_________North Seattle Community College ____________________________________Winter 2007
FRENCH 101.01 ----- COURSE SYLLABUS ----- 11:00-11:50am M-F; Room: IB3426
INSTRUCTOR:
Scott (Serge) Bernhard
Office: 2310C
Office Hour: 9:00 - 10:00 am. daily or by appointment
Telephone: 528-4555 (office - leave a message)
Office e-mail: sbernhar@sccd.ctc.edu
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Contacts, 7th ed., Valette. (bookstore)
Contacts: Cahier d'activités, 7th ed. (bookstore)
Serge's Guide to French Pronunciation (text in the Copy Center, CD's in library)
RECOMMENDED TEXT:
English Grammar for Students of French, 5th ed., Morton. (bookstore)
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To increase awareness of French-speaking cultures through the study of their language; to demonstrate why learning a
foreign language is an essential part of one's education; and to show how language study can alter one's overall perspective
through exposure to different cultural attitudes and thought processes.
2. To acquire, using a conceptual approach, a basic working knowledge of material presented in Serge's Guide to French
Pronunciation and Leçons 1-12 of the basic text. In dealing with the four basic elements of language acquisition--speaking,
listening, reading, writing--I will stress the fundamental concepts of grammar as tools of self-expression.
3. To relax and have as much fun as possible while achieving #1 and #2.
CLASSROOM CONDUCT: This is a university-level course of study and should be considered as such. Attendance is up
to you, but lack of participation in class will affect your grade. I respect all students who are making an honest effort to
learn the material, and I will do all I can to help them achieve their goals. I, in turn, will strive to earn your respect by
always being on time, having a prepared lesson plan, and trying to make myself available to answer individual questions. I
do not have inexhaustible patience for those who waste their classmates’ time, my time, and their own time by not doing the
required work and coming to class unprepared. If you discover that you have neither the time nor the inclination to give
proper attention to French 101, consider dropping the class. Also, please observe basic classroom etiquette by coming to
class on time and staying in class for the full 50-minute session. And please make sure that all cell phones are turned off
before class.
GRADING POLICY: The final course grade will be determined on the basis of the following percentages:
Final exam - 30% A comprehensive exam covering all the major concepts studied during the quarter. This exam will take
place on Wednesday, March 21 from 10:30 to 12:30 in our regular classroom. All students must take the final exam to
receive a grade for the course.
Quizzes - 20% There will be 4 major quizzes roughly corresponding to units 1-4 (leçons 1-12) in the text on the dates
indicated on the course schedule. There will be no make-up quizzes unless you contact me the day of your absence in the
event of a "real" emergency. I will drop the lowest of the four quiz scores.
real emergencies
natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, etc.)
important job interview
sudden serious illness
death in the family
accident/injury
demonic possession
nuclear holocaust
"unreal" emergencies
temporary, non-clinical loss of memory
minor fatigue
lost textbooks
breaking up with boy/girl friend
vacations of any kind/ski trips
bad-hair day
birthday celebrations
Dictées or other listening quizzes - 15% There will be a series of "dictées" (dictations) during the quarter to monitor
your listening comprehension. They will focus on material being studied at a given moment. "Dictées" may not be made
up. These dictations will be sometimes be based on vocabulary and practice sentences from Serge's Guide to French
Pronunciation.
Participation/Oral competence - 10% The class will be conducted in French as much as possible, and although I will
not prohibit you from asking questions in English, I would appreciate it if you would make an effort in French whenever
possible. Throughout the quarter, I will make note of your progress in improving your accent and in your ability to ask
and respond correctly to questions in class at a reasonable speed. My subjective evaluation of your speaking ability will
determine this portion of your grade. Obviously, undue absenteeism (missing more than two classes) will adversely affect
this portion of your grade.
Oral presentation – 10% Each student will be required to present a short reading in French to the class at the end of the
quarter. You may select a reading from the text or something from another source approved by me. This presentation in
front of the class will be graded on the basis of your progress in pronunciation, intonation, and authenticity of delivery, not
on innate ability. Please come and see me if you have any special problems with the reading. This presentation must be
made to get credit for the course.
