FREN 209 Reading and Written Expression
Section 1 Professor Duméníl TTh 11:00—12:15
Section 2 Professor Duménil TTh 2:00—3:15
TEXTS:
A vous d’écrire (Atelier de français) Loriot-Raymer, Vialet, Muyskens. A vous d’écrire (cahier d’exercices) Loriot-Raymer, Vialet, Fandel
GOALS: This course concentrates on the development of reading and writing skills through stylistic and structural analyses of different types of authentic texts, as well as in-depth discussions of reading and writing strategies.
COURSEWORK:
During the semester, we will read and discuss articles and excerpts of various types of texts. Some of the readings will be prepared at home for in-class discussion, others will serve as sight-reading practice in class. A major focus of the class will be the acquisition and development of reading strategies such as activating background schemata, skimming and scanning, making predictions and inferences about a text, using contextual and syntactic clues, cognates, and knowledge of roots and suffixes to determine meaning, and identifying structural and stylistic devices used in texts. To improve your writing, we will practice complex and varied sentences and logically-connected paragraphs. During the semester you will write four moderate-length compositions which will be developed and expanded over a period of time (including self- and peer editing).
Reading/Writing Journal: In addition to the reading work we do for class, and the four larger compositions, students will be required to turn in a total of 10 (ten) reading/writing journals.
EVALUATION:
Homework/Preparation/Participation: 25%; Reading Quizzes (4): 25%; Compositions (4): 25%; Reading/Writing journals (10): 25%.

Section 501 Professor Anderson TTh 9:30 - 10:45
The two part sequence -- French 209 (fall) and French 210 (spring) (listed as SCCC 263H: Proseminar: French Communication and Culture)-- focuses on the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening through authentic materials and collaborative work with native speakers of French. These courses integrate the learning of French with technology as USC students work collaboratively with French peers at the University of Technology in Troyes, France. Some of the special features of this course include: correspondence with French students via e-mail, videoconferencing, chat sessions, a collaborative blog, and podcasting. In past years, a trip to France to visit and work with the keypals during spring break has been partially subsidized trip by the Honors College. The French students visit USC in January.

FREN 210 Oral Communication
Section 1 Professor Duffy MWF 10:10—11:00
Section 2 Professor Duffy MWF 12:20—1:10
Section 3 Professor DiCecco MWF 11:15 - 12:05

In this course students increase their ability to communicate orally in French. Specifically, students will learn to understand French as it is spoken by the French and by the worldwide speakers of French themselves and to participate in conversations about a variety of topics based on a series of nine important French-language films. Students will be REQUIRED to watch the films outside of class (with subtitles) and then will view certain scenes in class (without subtitles). At the same time, students will improve their pronunciation of French by doing phonetic exercises and recording passages based on these films. Class procedures will involve viewing and discussing scenes, role playing and other activities. Outside of class, students are expected to view films as well as to get more listening practice with other kinds of listening materials (televised or radio news, for example) of their choice. Students will also collaborate on a blog and podcasts (no previous knowledge of how to do these are required). Grades are based on recordings, a listening journal, class participation and preparation, listening and vocabulary tests, a mid-term and a final interview, and a final listening exam. Text: Mise en scène: cinéma et lecture. Kreuger, Weber, and Martin.

French 290 French Literature in Translation: Women, Society, and Desire
Section 501 Professor Lane MWF 12:20 - 1:10

(This course may be taken for minor or major credit by special arrangement with the instructor. Otherwise, it cannot be taken for major or minor credit, although it fulfills both a humanities/literature requirement and covers cultural awareness for students whose FL is French.) Taught in English, this course has several goals: to introduce you to French literary history; to expose you to some useful approaches to narrative; to give you some information about the cultural, historical, and political contexts of some important works of literature originally written in French; and to help you think critically about women’s situations across cultures and time from the seventeenth century to the present. Through studying six novels written by women about women, we will analyze and discuss how race, class and gender intersect in shaping women's lives. We will develop an understanding of how women's sexuality has been conditioned and regulated by economic, social, and kinship structures from the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France to colonial and post-colonial Indochina, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Class format: lecture and discussion. Each student will give one oral presentation in class and write six short reaction papers; there will be a final exam. Reading list: Mme de Lafayette, The Princess of Cleves (17th century: France); Françoise de Graffigny, Letters from a Peruvian Woman (18th century: France); George Sand, Indiana (19th century: France); Marguerite Duras, The Lover (20th century: Indochina); Miriama Bâ, So Long a Letter (20th century: Sénégal); Maryse Condé, Heremakhonon (20th century: Guadeloupe).

