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FLF301: French I (2012-2013)

CURRICULUM PROGRAM: Foreign Language Program
COURSE TITLE: French I
CALENDAR YEAR: 2012-2013
GRADE LEVEL: 9-12
CODE: FLF301
TYPE: GD
CREDITS:
COURSE LENGTH: 36 weeks

Major Concepts/Content: The foreign language I course is designed to teach students to pronounce and discriminate among the various vowel and consonant sounds and respond to and to imitate authentic patterns of intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation. Students learn to give simple oral and written information by using appropriate learned vocabulary, word order, and grammatical forms, and to read silently and aloud with comprehension. The major oral and written linguistic principles presented include the following: pronunciation and recognition of foreign language sounds; formation of affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences; usage of articles and adjectives to correctly modify nouns; conjugation of various regular and irregular verbs; usage of the present, present progressive, future preterite, and imperfect tenses; usage of comparative, superlative, demonstrative, and possessive adjectives; formation of possession; usage of adverbs; and usage of direct and indirect object pronouns. Various short stories, essays, simple readers, magazines, newspapers, filmstrips, films, slides, videos and computer programs, that are representative of the culture of the different foreign language speaking countries, are used.

Major Instructional Activities: Instructional activities will provide emphasis on proficiency, communication and culture, in addition to presenting work in the four basic skill areas. Some of the activities used to achieve these goals will include viewing and repeating new vocabulary from the textbook or overhead transparencies. Students will listen to tapes of new sounds and mimic them. Simple dictation of short phrases and sentences that have been studied is another technique that will be used. Another activity will utilize tape cassettes to instruct and evaluate oral comprehension. Encouraging communication will be achieved by asking simple questions and having students answer in the target language Other activities will include exercises and drills where students fill in blanks, answer true-false questions, and write matching and completion statements. Use of computers can be used for drill and reinforcement exercises, multiple choice, close encounters and other activity types. Choral exercises and other oral repetitive drills will be used for reinforcement of difficult sounds and structures of the host nation’s target language. Students will participate in class activities to achieve the goals and objectives of the course. In addition, students who are studying a target language in the host nation, will be encouraged to visit museums, theaters, and attend other activities where they can hear and speak the target language and appreciate cultural events of the country.

Major Evaluative Techniques: Students will be required to pass tests included with the program text as well as teacher-made tests. Dictations will be used frequently. Translations of topics using familiar vocabulary will be encouraged. Daily class participation, exercises in workbooks, and homework will be considered of vital importance in the total evaluation of students.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of the foreign language course, students should be able to:
Listening:

• Discriminate among the various vowel sounds.
• Discriminate among the various consonant sounds.
• Respond to intonation, stress, rhythm, and pitch.
• Demonstrate comprehension of the linking of sounds and phrasing.
• Discriminate among the vowel and consonant clusters.
• Demonstrate comprehension of the morphological changes indicated in the section on structure.
• Demonstrate comprehension of the parts of speech and content of material studied.

Speaking:

• Produce properly stressed syllables.
• Produce consonants in syllables without distortion. Imitate authentic patterns of intonation, stress, rhythm, linking, and pitch. .
• Relate information orally using appropriate grammatical forms.
• Relate information orally using word order characteristic of the target language.
• Use familiar vocabulary items and the content of dialogues in conversational patterns.

Reading:

• Read aloud to fix the association of the written symbol with the spoken word.
• Recognize changes in meaning caused by modification in structure.
• Read aloud in the target language with proper inflection and accentuation.

Writing:

• Write in syllables, words, and sentences the symbols that stand for the sound of the language.
• Know aspects of punctuation and capitalization peculiar to the target language.
• Respond in writing to an oral or written cue using appropriate grammatical forms.
• Respond in writing to an oral or written cue using appropriate word order.

Culture:

• Identify the major geographical areas where the language is spoken.
• Understand the importance of culture and language interrelationships.
• Discuss popular sports of the countries of the target language.
• Identify festivals and holiday U.S. customs of the people of the target language.
• Identify the folk music of the countries of the target language.
• Identify gestures (and behavior) used by the speakers of the target language.
• Demonstrate the use of formal and familiar forms of address in the target language.
• Describe the difference of the roles of men and women in the target language.
• Give examples of one's own strengths and limitations in an intercultural setting.
• Identify careers in which more than one language is used.