French Interdisciplinary Studies FINS 3105
Provisional description. The final outline will be posted at the beginning of term.
Instructor: Nandini Sarma
Email:nandini_sarma@carleton.ca
Written Comprehension II
Reading knowledge for academic purposes. Advanced reading strategies. Individual reading in the
student’s specialization. Given in English. No auditors.
Prerequisite:
FINS 2105 or permission of the Department. Precludes additional credit for FREN 1006 (20.106). Not
open to beginners or bilingual students.
Course description: This course is designed to help students further develop the necessary elements of
grammar, an extensive vocabulary base and the required strategies to be able to independently read
specialized or academic material in French and more specifically, in their field of specialization. The
course is taught entirely in English and trains students to demonstrate precise reading comprehension
through translation into English. The course is open to intermediate readers, for students having
completed FINS 2105 or for those with some previous background in French. It should be noted by
students that reading is a skill that is learned individually and requires a lot of practice and memory work.
Students must be prepared to work steadily and frequently on the material (30 minutes, several times a
week), to practice reading frequently. It is very important to complete the assigned exercises in writing
before the lectures. Although the exercises are for practice only, the solutions will be discussed in class
allowing student to note down their personal areas of difficulty and to develop strategies to overcome
them. Grades are distributed mainly through proctored tests. There will be two or three unproctored
online tests (multiple choice, approx. 30 mins.), 1 proctored written test (translation and comprehension 2 hours), 1 proctored reading assignment (2 hours to demonstrate knowledge of an individual preapproved text), 1 proctored final examination (translation and comprehension - 3 hours), There are also
ongoing participation marks.
Course objectives:
In this course students will learn the grammar necessary to read complex documents for academic or work
(expository or explanatory articles, editorials and opinion pieces, etc.). They will demonstrate their
knowledge by expressing the contents in English. They will become sufficiently familiar with the nuances
of French vocabulary, grammar and syntax to be able to read and accurately communicate all the
information in French documents of about 1500+ words without using dictionaries or other reference
materials. They will instruct themselves on the academic vocabulary and type of language used in their
field of studies. They will be able to confirm or deny the correctness of any translation or statement
attributing information to any such documents or describing the tone or suggestions made by the
documents’ authors.
Outcomes:
Express accurately in English 80-100% of the contents of an academic or specialized text written in
French without having to use any reference materials or translators. Verify if any information that is
referenced to this type of document is correct.
Page | 1
Distribution of Marks (Provisional distribution. The final version will be posted at the beginning of
term)
Participation (in 3 or 4 discussion forums)
3%
Online tests (2 or3)
12 %
Midterm test
20%
(on site)
Reading assignment assessment*** (on site)
25 %
Final Examination* (on site)
40 %
***Reading Assignment: (Note: special lecture time will be dedicated to explain the procedures for this
assignment). This consists of the selection and preparation of an authentic, untranslated French text
chosen in the student's field of study at Carleton. Students will be required
o to choose their own text (3000 words or more) and get it approved by the instructor (in January)
o to submit a specially prepared copy of the original French text (mid to end February)
o to translate portions of / to answer questions on that text during the assessment session (midMarch).
Note: No dictionaries or other memoranda may be used in tests, the reading assessment or
examinations.
*The final examination will take place on the date and location announced in the official schedule
available at http://www.carleton.ca/cu/programs/exam/index.html.
Page | 2