Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Department of French Studies

!

FRNC1602
UNIT OF STUDY OUTLINE
Unit Coordinator
Unit coordinators are listed on undergraduate and postgraduate coursework semester timetables, and can
be consulted for help with any difficulties you may have.Unit coordinators (as well as the Faculty)
should also be informed of any illness or other misadventure that leads students to miss classes and
tutorials or be late with assignments.
Clara Sitbon
clara.sitbon@sydney.edu.au
+612 9351 3172
Brennan MacCallum (A18) Room 640
Consultation : Wednesday 3.00 pm 4.00 pm

Unit Tutors
Dr Corinne Mesana
corinne.mesana@sydney.edu.au
Brennan MacCallum (A18) Room 728
Consultation : TBA

Christel Rome
christel.rome@sydney.edu.au
Brennan MacCallum (A18) Room 728
Consultation : TBA

Jacqueline Murguet
jacqueline.murguet@sydney.edu.au
Brennan MacCallum (A18) Room 728
Consultation : TBA

Dr Miriam Thompson
miriam.thompson@sydney.edu.au
Brennan MacCallum (A18) Room 728
Consultation : TBA

This Unit of Study Outline MUST be read in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Student Administration Manual (sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/student_admin_manual.shtml) and
all applicable University policies.
In determining applications and appeals, it will be assumed that every student has taken the time to
familiarise themselves with these key policies and procedures.

UNIT DESCRIPTION
FRNC1602 is the continuation of FRNC1601. It aims at strengthening students' oral communication
skills and at developing further their written skills (reading and writing). Having completed FRNC1602,
students in their second year will enter FRNC2603 : Senior French 1 in conjunction with FRNC2625 :
Texte et Socit 1 : Identits en France. .
2

LEARNING OUTCOMES
In this unit, students will learn how to :
To read a literary text in French and be able to talk and write about it.
To understand different literary genres.
to communicate orally in various situations,
to write different text types (narration, description, etc..),
to express attitudes,
to talk about grammar and understand linguistic principles and
to make appropriate linguistic choices in particular contexts of use.
Learning situation per week :
1) One hour lecture
2) Two-hour tutorial
3) One-hour tutorial
4) Online learning
5) Independent study
It is highly recommended that students do 30 minutes of French per day in order to maximise their
learning. Learning French is a progressive process, and it is better to dedicate a little bit to it everyday,
rather than a lot once or twice in the semester.

READING REQUIREMENTS
DJINN, un trou rouge entre les pavs disjoints, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Les Editions de Minuit, 1981 (to
be purchased at the COOP bookshop)
Grgoire, Maa and Thivenaz, Odile. Grammaire progressive du franais. Niveau intermdiaire avec
600 exercices. CLE international. 2013

ASSESSMENT TASK AND DUE DATES

Continuous Assessment
1. Class participation
2. Online Work
3. Grammar Test 1
4. Grammar Test 2

40%
Throughout Semester
Throughout Semester
Week 5
Week 8

Final tests
5. Written test on Djinn
6. Oral test

10%
10%
10%
10%

60%
Week 12
Week 13

30%
30%

1. Class Participation
Class participation does not comprise attendance alone. Your class participation mark will be depending
on how active you are in class and your homework.

2. Online Work
This unit requires regular use of the Universitys Learning Management System (LMS), also known as
Blackboard Learn. You will need reliable access to a computer and the Internet to use the LMS.
The easiest way to access is through MyUni (click on the MyUni link on the university home page,
http://sydney.edu.au or link directly to the service at https://myuni.sydney.edu.au/. There is a
Blackboard LMS icon in the QuickLaunch window on the left hand side of the screen.
If you have any difficulties logging in or using the system, visit the Student Help area of the LMS site,
http://sydney.edu.au/elearning/student/help/.
This online grade has two components :
a) grammar quizzes.
Exactly like semester one, this grade will assess your diligence with the grammar quizzes. The
aim of these tests is to make sure that you work on grammar regularly, which is why we will
assess the frequency of your grammar work, as opposed to the score obtained to each quizz.
b) voiceboards
We will also assess the frequency of the voiceboards, to make sure that you also work on your
spoken French throughout semester.
The grammar quizzes count for 50% of this grade, and the voiceboards count for 50% as well.
Everyweek, you must access Blackboard :

Go into Compulsory activities

1) Do the Grammar Quizzes for each week
2) Access Voiceboards on Djinn and post one recorded audio message on the topic provided.
3) You are also strongly encouraged to post weekly into the Discussion Board :
- you can post any grammatical question you have in Grammar Questions
- you can also post a message on the topic of your choice in Parlez Franais. Use the
bulletin board to chat in French with your FRNC1612 friends. Of course you are
welcome to contribute as much as you want !
4

(Note that the work has to be done weekly to contribute to your learning and be completed by
the end of week 12)
YOU ARE ALSO STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO :
1) Listen to the audio file containing a reading of the designated weekly excerpt from Djinn
2) Search for additional exercises that correspond to what you have been learning in class in
Useful websites on the left hand side menu.

