information

Information

Elementary French II   FLF 102 section 001     Summer II, 2006
Days: MTWThF
Time: 11:40-1:10 pm
Classroom: Tomkins G118
Text: Deux Mondes, Terrell, Rogers, Barnes, and Spielmann, McGraw-Hill. 5th edition. Workbook and CD.

Professor:
Dr. Dwight Stephens
dstephens@ncsu.edu
145B, 1911 Building
Office hours: 10:30-11:30 a.m. MWF, or by appointment
Phone: 515-9306

Syllabus   Do not print, but bookmark on your computer, because assignments may change.

Academic Calendar for second session summer, 2006:
http://www.ncsu.edu/registrar/calendars/academicsum2.html

Adding, dropping, etc.
"By the second class/laboratory period or fifth business day of the semester (whichever comes first) students who have not attended class or contacted the instructor regarding his/her absence may be dropped from the class roll. This drop will be initiated by the instructor, processed by the department, and recorded in the Dean's Office. The student may petition for readmission to the class if s/he has been dropped in error, or in the event of students with extenuating circumstances, provided the request is received by the tenth business day of the semester. Students who intend to drop a course continue to have the responsibility to officially drop and are encouraged to do this on a timely basis, following normal university procedures."

Course requirements, before the first day of class:
1. Bookmark the course syllabus on your computer, so that you can refer to it every day.
2. Install diacriticals (accent marks) on your computer by following these instructions, then learn how to use them. This must be done before the end of the first week of class. Then you will be able to send and receive email in French and write papers with correct accents. Do not install French as your language. It will alter your keyboard and create French spellchecks which will drive you crazy in English. Use my system.

Here's how to do it:

Windows XP
1. Power on and log on.
2. Click the Start button.
3. Click on Control Panel.
4. Click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
5. Click Regional and Language Options - a new window will open.
6. Click the Languages tab.
7. Click on Text services and Input Languages.
8. Click on Details...
9. Window will appear entitled Settings.
10. Under Installed Services, click Add.
11. A new window will open called Add Input Language.
12. Click Keyboard Layout/IME.
13. Scroll down and highlight United States-International.
14. Highlight (by clicking) Keyboard United States International
15. Above, where it says Default Input Language, click on the small arrow to the right of English United States, and highlight (choose) English (United States)-United States International.
16. Click OK.
17. Click OK.

Note to XP users: You will now have a tiny keyboard icon on the taskbar (usually on the lower right side of your screen). To switch between keyboard layouts (in other words, to turn off or on the accents) double-click the keyboard layout icon and then single-click the choice you want, US or International. Best: just leave it on US-International all the time.

Using the International Keyboard
Now, to type the accents:

acute-accented é, type first apostrophe, then e.

grave-accented è, or à, type first the grave accent ` (upper left-hand corner of the keyboard), then ea.

circumflex-accented ê, or â, type first the circumflex accent ^ (shift key plus 6), then e or a.

c-sedilla, ç, type first apostrophe, then c. If you need capital C-sedilla, type first apostrophe, then capital C.

tréma, also called dieresis, the two dots over a letter, type first " (quotation mark, i.e., shift key plus apostrophe), then the letter.

Now, to get apostrophes or quotation marks when you're writing, you'll have to use the spacebar after the apostrophe key. For example, to get j'ai, type first j, then apostrophe key, then spacebar, then a. A little practice, and you won't even have to think about it.

Final note about XP: if you are not getting correct accents, your computer has shifted back to EN- United States and EN-International must be selected, or you don't have the accents installed correctly. If your computer keeps 'voluntarily' shifting back to English-US Keyboard, it's because it hasn't accepted International as the default keyboard. Here's how to set it:

Open Control Panel
Double-click Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
Double-click Regional and Language Options
Single-click Languages
Under Text Services and Input Language, single-click Details...
Under Settings, look at Default Input Language
Specify English (United States)--United States International
Click OK.

Code of conduct
Students should be familiar with the rules about cheating and the honor code:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php
By signing his name to any assignment or test in this course, the student is making the following assertion: "I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or assignment."

Students with disabilities

For all students currently registered with the Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), an accommodation letter will be sent to the instructor. This letter verifies that appropriate documentation is on file and that the student has a substantiated disability requiring effective reasonable accommodations. Any student requesting accommodations for whom a letter has not been written must see a DSS service provider in Suite 1900, Student Health Center. Students with disabilities, for whom a letter of accommodation has been sent from the DSS Office to the instructor, should schedule an appointment with the instructor immediately.

DSS information can be found on their Web site at:
http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss
http://www.ncsu.edu/dss/
or call the office directily at 515-7653.