Composition - 10% There will an in-class composition near the end of the quarter for which I will give some hints in
advance regarding appropriate vocabulary and structures that you will need to write the composition. When you write the
composition officially in class, you will not have access to any notes, texts or dictionaries. More on this later.
Workbook assignments - 5% You will be required to do all of the exercises in the Cahier d'activités (both the written
and listening exercises) as we study each lesson. You will hand in all of the lab work for each lesson as well as the
"Communication" exercise for each lesson in the "workbook" portion of the Cahier d'activités. I will assume that you can
follow along with the appropriate exercises from the workbook that reinforce what we are doing in class. Use a pencil to
complete the exercises, then correct your own work in ink using the answer keys at the back of the workbook. If the work
is unfinished or uncorrected, I will give only half credit. I will not accept work more than one day late.
The CD's that accompany both the Contacts lab manual and Serge’s Guide to French Pronunciation may be purchased at
the main desk of the library. Simply tell them that you want both CD sets for French 101. Do not wait till the evening
before the lessons are due to listen to your CD's. You are responsible for checking them out to see that they have been
properly duplicated by media services. You must contact Media Services about any problems with the CD's.
Please take advantage of the free tutoring service in the Loft to get help understanding basic sentence structure and use of
vocabulary, but tutors will not be able to give specific help on any graded assignments. Please do not ask tutors to correct
work that is to be handed in for a grade.
Bienvenus en français 101!
Grade Conversion Chart Students in this class will receive grades based on percentages only. There is no curve. There will be no
extra credit assignments. I will give a no-credit (NC) grade only to students who complete all of the work and take all of the exams but
who prefer to take the class over for a better grade. Students who simply disappear without bothering to officially withdraw and
without discussing it with me will receive a grade based on the evaluation system above.
%
Grade Letter
Grade
100
4.0
A
99
4.0
A
98
4.0
A
97
4.0
A
96
3.9
A
95
3.9
A
94
3.8
A
93
3.8
A
92
3.7
A
91
3.6
A90
3.5
A-
%
89
88
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
Grade
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
Letter
Grade
B+
B+
B+
B
B
B
B
BBB-
%
79
78
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
Grade
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
Letter
Grade
C+
C+
C+
C
C
C
C
CCC-
%
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
0-61
Grade
Letter
Grade
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.0
D+
D+
D+
D
D
D
D
DF
French 101.01
Date
Course Calendar
Monday
Jan. 2-5
Winter 2007
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Introduction
Pronunciation
Pronunciation
Pronunciation
Leçon 1-3
Jan. 8-12
Pronunciation
Leçon 1-3
Pronunciation
Leçon 1-3
Pronunciation
Leçon 1-3
Pronunciation
Leçon 1-3
QUIZ #1
(Leçons 1-3)
Jan. 15-19
M.L. KING
HOLIDAY
NO CLASS
Leçon 4
Leçon 4
Leçon 4
Leçon 4
(+ pp. 65-68)
Jan. 22-26
Leçon 4
Leçon 5
Leçon 5
Leçon 5
Leçon 5
Jan. 29Feb. 2
Leçon 6
Leçon 6
Leçon 6
Leçon 6
QUIZ #2
(Leçons 4-6)
Feb. 5-9
Leçon 7
Leçon 7
Leçon 7
Leçon 7
Leçon 7
Feb. 12-16
Leçon 7
Leçon 8
Leçon 8
Leçon 8
Leçon 8
Feb. 19-23
PRES. DAY
NO CLASS
Leçon 8
(+ p. 166)
Leçon 9
Leçon 9
Leçon 9
Feb. 26March 2
Leçon 9
Leçon 9
QUIZ #3
(Leçons 7-9)
Leçon 10
Leçon 10
March 5-9
Leçon 10
Leçon 10
Leçon 11
Leçon 11
Leçon 11
Composition
March 12-16
Leçon 11
Leçon 12
Leçon 12
QUIZ #4
(Leçons 10-12)
REVIEW
March 19-21
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
FINAL EXAM
10:30-12:30