and Shelter; Leisure and
Sports; Professions; Rites of Passage; and Travel.
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which are
not limited to the following: Viewing/Reading, brainstorming
and discussions.

Structures and Vocabulary: Il/Elle est and c’est; Possessive
and Demonstrative Adjectives ; The Comparative and
Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs ; Numbers; Irregular oire and -ir Verbs

Work on some AP Exam Samples
3
CR6c: The course
explicitly addresses
the Contemporary
Life theme.
4. Personal and Public Identity

Brainstorming on stereotypes of different cultures and their
origin.

Discuss the different ways and sources of intolerance in a
society.

Read and discuss Hergé’s (Georges Prosper Remi) bandes
dessinées: “Les bijoux de la Castafior” Compare and discuss
xenophobia in the strip and in our society.

Read and discuss Tahar Ben Jelloun’s “Le racisme expliqué à
ma fille”

Viewing and discussion of « Quand Mohamed refuse de
s’appeler Alexandre » as complement of readings.
CR6d: The course
explicitly addresses
the Personal and
Public Identity
theme.

Sub Themes: Alienation and Assimilation; Beliefs and
Values; Gender and Sexuality; Language and Identity;
Multiculturalism; and Nationalism and Patriotism.
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which
are not limited to the following: Viewing/Reading, brainstorming
and discussions.

Structures and Vocabulary:The Passé Composé with
avoir and être; Basic Question Patterns with the passé
compose; Placement of Adverbs with the passé composé;
Uses of the passé composé; Formation and uses of the
Imperfect; the Pluperfect; Choosing Past Tenses; Dates;
Interrogative Adverbs; Expressing Time; Interrogative
Pronouns; Quel and Lequel.

Work on some AP Exam Samples
5. Family and Community

Discuss similarities and differences between traditional and
modern families, and what constitutes a family.

Read and discuss Guy de Maupassant’s “La parrure”

Second reading of the legend of “Tristan et Iseut.”

Read article on « Des enfants adoptes qui s’adaptent bien. »

Students discuss how they were raised and how they would
raise their own children.
CR6e: The course
explicitly addresses
the Family and
Community theme.
4

Sub Themes: Age and Class; Childhood and Adolescence;
Citizenship; Customs and Ceremonies; Family Structures;
and Friendship and Love.
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which are
not limited to the following: Viewing/Reading, brainstorming
and discussions.

Structures and Vocabulary: Object Pronouns, Disjunctive
Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns and Demonstrative Pronouns;
Formation and use of the Present and Past Subjunctive;
Subjunctive after Certain Conjunctions, Indefinite
Antecedents, in Superlative Statements.

Work on some AP Exam Samples
6. Beauty and Aesthetics

Study of different art movements in France and artists in
music, paintings, movies, cuisine, literature in French and
francophone countries.

Read and discuss Marguerite Duras’ “Moderato cantabile”

View the movie “La vie en rose”; read and discuss interview
with Marion Cotillard who played Edith Piaf in the movie.

Discuss the role of art in our society.
CR6f: The course
explicitly addresses
the Beauty and
Aesthetics theme.

Sub Themes: Architecture; Contributions to World Artistic
Heritage; Ideals of Beauty; Literature; Music; Performing
Arts; and Visual Arts.
-We will incorporate these sub themes in activities which are
not limited to the following: Viewing/Reading, brainstorming
and discussions.

Structures and Vocabulary: Prepositions with Infinitives;
Other uses of Prepositions; the Present Participle and
Relative Pronouns. Formation and use of the Future and the
Future Perfect; Formation and use of the Conditional and the
Past Conditional.

Work on some AP Exam Samples
5
Rationale:
As earlier mentioned, we will work on the sample textbooks in addition
to other authentic resources: audio, visual and on the web. We will also
master the target language using the following AP guidelines:
A. CR4b:Interpretive Communication: Print Texts. The course
provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in
Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize
information from a variety of authentic written and print
resources
B. CR4a: Interpretive Communication: Print and Audio. The
course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their
ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and
synthesize information from a variety of authentic audio, visual
and audio-visual materials.
C. CR4a: Interpretive Communication: Audio Texts. The course
provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in
Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize
information from a variety of authentic audio, visual and audiovisual materials.
D. CR3b: Interpretive Writing: Email Reply. The course
provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their
proficiency in written Interpretive Communication in a variety of
situations in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range
E. CR5b: Presentational Writing: Persuasive Essay. The course
provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their
proficiency in written Presentational Communication in the
Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range.
F. CR3a: Interpersonal Speaking: Conversation. The course
provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their
proficiency in spoken Interpersonal Communication in a variety
of situations in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range.
G. CR7 and 8: Presentational Speaking: Cultural Comparison.
The course provides opportunities for students to make
comparisons between and within languages and cultures;
understand the products, practices and perspectives of the target
cultures.
6
Also, examples of some authentic materials we will use and discuss are:







