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French Level 5

Module details

Offered to 2nd, 3rd and 4th Years
Monday or Thursday 16.00-18.00 (depending on year of study)
Planned delivery: On campus (South Kensington)
Two-term module, worth 7.5 ECTS
Available to eligible students as part of I-Explore
Extra Credit, or Degree Credit where your department allows

Degree credit module options by department How to enrol

The content of the module will cover a range of topics on the social political and cultural evolution of contemporary France as well as works on French literature that have special relevance to France’s science and/or history.

This module aims to:

Develop your listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to a more advanced level
Help you to develop further your knowledge of complex grammatical structures and various lexical registers
Study scientific, technical and literary texts
Analyse the stylistic and idiomatic features that characterise French newspaper, TV and radio material
Provide you with background knowledge and vocabulary on social, political and cultural events in contemporary France.

By the end of the module, students should have reached approximately the B2/C1 standard of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

To be eligible for this module, you need to have done one of the following:

Successfully completed French Level 4
Already achieved B2 or equivalent on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

This module is not intended for native or near-native speakers.

Please note: The information on this module description is indicative. The module may undergo minor modifications before the start of next academic year.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

Engage with extended native speech with ease, identifying details of complex arguments and recognizing culturally relevant meanings
Interact fluently, spontaneously, and accurately in a variety of social and professional contexts, adapting to the needs of the communicative context
Navigate and critique the main ideas and essential detail of complex texts from a variety of genres and topics, including scientific material, and write detailed, well-structured texts on a wide range of complex subjects, developing viewpoints and using sophisticated linguistic structures, register and style of c1.1 level
Demonstrate an understanding of the target culture in analysing a broad range of cultural, scientific practices and socio-political perspectives, comparing these with your own backgrounds and contexts of practice
Develop the ability to learn independently, using a range of digital language learning tools to tackle sophisticated linguistic material and identify relevant sources to support your research

Indicative core content

In this module, you will cover the following linguistic structures:

Revision of grammatical structures, as appropriate, with a strong emphasis on tenses in indicative and subjunctive moods
Revision of subordinating conjunctions used in dependent clauses
Nominalisation
Structural exercises: rewriting sentences/gap filling
Study of common translation problems
Essay writing
Summarising of texts
Text analysis
Oral presentation techniques

Topics:

The power of language
Developments in modern French
Style and registers, e.g. formal, colloquial, literary
The political jargon
The French and common stereotypes
Study of literary texts: art by Yasmina Resa
Analysis of the role of the arts and sciences in contemporary societies
Study of selected scientific texts
French current affairs

Learning and teaching approach

In line with modern foreign languages communicative and active learning methodologies, the in-class activities you will complete will cover all four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). These will include pair work and groupwork (critical evaluation of texts, audio and video material and discussion); individual tasks (presentations); discovery and formulation of grammatical rules. Homework and coursework tasks will give you the opportunity to revise and consolidate your knowledge and skills and to develop your awareness of how to use language-learning tools independently. Our approach not only ensures you engage with a wide range of tasks and activities, but also seeks to support different learning styles.

Your coursework will be marked and returned within two weeks. Rubrics and revision guidance (how-to guides) will be included as needed with each coursework. You will receive detailed feedback alongside suggestions for improvement and an overall percentage showing your provisional grade for that assessment.

Assessment

Coursework (15%): Mid-autumn term project-based coursework on the virtual learning environment: reading/ listening/ writing (350-380 words).
Examination (10%): In-class test run on the virtual learning environment (bring your own device). This 1-hour test will take place at the end of autumn term. It will include essay questions based on a pre-prepared document (380-400 words).
Coursework (20%): Mid-autumn term project-based coursework: speaking (pre-recorded presentation: 6 minutes)/ writing (350-380 words).
Examination (20%): In-class test run on the virtual learning environment (bring your own device). This 1-hour test will take place at the end of spring term. It will include essay questions on literary texts and other topics from the course (400 words).
Practical (35%): Oral examination in the summer term, including presentation of topics from the course and unprepared discussion (approx. 20 minutes).

Assessment information for students on a course with a year abroad

Key information

7.5 ECTS points awarded on successful completion of the module.
Available to take for credit towards your degree where your department allows. Also available for extra-credit.
You must be prepared to attend all classes and and undertake approximately 3 hours of private study each week in addition to the assessment.

Module materials:

French literary texts: Stupeur et tremblements by Amelie Nothomb (term 1); Le Silence de la mer by Vercors (term 2)
video and audio material: television and radio broadcasts;
online resources; articles from contemporary French press and scientific journals.

Grammar support: La Grammaire progressive du français, niveau perfectionnement , CLE INTERNATIONAL, Janvier 2012 . ISBN : 978-2-09-035359-4

Students may also wish to purchase the grammar reference book, French Grammar and Usage, Fourth edition by Roger Hawkins, Richard Towell, Routledge 2015. ISBN: 978-1138851108

Further information for Year Abroad/Year in Europe Students
Further information for BSc Hons and MSc Language for Science Degrees

"Fantastic experience, loved attending class this year."

"Well-structured, engaging, and flexible - gives us the freedom to explore topics that interest us and engage in interesting debates. Throughout our vocabulary is bolstered and so is our grammar. It's normally a struggle to make a 2-hour class engaging throughout but French Level 5 does a great job."

"The inclusion of literature, politics, culture and other non-STEM topics is a nice change from the rest of the courses at Imperial."

"Really interesting and well-taught. Feedback has been timely and useful. Each lesson is well-structured. The learning environment is comfortable, so we feel at ease during the speaking section of the lesson. No fear of asking questions. Lessons are always a pleasure to attend."