French 300 Phonetics
Section 1 Professor Dumeníl MWF 10:10—11:00

Text: Duménil A.: Facile à dire: Les Sons du français. 2003. Prentice Hall. The major goals of this course are to help students improve their pronunciation while they acquire the basic rules of standardized spoken French. The course takes into account the major contrastive features of the sounds of French and English and addresses the particular challenges that American native speakers face when learning to pronounce French. In addition, students will learn to recognize and transcribe with accuracy the major speech variations which exist among native speakers.

Grading system: Class participation : 20%; Pronunciation and Listening tapes: 25%; Exams 1 & 2: 20%; Mid-Term Exam: 15%; Final Exam: 20%.

FREN 307 Advanced Oral Practice
Section 1 TBA

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course will enable the students to practice oral French, in their attempt to reach a level of proficiency of "Intermediate High".
CLASS ORGANIZATION:
Students will discuss articles, movies, videos, radio broadcasts which they will have prepared prior to coming to class.
GRADING:
Pass/fail. To get a PASS, the students cannot miss more than one class, and they also will have to participate in discussions. Note that there is no final exam.

FREN 309 Reading French Texts
Section 1 Professor Edmiston TTh 11:00—12:15
Section 2 Professor Edmiston TTh 2:30 - 3:15

This course is designed to improve your reading ability in French by introducing you to a variety of more advanced authentic texts including literary and non-literary texts. More sophisticated structures, many seen almost only in formal writing, will be introduced, and other useful structures will be reviewed. Students will also work to develop a wider range of reading strategies. Vocabulary will be introduced through the texts. In addition to materials assigned to all students, each student will select some texts of interest to her/him for the Independent Reading Project. The grade will be determined by class preparation (possible assignments and announced quizzes), three exams, and the Reading Project.

FREN 310 Advanced Oral Communication
Section 1 Professor Persels TTh 9:30-10:45

Prerequisite: French 209 and 210 or equivalent. French 307 is a recommended pre- or co-requisite. Required for French major and minor.
Written and audio texts will come from the Internet, and a packet of reading, and listening exercises.

Course Description:In this course, students will work at improving their French in the four skills, and in form. Focus will be on bringing their oral skill to a level of "Intermediate High", necessary to give a report, explain, comment, give an opinion, convince, tell a story, using the French current events as backdrop. Students will read and listen to a variety of authentic French news media, and complete structured written, and oral exercises based on these materials, in preparation for discussions in class. Each student is responsible for three oral presentations: a press review, a presentation on an issue leading to a class debate, and a topic presentation. The grade is determined by class participation, quizzes, presentations, and the final exam.

This course proposes a thematic approach to the study and discussion of French and Francophone films that deal in different ways with France’s colonial history in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Indochina. The course will also treat some aspects of Belgian colonialism in Central Africa, as well as the legacy of those colonial histories in the immigrant communities of Paris and Brussels. Films will be introduced and contextualized both within the history of French and Francophone cinema and within the history of the French and Belgian colonial empires. The course is taught in English; films are subtitled. There will be a midterm and a final examination and two papers. Students who wish credit in French will write their papers in French. Students will also be responsible for preparing and leading discussions. 

FREN 510 L'actualité francaise
Section 1 Professor Grimes MW 5:30—6:45

Learning outcome: Increased internalized grammar in French for better oral output. Being able to explain current events as seen by the French media, and make comparisons.
Course organization: Identify major issues as presented in the French written press, on television, and radio. Examine these issues in different perspectives: historical, political, cultural, economic etc. Present results of investigations orally, and discuss controversial issues.
Graduate students write results of further analysis in a paper, or develop a teaching dossier.
Course grade reflects work in class, the quality of the oral presentations, the paper (if applicable), the final exam (oral, and written).

FREN 595 Selected topics in French: French and the Internet
Section 1 Professor Day TTh 3:30—4:45

With a hands-on approach, this edition of FREN 595 will assess Internet resources that provide essential information on French language, literature, and culture. Since the Internet has literally millions of French texts on-line that are immediately searchable, we will develop strategies for finding not just information, but data on language usage, cultural biases, presentations of literature, and so on. Thanks to sound files, one can listen, in French, to numerous poems and whole novels on the Internet: these under-used resources deserve scrutiny. To an extent, the course will study the content of Web sites, such as that of the French Academy, which offer an “official” portrait of France. But we will be especially interested in the secondary information that can be found in Internet forums, advertisements, commercial sites, and so on.
Students must have access to an Internet source. The course will be based on detailed searches/readings/critiquing. Students will make several presentations (in French) and will do a final project.