Students taking this module require to have achieved a pass in French Language 1A or be able to demonstrate an equivalent knowledge of the language in all four skills of Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing at B1.2/working towards B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for language qualifications.
A communicative approach is adopted in the teaching, making maximum appropriate use of French throughout, to develop all four language skills in an integrated manner, whilst ensuring that students are supported in developing a declarative knowledge of French grammar appropriate to Year 2 of third level study, and are able to apply that knowledge systematically to all four language skills.
An extensive range of additional materials, benchmarked at B1.2/B2 Level on the CEFR which are not used in class will be available online to support independent learning.
This module is benchmarked at B2 on the CEFR and the minimum exit level is B1.2. This reflects the research findings of the Association of Language Testers Europe (ALTE) that although successful learners generally take more than 200 hours of learning to progress from B1 to B2 Level, students taking this module have will have been working at B1 Level for some time and are working towards B2 Level.
On successful completion of the module, students will be performing consistently at B2 Level in all four skills and may occasionally be able to perform at C1 level in the passive skills (Reading and Listening) in contexts closely associated with those that have featured in the teaching programme and/or in familiar contexts when they have access to appropriate sources of reference and have sufficient time to prepare.
The syllabus will cover a wide range of topics appropriate to a range of everyday settings in France or other Francophone countries.
The focus will be on developing student’s knowledge and understanding of vocabulary and structures appropriate work and study situations that they may encounter on their year abroad.
Topics may vary from year to year, depending on choice of core text books but are likely to include such areas as:
- Job applications, CV and letter writing and interviews
- Advertisements
- Businesses and Companies in France or other French-speaking countries
- Organizational structures
- Economic partners and sectors of the economy
- Travel and Tourism
- Transport infrastructures and procedures
- The education system, with a focus on third-level education and college life
- The media and selected current affairs topics.
By the end of the module students will understand spoken French in a wide variety of study and work-related contexts and be able to speak confidently and fluently in these contexts. They will understand a range of written texts of different types and styles. They will be able to use reference sources efficiently. They will be able to write texts of about 300-350 words using a variety of expressions and sentence structures with few grammatical errors which are so serious as to impede communication.
Students will have a good vocabulary relevant to the fields of work and study, they will have a solid grounding in the grammatical system of the language and they will be well prepared to spend the following session on a work or study placement in France or another French-speaking country.
The class will normally be delivered by communicative language classes. Students will normally undertake approximately 15 minutes of study/preparation for each class hour. Attendance, participation and self-directed learning are viewed as essential elements of the learning process and a minimum of 75% student attendance/participation will be expected.
Indicative Learning Hours:
| Staff led activities: Communicative Language Classes | 72 |
| Student directed: class preparation | 20 |
| Student led: class test preparation and completion | 20 |
| Student led: online assessment preparation and completion | 28 |
| Student led: personal access to additional online resources | 40 |
| Student led: final exam preparation and completion | 20 |
| TOTAL | 200 |
E-learning
All class materials and additional support materials will be available online, normally through Brightspace.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 50 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 50 |