3. Grammar Test 1 (Week 5)

This first test will cover the grammatical content of weeks 1 to 4.

4. Grammar Test 2 (Week 8)

The second test will cover the grammatical content of weeks 1 to 7.

5. Written Test on Djinn (Week 12)

The written test is designed to assess your written skills. It will also encompass some grammatical
elements you will need to incorporate in your writing. The test will be focused on Djinn.

6. Oral Test (Week 13)

The oral test is a dialog that will be done in pairs inspired from Djinn.
More details on all the assessments will be given in due course throughout the semester.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
GRADE

HD

DESCRIPTORS
The student demonstrates
expertise by communicating
in written and spoken French
and using grammar
effectively in a range of
situations with an excellent
degree of fluency for this
level. Motivated and
dedicated student/
participates in all activities.
Has an excellent
understanding of
grammatical concepts.
The student demonstrates
competence by
communicating in written
and spoken French and using
grammar appropriatly in
various situations with a very
good degree of fluency for
this level. Motivated and
dedicated student that
participates well but may
have some minor gaps in
5

EVALUATION
Excellent/Outstanding

Very good

his/her grammatical
knowledge.

CR

The student communicates

Good
well in everyday situations
with some hesitations and
small grammatical errors but
with a good degree of fluency
for this level. Above average
understanding of French
grammar. Dedicated student
but does not always
participate.
The student can understand
Satisfactory
and communicate
information at the required
level and understand basic
grammar. Regular attendance
but contributes little to
classroom exchanges. The
student struggles in grammar
but puts in the effort and
obtains a Pass on average in
grammar/written tests.
Struggles to understand and
Unsatisfactory
communicate in everyday
situation and has very little
understanding of grammar.
Participates very little.

FEEDBACK Response from previous students

1. It's great that this additional component for on-line study is available. Fantastic, even! Classes are
great too.
2. The amount of new things we've learnt.
3. Djinn
4. The number of resources available for independent revision.
5. Includes both group and individual learning, which I think is good. The independent learning through
the internet I feel is a good way to do extra practice as necessary. Studying Djinn has also been great. It
is a great source of vocabulary, expressions, and culture!
6. The internet resources and all the assessments being really close together. You dont have time to
forget what you have learnt
7. Meeting a wide variety of people, learning something new everyday about France and its culture,
especially with my tutor- she makes every lesson so incredibly interesting!!!
8. Multiple learning modes - what I have missed in lectures or tutorials I have been able to pick up from
the course book, or practice on the computer exercises. This has been an effective way for me to learn.
9. Learning about French culture and improving my written and verbal skills.
10. Classroom atmosphere, and French culture
11. That it has helped me to progress in a language I am interested in learning/speaking.
12. It is very rewarding when you succeed in this course.
13. The computer quizes
14. It's fun
15. Comprehensive incremental approach to learning French that you can't find in a textbook. The time
in class with our tutor. That time is invaluable and while the internet resources are a helpful complement
for independent study I hope that the internet will not be treated as a replacement for vital face-to-face
time.
17. Small group learning is daunting at first but a good break from the usual 2 lectures, 1 tutorial format
of most courses.
18. Blackboard
19. Interacting with one another during tutorials I found that talking as well as listening helped me learn
faster
20. Tutorials have been great this semester, as our tutor is very approachable and willing to answer
questions. I've really enjoyed learning about how the grammar of the language works, because I feel like
understanding the grammar really forms a great foundation for eventually being able to speak and
understand French well.
21. Learning little things about French culture
22. I have really enjoyed the course. I have learned a great deal of French. It has also been fun
23. Online exercises & class work with people.
24. Simply the outcome - developing a better understanding of the language.
25. Web quizzes.
26. Definitely the website. It helped me so much to feel in touch with relevant updates regarding tests
and revision exercises etc. I also found the external resources very useful.
27. Plenty. Excellent course booklet & good textbook. Lectures explained course booklet and tuts
worked with text. Absolutely loved "Djinn"! I've progressed from absolute beginner to being able to
read, write and speak un petit peu de francais (sorry, still can't type accent).

DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH STUDIES ATTENDANCE POLICY

The Faculty of Arts has a standard policy on attendance, part of which reads as follows:
The Faculty requires satisfactory attendance at classes as a minimum condition of completion of a
Unit of Study. Attendance below 80% of tutorials/seminars without written evidence of illness or
misadventure may be penalised with loss of marks. Departments must publicise local conditions
and penalties in Unit of Study outlines, and apply them consistently.
Attendance at less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons for the absences, will
automatically result in the students case being referred to a Department examiners meeting [].
Students should be aware that non-attendance at 50% or more of classes without due cause is
likely to result in them being deemed not to have fulfilled requirements for the unit of study; they
thus run the risk of an Absent Fail result being returned.
In accordance with this policy, the following penalties will apply in the Department of French Studies
in cases where students attend more than 50% of classes but do not reach the expected level of 80%:
1) Only classes that are part of the obligatory attendance requirement for the unit will be counted
when calculating whether a student has attended less than 80% of classes. For instance, the
lecture hours of core language units are not normally obligatory and in many cases students are
able to download notes and/or corrigs from WebCT. However, in many senior options there is
an hour designated as a common lecture hour, and an hour designated as the tutorial hour for
smaller groups. In those cases, attendance at the lecture is obligatory. If the policy is different in
a particular unit this will be made clear to students at the outset.
2) If a student attends less than 80% (but more than 50%) of the obligatory classes for a unit,
marks will be deducted from the TOTAL mark the student has received at the end of semester.
(NOT from the participation mark, which is for participation during the classes they have
attended.) One mark will be deducted from the final TOTAL for each percentage point of missed
classes below the threshold of 80%.
(Note that this calculation is based on hours, not classes: i.e. a two hour tutorial is counted as two
hours, and is thus weighted the same as the tutorial hours in a unit which splits its two hours over
different days.)
Thus, a student who has attended 75% of contact hours and received a final mark of 78
(Distinction) will end up with a mark of 73 (Credit).
It is the responsibility of the Unit Coordinator to make sure penalties are properly applied, before
final results are sent to students.
This policy applies to ALL undergraduate units of study with a FRNC prefix except exchange units.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

Academic honesty is a core value of the University. The University requires students to act honestly,
ethically and with integrity in their dealings with the University, its members, members of the public
and others. The University is opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism, and
will treat all allegations of academic dishonesty or plagiarism seriously.
The Universitys Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and associated Procedures are
available for reference on the University Policy Register at http://sydney.edu.au/policies (enter
Academic Dishonesty in the search field). The Policy applies to the academic conduct of all students
enrolled in a coursework award course at the University.
Under the terms and definitions of the Policy,

academic dishonesty means seeking to obtain or obtaining academic advantage (including in

the assessment or publication of work) by dishonest or unfair means or knowingly assisting
another student to do so.
plagiarism means presenting another persons work as ones own work by presenting,
copying or reproducing it without appropriate acknowledgement of the source.

The presentation of another person's work as one's own without appropriate acknowledgement is
regarded as plagiarism, regardless of the authors intentions. Plagiarism can be classified as negligent
(negligent plagiarism) or dishonest (dishonest plagiarism).
An examiner who suspects academic dishonesty or plagiarism by a student must report the suspicion to
a nominated academic in the relevant faculty. If the nominated academic concludes that the student has
engaged in dishonest plagiarism or some other sufficiently serious form of academic dishonesty, the
matter may be referred to the Registrar for further disciplinary action under the terms of the Academic
Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy 2012 and Chapter 8 of the University of Sydney By-Law 1999 (as
amended).

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences assesses student requests for assistance relating to completion
of assessment in accordance with the regulations set out in the University Assessment Policy 2011 and
Assessment Procedures 2011. Students are expected to become familiar with the Universitys policies
and Faculty procedures relating to Special Consideration and Special Arrangements.
Students can apply for:

Special Consideration - for serious illness or misadventure

Special Arrangements - for essential community commitments

Simple Extension an extension of up to 5 working days for non-examination based assessment

tasks on the grounds of illness or misadventure.

Further information on special consideration policy and procedures is available on the Faculty website
at http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/special_consideration.shtml.