The Placement Test
The placement tests are offered M-F from 8-5 in the Foreign Language Technology Center (Old Laundry Building, near Poe Hall, at the corner of Current and Stinson). The test takes approximately 25-30 minutes. A lab assistant will set you up and print your test score. Keep your score printout until you have finished your FL courses.

Attendance
You will be expected to come to each and every class. Any absences other than excused absences for illness will detract from the grade. Excessive absences and failure to prepare for class can result in an F. See Drop policy for non-attendance above.

Makeups
There are no test makeups except for certified medical reasons.

Homework
Attendance alone will not enable a student to pass the course. Completion of homework assignments, reading, vocabulary and grammar study, is essential to the course and will be tested overtly or covertly in each class. Coming to class unprepared, i.e., not having read, studied, and practiced the assignment, will result in an F for the period. Repeated lack of preparation will jeopardize successful completion of the course.

Grades
You will be graded on how much you improve. If you improve a lot, i.e., learn a lot, you will receive a high grade. How much you improve depends mostly on choosing to be actively involved, choosing to pursue the assignments actively, sending email compositions, and correcting and resending them when they are sent back to you, choosing to perform in class, like Show and Tell, etc. Performance in class is graded. How much time does it take to learn a foreign language? I recommend a minimum of 30 minutes per day, and up to an hour, everyday, of simply going over the material. This should be enough to get almost anyone an A. It really is only a question of putting in the time daily. Keep a notebook of grammatical structures. The final grade is calculated on the basis of
    Vocabulary quizzes   25%
    Chapter exams    25%
    Preparation and performance in class   25%
    Final exam    25%
The oral portion of the final will be an opportunity for you to talk about the subjects that you've worked on in email compositions and demonstrate your pronunciation, intonation, and communication skill.

Credit only
If a student takes a course for Credit Only, he must have a grade of at least C- (70%) in order to receive the grade of ‘S.' Students minoring or majoring in a language must take all courses that count toward the minor or the major for credit, with at least a C- or better, and not for Credit Only.

The text book
Each chapter of Deux Mondes is divided into blue pages, which explain the grammar, and white pages, which offer activities for using the structures learned. I recommend reading the blue pages first very carefully, thinking about what you've learned, and then trying the activities. Then try to apply the structures you've learned to real situations involving your own life, and be ready to try these in class. Read all the model sentences aloud and then try to convert them to slightly modified sentences of your own. Write out as many of the exercises in the blue pages and in the white pages as you need in order to master the spelling, accents, vocabulary, and grammar. This is your responsibility.

The vocabulary for each lesson is given at the end of the white pages, so in the middle of the lesson, and a special effort should be made to learn it. Presence in class alone will not be sufficient to learn the vocabulary. There will be a short quiz on each chapter's vocabulary, each chapter vocabulary quiz worth 5% of the final grade, 25% for all of them. (You won't be responsible for all the vocabulary; we will mark required vocabulary in class.)

Note that the book has useful Appendices:

Appendix A, p. 425, explains spelling changes in certain verbs.
Appendix B, p. 426, gives some common verb and preposition combinations which are not like English.
Appendix C, p. 427-434, deals with general verb conjugation.
Appendix D, pp. 435-443, gives answers to all the grammar exercises.

Finally, the very last section of the book is a French-English glossary and an English-French glossary, which you should use often.

There is a Workbook, or Cahier d'exercices, which goes with the text and will be helpful for you to do for each chapter. Pages are assigned for each class. Don't tear them out to turn in, but be ready to present them for inspection periodically and at conference time.

______________________________________________________

Internet resources

Pronunciation of vowels: http://phonetique.free.fr/alpha.htm

Learning to distinguish and discriminate vowels: http://phonetique.free.fr/indexphonvoy.htm

Basic oral French: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/talk/greetings/
The menu on the left has videos and practice for these categories:
Greetings
Introductions
Where from?
Family
Where you live
Eat and drink
Directions
Shopping
Leisure
(Use Internet Explorer.)

Vocabulary and pronunciation http://www.languageguide.org/francais/
Holding your cursor over any of the drawings will yield audio pronunciation. Repeat often and many times.

An online French-English-French Dictionary: http://www.wordreference.com/fr/index.htm
Start getting familiar with using this. Plug in a few words you know in English and in French to see how the results are organized.

French for Americans: Important advice for students of the language, with many very helpful tips
http://www.signiform.com/french/ff.htm

An instant verb conjugator: http://www.pomme.ualberta.ca/devoir/
Type in the verb you want to study and practice the present tense. This is excellent for reviewing for exams.

Grammar explanations, practice, and review: http://french.about.com/
Type in the topic you want.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Language Lab
http://fllab.chass.ncsu.edu/
Located in the second level of the Laundry Building. Here you can practice with various audio materials and resources, or explore internet French learning sites. Ask me for suggestions.

