ClassInfo - Spring 2018 French Classes

Spring 2018 | FREN 5541 Section 001: Oral Discourse of French (68754)

Instructor(s): Betsy Kerr
Class Component:: Discussion
Credits:: 3 Credits
Grading Basis:: Student Option
Instructor Consent:: No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:: In Person Term Based
Meets With:: FREN 3541 Section 001
Times and Locations:: Regular Academic Session

01/16/2018 - 05/04/2018

Mon, Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM

UMTC, East Bank

Folwell Hall 10
Enrollment Status:: Open (1 of 5 seats filled)

Course Catalog Description:: Nature of contemporary spoken French discourse. Focuses on spontaneous, multi-speaker discourse. Readings include examples of various linguistic approaches to such discourse. Emphasizes syntactic analysis. Phonological/lexical particularities. 'Macro' level analyses such as discourse analysis and conversation analysis. prereq: 3015, grad student; Ling 5001 recommended
Class Description:: Are you confused, or intrigued, by the differences between the formal French you've learned in class, and the 'real' French you've heard spoken in France or elsewhere? How does oral language, no matter what the language, differ from written language? Why do some consider spontaneous speech to be full of mistakes and bad usage? This seminar will explore these questions. The main course texts are Ball, Colloquial French Grammar, and Blanche-Benveniste, Approches de la langue parlée en francais. Ball's text is a thorough treatment of the grammatical features which distinguish colloquial spoken French from more formal styles of the language. Descriptions and analyses will be illustrated with data from the Minnesota Corpus and other available electronic corpuses (large samples of real-world language). Outside-of-class preparation will include readings, hands-on work such as transcription of recordings of conversation and analysis of data by means of a concordancer (glorified search engine - instruction provided), in-class presentations, and one course project. Readings in French and English, class discussion and assignments in French. The course is intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students with an interest in French linguistics. Note: This course is NOT A CONVERSATION COURSE. Ideally, students should have some background in linguistics (either French or general), but students with advanced proficiency in French (minimum Fren 3015, preferably 3016) may be admitted without prior linguistics coursework. Class meets with Fren 3541. Graduate students will be required to develop one of the course projects into a full-blown research paper, requiring additional outside reading as well as original research. Graduate students will also be expected to demonstrate a more thorough grasp of course topics, and more original responses to course material in class discussions and written work.
Who Should Take This Class?:: Graduate students in French or Linguistics with advanced proficiency in French. A useful course for future teachers of French, as well as for those interested in translation and interpretation.
Learning Objectives:: To understand how the mode of language production (oral/written, spontaneous/planned) and the situation in which we communicate (formal/informal) influence the ways in which we communicate. To learn methods of inquiry for the study of spoken language.
Grading:: 40% Reports/Papers
5% Quizzes
20% Written Homework
10% In-class Presentations
25% Class Participation
Exam Format:: Two quizzes include short-answer questions, identification of features distinguishing sample sentences of formal and informal French.
Class Format:: 20% Lecture
60% Discussion
10% Student Presentations
10% Web Based
Workload:: 20-25 Pages Reading Per Week
15 Pages Writing Per Term
2 Paper(s)
1 Presentation(s)
1 Special Project(s)
1 Book Report(s)
9 Homework Assignment(s)
2 Quiz(zes)
Textbooks:: https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/68754/1183
Syllabus:: http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/bjkerr_FREN5541_Spring2018.docx
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:: 25 October 2017

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2018 French Classes

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