OTHER POLICIES AND PROCEDURES RELEVANT TO THIS UNIT OF STUDY

The Facultys Student Administration Manual is available for reference at the Current Students
section of the Faculty Website (http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/). Most day-to-day issues you
encounter in the course of completing this Unit of Study can be addressed with the information provided
in the Manual. It contains detailed instructions on processes, links to forms and guidance on where to
get further assistance.
9

STAYING ON TOP OF YOUR STUDY

For full information visit http://sydney.edu.au/arts/current_students/staying_on_top.shtml
The Learning Centre assists students to develop the generic skills, which are necessary for learning
and communicating knowledge and ideas at university. Programs available at The Learning Centre
include workshops in Academic Reading and Writing, Oral communications Skills, Postgraduate
Research Skills, Honours, masters Coursework Program, Studying at University, and Workshops for
English Language and Learning. Further information about The Learning Centre can be found at
http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/.
The Write Site provides online support to help you develop your academic and professional writing
skills. All University of Sydney staff and students who have a Unikey can access the WriteSite at
http://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/.
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has units at both an Undergraduate and Postgraduate level that
focus on writing across the curriculum or, more specifically, writing in the disciplines, making them
relevant
for
all
university
students.
To
find
out
more
visit
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/writing_hub/index.shtml
and
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/teaching_learning/pg_writing_support/index.shtml.
In addition to units of study on writing, The FASS Writing Hub offers drop-in sessions to assist
students with their writing in a one-to-one setting. No appointment is necessary, and this service is free
of charge to all FASS students and/or all students enrolled in WRIT units. For more information on
what topics are covered in a drop-in session and for the current schedule, please visit
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/writing_hub/writing_support/index.shtml
Pastoral and academic support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is provided by the
STAR Team in Student Support services, a dedicated team of professional Aboriginal people able to
respond to the needs of students across disciplines. The STAR team can assist with tutorial support,
mentoring support, cultural and pastoral care along with a range of other services. More information
about support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can be found at
http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/student_services/indigenous_support.shtml.
The Library offers students free, online tutorials in library skills at http://sydney.edu.au/library/skills.
There's one designed especially for students studying in the Humanities and Social Sciences at
http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/. And don't forget to find out who your Faculty Liaison Librarians
are.

OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES

Disability Services is located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building G20; contact 8627 8422 or email
disability.services@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their website at
http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/disability/.
Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are located on Level 5, Jane Foss Russell Building
G20; contact 8627 8433 or email caps.admin@sydney.edu.au. For further information, visit their
website at http://sydney.edu.au/current_students/counselling/.

10

WEEKLY TUTORIAL PREPARATION AND HOMEWORK

1) Read aloud the designated section of Djinn (see below for page numbers). Its not necessary to
understand every word, but you should have a grasp of what is happening in each section and be able
to answer the comprehension questions in class. Listen to the audio file to help you with the
pronunciation
2) Do the vocabulary exercises (quizzlet) on blackboard under the Activits sur Djinn tab (for
preparation before the tutorials). See the instructions to access quizlet below.
3) Complete the grammar and vocabulary exercises related to the novel, which are found at the back of
the course booklet and also online and do the additional exercises in Grammaire Progressive (GP)
that are listed below:
For week 3: ex 2, 3 p.77; ex 2 p.78
For week 4: ex 4 et 5 p.81
For week 5: ex 2, p.235; ex 1, 2, 3, 4 p. 141
For week 6: ex 1, 2 p.225
For week 7: ex 1, 2 p.85
For week 8: ex 1, 2, 3 p.97; ex 1, 2, 4 p.135
For week 9: ex 3 p.243; ex 3 p. 244
For week 10: ex 2, 3 p.127; ex 1 p.129
4) Start a vocabulary list of 20 regularly used words, or words, which you would use to describe key
characters, places or events. Add 20 words to your vocab list every week.
5) Online grammar exercises in the Grammar Assessments section as per previous page
6) Voiceboard on Djinn and one posting in parlez franais about a topic of your choice (cf. pp. 4-5)
This is a lot of preparation but if you do this weekly your will be amazed by how much French you
know at the end of semester.
How to access Quizlet ?
Quizlet is a website where you can enjoy learning vocabulary. Our course has created sets of vocabulary
lists on the website corresponding to each lecture.
1. Login or create account to join Quizlet
2. Search for FRNC1602 and you will find the class : FRNC1602 Junior Introductory French 2
3. Join the class
4. Use different learning activities: learn with the flashcards, play games, take a test,
For your username, use your own name to enable your Unit of Study co-ordinator and your
tutor to take your participation into account. You can either signup through Facebook or with
a separate username and password. Even if you signup through your Facebook account, you still need to
choose a username for Quizlet. Use your own name.
You can go back and do more activities and tests on this vocabulary whenever you want to.
11

