20802224French 4
Course Information
Description
This course is for students who have completed 3 years of high school French OR 3 semesters of college French. Students will expand their ability to speak and write at an intermediate level, increasing both the quality and quantity of language produced. Emphasis will be placed on gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for other cultures.
Total Credits
4
Course Competencies
  1. Use correct words, expressions, spelling, and gender to talk about all aspects of films this semester (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Through completion of a vocabulary assessment after the first week of the semester
    Criteria
    Identify a variety of movie genres using correct spelling and pronunciation
    Identify various aspects of a movie, such as the director, the music, the dialogue, the décor, etc
    Identify different kinds of movie endings
    Say which actor or actress plays a particular role
    Say when a particular movie “came out”
    Identify numbers correctly in years
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about character types and personalities
    List what is most important to you as a movie-goer and explain why
    Talk about your likes and dislikes in terms of movies, genres, characters, actors
    Use the expression “Il s’agit de…” when explaining what a movie is about
    List a variety of possible movie themes
    Use strings of sentences to talk about your favorite movie (or any movie) and explain why you like it
    Identify some aspects of culture, such as French-speaking actors, actresses, directors, and style
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of this movie vocabulary, both in speaking and writing

  2. Discuss the cultural and historical elements of the film Rue Cases Nègres (1983) and the topics of family, education, hard work, and sacrifice (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify the forms of regular and irregular adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe life on the island of Martinique in the 1930s
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about slavery, colonization, and oral traditions
    Use correct placement of regular and irregular adjectives to make sentences more complex
    Sustain conversation by using a variety of question forms (inversion, est-ce que, etc)
    Participate in exchanges using basic negation and basic adverbs
    Use QUI and QUE to make sentences more complex and provide definitions
    Participate in conversations using spelling change verbs in the present tense
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters, comparing characters with simple comparative and superlative structures, focusing especially on adjectives
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Describe people, places, and scenes using strings of sentences and paragraphs
    Identify and use reflexive verbs in the present tense
    Use vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, and other irregular verbs and expressions to describe the movie and characters with more depth and quantity
    Use some transitional words and phrases (especially French 4)
    Use LUI and LEUR avoid repetition
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, in the present tense
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topics of this movie
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  3. Discuss the historical and cultural elements of the film Au revoir les enfants (1987) and the topics of friendship, religion, courage, and betrayal (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe life in a French boarding school during World War II
    Use new and old vocabulary to discuss friendship, religion, courage, and betrayal
    Use QUI, QUE, DONT, OÙ to make sentences more complex and provide definitions
    Use the imparfait to makes descriptions in the past
    Use the imparfait to talk about repeated/habitual activities in the past
    Use VENIR DE to express the recent past
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters
    Compare and contrast this movie with other movies
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify verbs that are conjugated with ÊTRE in the passé composé
    Use verbs in the passé composé, including ÊTRE verbs and reflexive verbs, to list events that took place in the past
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, in the past tense
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie, sometimes with LE/LA/LES
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topics of this movie
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    You engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  4. Discuss the historical and cultural context of the film Inch’Allah Dimanche (2001), and the topics of immigration, assimilation, culture shock, and personal growth (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about family roles, home life, and traditional vs modern
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about immigration, assimilation, and culture shock
    Talk about Algeria, music, and Islam
    Use geographical prepositions when talking about cities and countries
    Identify and use forms of the futur simple verb tense
    Use the futur simple and the futur proche to make predictions about the movie and its characters
    Ask and answer questions using the futur simple with DÈS QUE and QUAND
    Compare secondary characters to the main character and identify their struggles
    Identify possible movie themes, especially that of the quest, and support your answer
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Use LUI and LEUR to avoid repetition in sentences
    Use the object pronouns Y, EN, LUI, LEUR, LE, LA, LES to avoid repetition
    Use correct placement of these pronoun replacements
    Identify negative expressions and their corresponding affirmative expressions
    Use correct placement of negative expressions, especially in the future
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, in the future tense
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  5. Discuss the artistic, social, and cultural elements of the film La Haine (1995) and the topics of unemployment, discrimination, violence, and revenge (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Use correct forms of appropriate adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe life in the Northern suburbs of Paris
    Identify some slang terms
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about character development, cinematography, and artistic influences
    Create questions, especially in the inversion, about the characters and the scenes of the movie
    Use the conditional to give advice and make suggestions
    Use relative pronouns to make complex sentences about the movie and topics
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters, especially your opinions about what you would do in the same circumstances
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify the formulas for using SI clauses
    Use correct verb tenses to complete SI clauses that express the hypothetical
    Participate in exchanges that use all formulas of SI clauses
    Develop answers into paragraph-length responses with complex sentences
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  6. Discuss the social and cultural elements of the film Intouchables (2011) and the topics of work, disability, strength, and support (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Use correct forms of appropriate adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe disabilities, unemployment, and negative bias
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about friendship, support, and strength
    Identify regular verb forms in the subjunctive
    Identify and use some impersonal expressions of opinion that require subjunctive
    Identify irregular forms of the subjunctive
    Identify and use expressions of will and emotion