You tube : « Quand Mohamed refuse de s’appeler
Alexandre »
Yannick Noah « Aux arbres, citoyen ! »
Zazzi : « Je suis un homme »
Khaled : « Aïcha »
Antoine de Saint Exupéry : « Le petit prince »
Senghor : « Femme noire, femme nue »
Journal télévisé of France télévision
Teaching Strategies
Active participation is essential in achieving all skills in French. The
class will be focusing on the following:
 Reading Comprehension- students acquire new vocabulary by
reading diverse printed work, from magazines, newspaper,
poetry, song transcripts, etc
 Written Comprehension/Expression - students improve in
written work by practicing to write passages, hereby developing
their own way of expression
 Oral Comprehension – students learn to understand French
spoken by different French-speaking people from tapes or by
simply meeting them in person or as guest speakers. This is
because there is a wide variety on French speakers who come
from place like Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, some
islands in the Pacific. These people use different ways of
expressing themselves and it is essential for the students to learn
to identify and understand them
 Oral expression – students either work in groups to discuss
issues pertaining to our daily lives or they present a topic
relating to an article read in the classroom or independently
 We also do have several French clubs: Les fanatiques
francophones, and Les gourmands. These are extra-curricular
activities that we organize in order to help students express
themselves outside of the classroom setting. This is an addition
to the classroom learning as we figured out we need more than
just a classroom to express ourselves in a different way. We
meet at cafés/restaurants, at peers’ homes and eat francophone
food or watch movies that are discussed after.
7
CR6d: The course
explicitly addresses
the Personal and
Public Identities
theme.
CR4b: the course
provides
opportunities for
students to
demonstrate their
ability to
demonstrate their
ability in
Interpretive
Communication to
understand and
synthesize
information from a
variety of authentic
written and print
resources.
CR5b: The course
provides
opportunities for
students to
demonstrate their
proficiency in
written
Presentational
Communication in
the Intermediate to
Pre-Advanced range
Assessment

Written assessment- each student will be assessed based on
essays written in the classroom and/or at home: students expand
on a topic previously discussed in the classroom and compare it
with their life or the community.

Reading assessment- students will be assessed based on
answering sample AP questions in the classroom.

Listening assessment- students will be assessed using authentic
audio texts from different sources. These sources will come from
both audio and video

Oral assessment- students will do presentations on topics related
to the AP French Language and Culture themes. In addition to
that, students select an article of their choice and summarize it
orally to the class. They will also be emailing oral recordings to
teacher for speaking proficiency. Some of the assessment will
include recordings from different web sites like vocaroo.com,
audacity, voki.com.

Grammar assessments will be incorporated in their use in both
written and spoken work
CR5a: The course
provides
opportunities for
students to
demonstrate their
proficiency in
spoken
Presentational
Communication in
the Intermediate to
Pre-Advanced range.
CR7: The course
provides
opportunities for
students to
demonstrate an
understanding of the
products, practices
and perspectives of
the target cultures.
CR8: The course
provides
opportunities for
students to make
comparisons
between and within
languages and
cultures.
8
AP Contract
I, _________________________________________, have
PRINT STUDENT’S NAME
read and understand the course syllabus for AP French
Language and Culture. I commit to
1. Fulfill the requirements of the course as outlined in the
syllabus,
2. Diligently prepare for the AP French Language and
Culture exam throughout the year,
3. Take the AP French Language and Culture exam in
May 2012, and
4. Maintain a grade of at least “C.”
I understand that if I fail to fulfill any of these commitments, I
will not be awarded the 10 “AP points” on either my first or
second semester grades. Furthermore, I understand that I
must earn a grade of at least “C” in the first semester to be
allowed to continue into the second semester of the course.
_____________________________________ ____________
STUDENT’S SIGNATURE
DATE
I, the parent/guardian, have read the course syllabus for AP
French Language and Culture and discussed its contents with
my son/daughter.
__________________________________ _______________
PARENT’S SIGNATURE
DATE
I, Theresa Monye, pledge to uphold my responsibility as a
teacher by providing a rich learning environment for all my
students. I pledge to follow all the guidelines and policies set
forth by this syllabus, by Grady High School, and by the APS
Board of Education. I will make every effort to keep parents
informed of their student’s progress in my class.
_____________________________________ ____________
TEACHER’S SIGNATURE
DATE
9
Contrat (bis)
Je promets de faire tout mon travail écrit tout(e) seul(e). Je peux
aller en ligne pour trouver l’équivalent d’un mot ou d’une expression
que je veux écrire, mais il faut l’indiquer dans mon devoir.
L’utilisation d’un traducteur en ligne pour faire un devoir est
considéré du plagiat et résultera à de sérieuses conséquences. Je peux
demander à mes parents ou mes amis de me donner un peu d’aide en
ce qui concerne un mot, une expression ou une structure grammaticale
mais, là aussi, il faut l’indiquer dans le devoir.
 Votre nom :___________________________
 Votre signature : ________________________
 La date : ____________________________
 La signature de vos parents : _________________
 La date : _____________________________
Traduction :
I promise to do all my written work alone. I can go online to find
the equivalent of a word or expression that I want to use, but I
must indicate it in my assignment. The use of an online translator to
do a written assignment is considered plagiarism and will result in
serious consequences. I can ask my parents or friends to help me
with a word or expression or a grammatical structure but in this case
also, it must be indicated.
10