French Higher Advanced 1 (MLT310)

• University credits: 10
• University levels: 1-4
• Pre-requisite: MLT261, A Level + 1 year or stay abroad, CEF B2
• Co-requisite: N/A.
• Availability: Students, members of staff, members of the public
• Teaching period: Autumn semester (Timetables and course dates)
• Contact times: 3 hours per week over 11 weeks, starting in Week 1 of the semester, and including a two-hour class and a one-hour lab session.
• Group size: Maximum of 23 students per class-group and 10-15 per lab-group.
• Language Co-ordinator: Dr Karine Zbinden
• Module Leader: Sylvie Cassou
• Pathway: MLT311

Assuming a one-year post-A-level study of the language or equivalent, this module aims to provide a full linguistic and cultural preparation for learners wishing to undertake an extended professional, academic or recreational stay in a country where the language is spoken and to expand the range of linguistic and cultural skills required to operate effectively in most situations encountered when engaging with native speakers.

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

• perform at Level B2+ of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
• understand the majority of TV news, current affairs programmes, and films, and extended speech and lectures with a complex line of argument even when the topic is not familiar
• understand fairly complex articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the writer adopts particular attitudes or viewpoints, as well as contemporary literary prose
• give a structured spoken presentation on a controversial subject related to their field of interest, expressing their views and opinions, and interacting in a persuasive manner with others
• write about academic, profesional or personal subjects in a letter, essay or report, expressing their points of view at some length within a simple logical structure and in a homogenuous style
• demonstrate a critical understanding of cultural and social trends and associated behaviours in areas where the language is spoken so as to engage efficiently with native speakers in most communicative situations, including academic or professional ones
• demonstrate a strategic ability to study the language by themselves for specific purposes, assessing their long-term language needs and cultural interests, setting themselves goals in relation to these, and using specialist tools as well as experimenting with a range of resources and techniques to achieve these goals with maximum efficiency
• demonstrate advanced competence in a number of transferable skills such as IT skills, researching, presenting and analysing information, defending an argument and negotiating, intercultural and language awareness, autonomous learning, social media communication, etc.

• Textbook*:
  • Set: French Grammar in Context, Margaret Jubb (Routledge: 2014), ISBN: 978-0415706681
     

• Virtual Learning Environment (Blackboard):
  • Weekly scheme of work
  • Summary of activities done in class, with slides and corrections
  • Follow-up and preparatory homework
  • Additonal resources, inc. free-view film selection and grammar exercises
• French Society

• Validation - This module can be validated as part of the following schemes:
  • Undergraduate degree
  • MLTC Confirmation of Attendance or Completion
  • Higher Education Achievement Record
  • Doctoral Development Programme & Research Training Programme
• Assessment:

Important: the method of assessment to be used in 2023-24 is subject to change and the below is for the 2022-23 academic year. This page will be updated with further information in due course.

• Oral Assessment: 50%
• Written Examination (in the examination period): 50%  
• Feedback: In addition to on-going individual and collective feedback during class-activities, learners will receive individual written feedback on the three pieces of assessment above.

French Timetable