    Create sentences and strings of sentences that use the subjunctive
    Express opinions about the movie using expressions of doubt, disbelief, and uncertainty
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify conjunctions that require the subjunctive
    Use possessive pronouns to ask for clarification, to avoid repetition, to make sentences more refined
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, that feature appropriate use of the subjunctive
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topics of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  7. Discuss the social and cultural context of the film Mauvaises Herbes (2018) and the topics of work, personal strengths and character flaws, and redemption (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify the forms of regular and irregular adverbs
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe school, professions, and the process of finding work
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about comedy and film actors
    Use correct placement of adverbs to make sentences more complex
    Initiate and sustain conversations by using a variety of question forms (inversion, est-ce que, etc)
    Participate in exchanges using basic negation and basic adverbs
    Use QUI and QUE to make sentences more complex and provide definitions
    Participate in conversations using spelling change verbs in the present tense
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters, comparing characters with simple comparative and superlative structures, focusing especially on adverbs
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Describe people, places, and scenes using strings of sentences and paragraphs
    Identify and use reflexive verbs in the present tense
    Use verbs like OUVRIR and other irregular verbs and expressions to describe the movie and characters with more depth and quantity
    Use LUI/LEUR to ask/answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topics of this movie
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, in the present tense
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  8. Discuss the social and cultural context of the film L’Arnacoeur (2010) and the topics of comedy, celebrations, relationships, and honesty (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify the forms of regular and irregular adjectives
    Use QUI, QUE, DONT, OÙ to describe clothing, special occasions, scenes in the South of France
    Use new and old vocabulary to wish people well and honor special occasions
    Identify verbs conjugated with ÊTRE in the passé composé, including reflexives
    Use the passé composé to list events that took place in the past
    Use the plus-que-parfait to make complex sentences in the past more precise
    Use LE/LA/LES with verbs in the passé composé
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters
    Compare this movie and its characters with other movies
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Use the imparfait to make descriptions in the past and talk about habitual/on-going actions in the past
    Use the imparfait with SI…) to make suggestions
    Narrate a paragraph-length story and/or scene in the past using both passé composé and imparfait
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie, in particular using QUEL and LEQUEL
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  9. Discuss the social and cultural context of the film Ne le dis à personne (2006) and the topics of suspense, mystery, crimes, and investigations (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify the forms of regular and irregular adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about crimes, criminals, and investigations
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about places in Paris and movie scenes
    Use prepositions of place to describe scenes
    Use negative and affirmative commands to give advice and directions
    Use some pronoun replacements with commands
    Use pronoun replacements to avoid repetition in sentences
    Create commands and sentences using correct placements of pronoun replacements
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters, using the future to make predictions
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify and use forms of the futur simple verb tense
    Use both futur simple and futur proche to express paragraph-length messages about the future
    Identify negative expressions and their corresponding affirmative expressions
    Use negative expressions to ask and answer questions and to sustain the conversation
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  10. Discuss the artistic and cultural context of the film Visages, Villages (2017) and the topics of friendship, art, the French countryside, and the beauty of the ordinary (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify forms of regular and irregular adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe places in town, aspects of village life in France, landscape
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about art, film, and photography
    Ask questions with QUEL and LEQUEL
    Identify forms of the conditional
    Use the conditional to make requests more polite
    Use relative pronouns to make complex sentences and to identify and define people and things
    Use the comparative and superlative of nouns to express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify the formulas for using SI clauses
    Use correct verb tenses to complete SI clauses that express the hypothetical
    Participate in exchanges that use all formulas of SI clauses
    Develop answers into paragraph-length responses with complex sentences
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie, including hypotheticals
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)

  11. Discuss the social and cultural context of the film Les Choristes (2004) and the topics of music, talent, kindness, and persistence (in French).
    Assessment Strategies
    Through completion of weekly online textbook activities
    Through weekly writing, speaking, listening, and reading activities with classmates and instructor
    Criteria
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the movie characters and their relationships to each other
    Identify the movie genre, date of release, and director
    Identify the forms of regular and irregular adjectives
    Use new and old vocabulary to describe the boarding school, the classroom, the people at school
    Use new and old vocabulary to talk about music, singing, and talent
    Identify and use some impersonal expressions of opinion that require the subjunctive
    Identify regular verb forms in the subjunctive
    Identify irregular forms of the subjunctive
    Identify and use expressions of will and emotion
    Create sentences that use the subjunctive
    Express your opinions about various aspects of the movie and its characters using expressions of doubt, disbelief, uncertainty
    Identify possible movie themes and support your answer
    Identify conjunctions that require the subjunctive
    Ask questions with the subjunctive to initiate and sustain conversations
    Use demonstrative pronouns to make sentences more complex, to avoid repetition, and to be more precise
    Ask and answer questions within the topics of this movie
    Provide details about the historical, cultural, social, and/or artistic context of this film
    Engage in written and spoken exchanges with others about this movie, its characters, and its themes
    Communicate paragraph-length messages, both orally and written, that feature appropriate use of the subjunctive
    Identify the important details of written texts and spoken messages within the topic of this movie
    Use communicative strategies to stay in the target language and convey your message
    Engage in regular, repeated practice of the four skills in the target language (reading, writing, listening, speaking)