AP® French Language Syllabus
Course Objectives
Students should be able to:
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understand the French of native speakers in a variety of contexts and representing
a variety of francophone cultures;
understand nontechnical texts from a variety of sources (magazine and newspaper
articles, literary texts, letters, etc.)
achieve a level of oral and written expression that would be comprehensible to the
nonsympathetic (i.e. not the teacher) native listener or reader;
grow in their knowledge of idiomatic expressions; and
grow in their knowledge of francophone cultures.
use French in all classroom interactions
Primary textbooks:
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En Bonne Forme, workbook and companion cassettes (EBF)
Supplementary text:
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Une Fois Pour Toutes (UFPT)
Other sources and materials:
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Released AP Exams
Barron’s: How to Prepare for the SAT II French Exam
Barron’s: How to Prepare for the French AP Exam
L’Art de Lire
Triangle
Trésor du Temps
Course Planner
Semester 1: Grammatical Structures and Concepts
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EBF: Ch. 1
UFPT: Leçon 1
Review idiomatic use of être, aller, faire and avoir in the
present tense
 Review use of depuis with present tense
 Review present tense of regular, irregular, stem-changing,
spelling change and reflexive verbs
 Review gender and number of nouns and adjectives
 Review all articles and their uses
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Narrative writing: rewrite / change the end of the excerpt
from Chapter 1 of En Bonne Forme using present tense
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EBF: Ch. 2,3,4
UFPT: Leçon 2
EBF: Ch. 14-15
UFPT: Leçon 3
Monologue: talk about one’s daily activities at home and at
school
Dialogue: Interview a partner asking questions about his or
her daily routine, school activities and hobbies
Oral Summary of reading in Chapter 1 of En Bonne Forme
Test / Written Assessment: Concepts covered
 Review of passé composé (reg/irreg verbs): forms and uses
 Review of imparfait (reg/irreg verbs): forms and uses
 Comparison of use of two past tenses
 Plusqueparfait (reg/irreg verbs): forms and uses
 Review of all past tenses in combination
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Poem: write a poem in the style of Jacques Prévert using
the passé composé
 Narrative: write a narrative about the childhood of an older
relative
 Narrative: write a story concerning a bad dream, bad trip
experience, etc. using the passé composé, imparfait and
plusqueparfait
 Monologue: using a visual of an accident scene describe
what happened using time expressions studied.
 Dialogue: interview a partner about a trip and/or
experience
 Test / Assesment: Concepts covered
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Future (reg/irreg verbs): forms
Future anterieur (reg/irreg verbs): forms and uses
Use of future with quand/lorsque, dès que/aussitôt que, tant
que and si
 Conditional (reg/irreg verbs) forms
 Past Conditional (reg/irreg verbs) forms
 Use of si + imparfait + conditional
 Use of si + plusqueparfait + past conditional
 Review of sequence of tenses
 Review of all si clauses
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Monologue: talk about plans for the future
 Expository Composition: (after reading article on
technology: Les advantages de l’ordinateur) discuss
whether the author’s predictions have come true and then
discuss where technology will lead us in the future
 Monologue: talk about what one would do (for a specific
set of circumstances)
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EBF: Ch. 16
UFPT: Leçon
4
Test / Assessment: Concepts covered
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Subjunctive (reg/irreg verbs): forms
Use of subjunctive with impersonal, judgment, doubt and
volition expressions, adjectives of emotions, and certain
conjunctions.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Diary entry: using the subjunctive and the beginning
expressions talk about how you felt and/or make a
comment about other people’s actions throughout the day
 Monolgue: give a series of reactions (using the
subjunctive) to a particular circumstance
 Dialogue: with a partner discuss who has to do what chore
in order to get ready for a party.
 Test / Assessment: concepts covered
Semester 1: Readings, Vocabulary, Listening and Films
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Selections from Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 16 of En Bonne Forme
Selections from L’Art de Lire
o L’Aventure de Walter Schnaffs
o Deux Amis
o En Cas de danger tirez la poignée
o Le Déjeuner de Sylvie
o Au parc Borély avec tante Rose
Listening and Reading activities from Barron’s SAT II French and AP French
Language
Selections from Trésor du Temps: Etape 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Picture sequences from Triangle, released AP tests, and other sources
Films: Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources
o Expository writing based on the two movies: Can a single action change
the course of someone’s life?
