Introductory description

This foundation module in French Language for Beginners allows students to learn the basics of the French language, develop main linguistic (oral, aural, written, spoken) skills, and acquire grammatical awareness & essential communicative competences.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Topics such as: shopping, eating out; employment; tourism and travelling; housing; different aspects of French life..
Grammar will include: gender/plurals of nouns; definite and indefinite articles; adjectives; posessives; adverbs; pronouns (personal, object, direct and indirect, relative); comparatives; verbs in the present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional and imperative; pronominal verbs; etc.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• apply a basic knowledge of grammar
• gain insight into everyday life in the relevant countries
• apply strategies for understanding gist and short descriptions
• interact about familiar topics and activities
• write simple texts giving background information and relating to areas of immediate need
• develop strategies to work independently on an open-ended project
• develop strategies to communicate some information coherently and effectively to a specific audience within an open-ended project

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will build students’ linguistic skills through activities that stimulate authentic target language production and develop sensitivity to the transference of meaning across languages. Students will work towards the production of nuanced, accurate and contextually sensitive materials through a range of language classes and guided independent learning.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.