Really useful tips:

1) Configuration
When doing the tests or playing the games, use the configuration to select
'Ignore ... stuff in parentheses'. While you're at it, select also 'Ignore ...case, punctuation, spaces'.
You can select to ignore case, punctuation, and so on BUT there is no way to ignore the accents. Play
around with the options and click the Reconfigure button.
2) Accents
For accents, Quizlet now comes with special characters on a virtual keyboard when they are needed.
Otherwise you always have the option to use a virtual keyboard environment like french.typeit.org but it
would be time consuming when you are taking part in the Space Race so I would suggest learning the
keyboard shortcuts:
http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/bylanguage/french.html

12

DESIGNATED WEEKLY READING (DJINN) & TEST PREPARATION

Week 2

Ch.1, pp.11-13 (jusqu la fin du deuxime paragraphe: Cela vous choque de

travailler sous les ordres dune fille?). Vocabulary and grammar exercises are
p.92-93 of booklet.

Week 3

Ch.1, pp.13-16 (jusqu la fin du troisime paragraphe: Ce faux mannequin de

cire est une vraie femme). Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.95-96 of
booklet.

Week 4

Fin du Ch.1, pp.16-19. Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.97-98 of booklet

Week 5

Ch.2 pp.20-24 (jusqu la fin du deuxime paragraph: je tourne droite, dans une
ruelle dserte et sombre). Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.99-100 of
booklet.
REVISER POUR LE TEST DE GRAMMAIRE I (3 me heure, Semaine 5)

Week 6

Fin du ch. 2 pp. 24-31. Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.101-102 of
booklet.

Week 7

Ch 3, pp.32-39 (jusqua la fin du deuxime paragraph: Il a trouv le message.)

Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.104-107 of booklet.

Week 8

Fin du ch. 3, pp.39-46. Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.109-111 of

booklet.
RVISER LE TEST DE GRAMMAIRE 2 (3me, Semaine 8).

Week 9

Ch.4, pp.47-54 (jusqu ... verres totalement opaques). Vocabulary and

grammar exercises are p.113-115 of booklet.

Week 10

Fin du ch.4, pp.54-61. Vocabulary and grammar exercises are p.116-119 of booklet.

Week 11

Relire les 4 premiers chapitres de Djinn et bien rviser contenu et vocabulaire pour
le test crit.
PRPARER TEST CRIT SUR DJINN (1re heure, Semaine 12)

Week 12

TEST ECRIT

Week 13

TEST ORAL

13

SOME GRAMMATICAL TERMS IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH

(You can add more terms in the table as you learn them)
French

English

Example
Function

Adjectif
Adverbe

Adjective
Adverb

Describes noun
Describes verb,
adjective or another
adverb

Conjonction

Conjunction

Links 2 clauses,
groups or words

Phrase principale

Main Clause

Phrase subordonne

Dependent clause

Phrase relative

Relative clause

Pronom sujet
Pronom relatif

Subject Pronoun
Relative pronoun

Complment dobject
direct (COD)
Complment dobjet
indirect (COI)
Verbe transitif
Verbe intransitif

Direct object

Prposition

preposition

Can stand alone as a

sentence
Contains subject &
verb, but cant stand
alone
Introduced by relative
pronoun
Replaces a subject
Replaces a noun
antecedent and links to
another clause
Directly follows
transitive verb
Indirectly follows the
verb after a preposition
Takes a direct object
Takes an indirect
object
Precedes a nominal
group and can indicate
location, cause,
accompaniement, etc

Indirect object
Transitive verb
Intransitive verb

14

Une belle chaise

Il court vite
Une trs belle chaise
Elle chante
exceptionnellement
bien
Toi et moi
Elle est malade, mais
elle va venir
Japporte mon
parapluie
Quand je quitte la
maison, japporte mon
parapluie
Lhomme qui court est
grand
Je / tu / il / elle etc
Que, qui, o, ce qui, ce
que
Le garcon lit un livre
Je donne les fleurs
ma mre
Le garcon lit un livre
Je vais la plage
Sous, sur, dans, , de,
avec, pour