Semester 2: Grammatical Structures and Concepts
EBF: Ch. 11, 13
UFPT: Leçon 5
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Review of personal pronouns (direct, indirect, y and en) in
all structures (1-verb, 2-verbs, commands and compound
tenses)
Agreement of past participle with a preceding noun or
pronoun
Verbal expressions and verbs which take prepositions
Use of stress pronouns (especially in contrast to indirect
object pronouns)
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Letter: write a “Dear John” letter to a boyfriend/girlfriend
breaking off the relationship and giving reasons why - use
different types of personal pronouns
 Test / Assessment: concepts covered
EBF: Ch. 17, 19
UFPT: Leçon 6
 Use and agreement of possessive pronouns
 Use and agreement of demonstrative pronouns
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Test / Assessement: concepts covered
EFB: Ch. 10
UFPT: Leçon 7
 Review of all interrogative expressions and structures
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Test / Assessement: concepts covered
EBF: Ch. 9
UFPT: Leçon 9
Review of all negative and indefinite expressions and
structures
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Test / Assessement: concepts covered
EBF: Ch. 18
UFPT: Leçon 8
 Use of relative pronouns
Major Assignments and Assessments:
 Test / Assessement: concepts covered
Throughout 2nd
semester
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Increased writings using the AP format and time
restrictions
Increased practice using the AP format for readings
Description of visuals: picture sequences and other visuals
Practice taking the AP exams using released AP exams
Semester 2: Readings, Vocabulary, Listening and Films
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Selections from Chapter 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19of En Bonne Forme
Selections from L’Art de Lire
o La Vieille Dame de Bayeux (6 parts)
o L’Auberge aux Noyés (4 parts)
Listening and Reading activities from Barron’s SAT II French and AP French
Language
Selections from Trésor du Temps: Etape 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
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Picture sequences from Triangle, released Ap tests, and other sources
Readings from Paris-Match (2003)
Readings from online L’Express
Released AP Exams
Films: La Gloire de mon père, Le Château de ma mère
Teaching Strategies
Use of Target Language in Classroom:
French will be used almost exclusively by the teacher in the classroom. Some
complicated grammatical structures may first be explained in French (if necessary), but
would then be reviewed using the target language. Students need to see the teacher as
their role model. The students are encouraged and expected to use the target language in
all classroom interactions.
Speaking:
Students are given extensive opportunities to express themselves and to refine
their oral skills in the target language through numerous partner and small group
activities. Students practice in the language lab and with cassette recorders.
Using the thematic topics, grammatical structures of the chapters and readings,
students will engage in the following types of activities:
 role plays
 monologues
 picture descriptions
 picture sequences
 story summaries
 participation in class discussions
Students are graded on how well they accomplish their given task, if current
vocabulary and structures are incorporated and correctly used, and if they are
making efforts to expand their vocabulary and range of speaking.
Listening:
Listening skills continue to be developed throughout the year. Students listen to a
variety of different sources
 recorded readings from the textbooks
 class discussions
 viewing French films and documentaries
 songs
 recordings of native French speakers
To verify the students’ comprehension of the material, they will be expected to
answer or give an appropriate response after listening to the selection.
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oral questions
true/false statements
multiple choice response
Reading:
To build reading comprehension, the specific strategies taught in French I -IV are
reviewed and practiced: activation of prior knowledge, cognates/false cognates, deriving
meaning from context, word families, compound nouns, prefixes and suffixes,
orthographic changes from French to English, recognition of tone, and the identification
of referents, signal words (description, sequence, comparison, contrast, cause/effect),
main ideas, supporting details, audience and objective.
Students will be given the opportunity to read a variety of materials in French
 magazine and newspaper articles from Paris-Match
 on-line magazine and newspaper articles (L’Express)
 literary selections from a variety of texts and sources
 released Ap exams
 practice SAT II French tests
 selections from Triangle
Writing:
After the completion of a chapter or reading, students will write on a topic related
to the vocabulary / theme and structures. Students are given the opportunity to
brainstorm about the topic, create composition outlines, and are guided through the
writing process. I check their progress several different times, giving them feedback.
Students rewrite their compositions based upon my comments. Throughout the year,
students will write descriptive, narrative, informative and persuasive compositions.
AP-Specific Training:
Throughout French 3 PreAp and French AP, students become familiar with the
format of the AP test. I test them in conditions similar to those of the AP French
Language Exam. We work on activities that are similar in form and time restrictions to
the AP exam. Extensive work in the language lab is done, as well as activities using
cassette recorders so that students become familiar with the specific circumstances of the
exam.
Bibliography:
Dietiker, Simone Renaud, Dominique Van Hooff. Bonne Forme. 6th ed.. Houghton
Mifflin,1997.
Sturges, Hales, Linda Cregg Hielsen, and Henry Herbst. Une Fois Pour Toutes.
Longman, 1992
Amiry, Laila. How to Prepare for the AP French. Barron’s, 2004
Demaray, Carolyn, Josette Smith. Triangle. Wayside Publishing, 1998
Kendris, Cristophe, PhD. How to Prepare for the SAT II French. Barron’s, 7th ed.,1994
Hope, Quentin, Geoffrey Hope. L’Art de Lire. 2nd ed..Prentice Hall, 1996
Lenard, Yvone. Trésor du Temps. Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2005