Tutors
Individual, private tutors are available for free for all NCSU language students on a first come, first served basis through the Undergraduate Tutorial Center, 147 Leazar Hall, 515-3163.

How to learn
If you'd like to take a look at yourself really objectively and learn how to become a real student, a real scholar, a real success at university, see this:
http://www.studygs.net/index.htm

Foreign languages are not learned the same way other subjects are. Read this text and think about changing your habits and tactics:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~dfstephe/secrets.html

General guidelines

Have goals and review them daily. Plan to gradually be able to perform in certain situations in French. Start small, but plan how you will increase your proficiency. This takes place slowly, by baby-steps, but if the tiny steps are not taken, the big ones will not ever happen. You have to start by producing a single sentence at a time, and then more, and then more. You have to discipline yourself to do this step-by-step work every day. Take responsibility for it. Practice the structures and learn how they work. Imagine the grammatical structures in a real situation and practice the real French performance until much of it is acquired and can be reproduced in class. It is absolutely essential that all students do this preparation for each class and they will be graded on the quality of their preparation. Learn the grammar first--the structures--then try to apply them to real situations. Keep a notebook of grammatical structures and examples. It's not just repeating; you have to think, too. There is an underlying structure to language, an algebra, a pattern, and recognizing it will cause the parts and the whole to make sense. Practice writing sentences using the new structures you learn. When learning a new structure, alway ask yourself how you will be using it, and then invent situations for it in which to practice.

Learn at home, practice in class. Learn the grammar at home and come to class ready to perform with the structures which were assigned. Don't expect me to feed you with everything you were supposed to have learned at home. Have a contribution to make to each class (Show and Tell, see below). This is your responsibility. Work outside class with classmates on using the structures. Know your classmates, have their email addresses in an email address book and phone numbers, get together with them to practice, participate in email discussions, and make regular meetings to prepare presentations. A little forethought and some preparation will make a great show and tell presentation.

Be well organized. Keep a notebook of everything that happens in class, with all the structures and vocabulary, all the quizzes and assignments, and review the notebook regularly, especially the morning after class. Learning a foreign language is not mysterious; it requires repetition and review, in addition to organization. Simply sitting in class and listening will most definitely not do it. Read the assigned pages in the text carefully, look up words you don't know, analyzes structures, and translate. In particular, identify the grammatical structures for which you will be responsible. Print the syllabus, keep it with you, and go to it every day to see what you are responsible for. Do a little work each day. Making mental pathways works better if you do it a little each day, rather than once in a block.

Consult with me regularly and make an appointment for at least one scheduled conference during the semester. At the conference we will look at your class notes, your quizzes and exams, and your workbook. Don't suffer in silence when help is so close by.

Show and Tell
Show and Tell means just what it did in Kindergarten. You bring something to class, show it, tell what it is, tell a story about it, tell what it means, tell why it's important. In human intellectual evolution, there is a progression from the concrete to the abstract. Since our knowledge of French is at the Kindergarten stage, it's natural to begin with physical objects. You can begin with physical things that are important to you, for example, a photo of your boyfriend, girlfriend, dog, cat, motorcycle, family. Talk about the people, describe them and their personalities, tell what's dear about each. Tell a story about one of them. Later, as your skills become more sophisticated, you can bring something abstract to class, in your head, for example, a poem, a thought, an impression, a feeling, a memory, an anecdote, a joke, an event you witnessed, a revelation. The main thing is that it be something that you chose, that you collected, that you decided was of importance, and that you share it with the others. It comes from you, not from me or the other class members, and you tell why it's important to you. Competence in a foreign language is passive: you reproduce what is important to others; performance is producing your version of the world. This is our eventual goal : your new perception of the world in the French conceptual framework. Your initiative to participate in this activity will bring both performance proficiency in the language and a high grade in the course.

Summer Study Abroad Program in Lille, France 2006
The NCSU French Study Abroad Program to Lille France. Scholarships available.
http://www.ncsu.edu/studyabroad/places/europe/lillesummer.html

The French Club
The French Club (Le Cercle Français) meets every other Wednesday at 4 p.m.--usually in the Faculty Lounge of 1911 Building--for informal conversation and cultural activities such as celebrations of special holidays, French games, cheese tasting, informal presentations by French speaking students, and French movies. Some of the special activities planned for this year are: a guided tour of the current exhibit of French paintings at the NC Museum of Art, a potluck dinner, and participation in community projects like Service Raleigh and the French Festival for Wake County schools. We welcome French-speaking students of all levels who are interested in the culture. If you are interested in joining the French Club or attending a meeting, please email the French Club advisor, Martine Bell at bell@social.chass.ncsu.edu.