French Level 1

On successful completion of this module, you will be better prepared to:

• respond to and produce a basic range of spoken language in very familiar contexts;
• respond to and produce simple written texts, applying grammar and vocabulary from the A1-beginner level range (CEFR);
• demonstrate the relevant level of intercultural awareness in your handling of everyday social interactions in French and in your use of language;
• use a basic range of digital language-learning tools to support your production.

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

• present tense
• imperative
• near future
• introduction to conditional
• perfect
• personal and object pronouns
• articles
• possessive adjectives
• declension of nouns and pronouns
• reflexive verbs
• prepositions
• conjunctions
• quantifiers
• impersonal forms
• modal verbs (vouloir, devoir, pouvoir)

These linguistic structures will be applied to the following topics:

• social interaction
• everyday life and objects
• work, training and professions
• the home and the family
• holidays and leisure time, travel, eating and drinking
• giving and understanding information
• opinions
• features of modern life
• selected cultural areas and personalities of the French-speaking countries

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 group work (dialogue practice, information gap exercises, discussion); individual tasks; discovery and formulation of grammatical rules; work with texts and audio-visual material. Weekly preparation tasks set on the Virtual Learning Environment and coursework tasks will give you the opportunity to revise and consolidate your knowledge and skills at your own pace 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.

The module includes formative as well as summative assessment. Homework tasks (theory revision, reading, writing, listening, etc) are set every week on the Virtual Learning Environment, to ensure face-to-face time is devoted for interactional learning and communicative skills acquisition. This means that you will be provided with materials to study independently beforehand and then apply these during classroom time. Your lecturer will give you support materials and guidance to reinforce topics covered at your own pace.

You will need to complete two pieces of summative coursework (set towards the end of autumn term and mid-spring term), which will include rubrics and revision guidance to ensure you are supported when completing your work and you are aware of the assessment expectations. There will also be a 1-hour in-class test (scheduled at the end of spring term), and one practical in the form of an oral examination (at the end of spring term or during the summer term). The coursework, examination and practical contribute to your final grade.

• Coursework (25%): Integrated skills pack at the end of autumn term: receptive/ productive skills, including reading and writing (c. 100 words).
• Coursework (25%): Integrated skills pack in mid-spring term: receptive/ productive skills, including listening and 2-3 minute speaking.
• Examination (25%): 1-hour in-class test run on the Virtual Learning Environment (Bring Your Own Device) at the end of spring term, testing grammar/ lexicon awareness, and reading/ writing skills (incl. writing c. 120 words).
• Practical (25%): Oral examination at the end of spring term, including graded, open conversation on topics seen in class and unprepared communicative task (approx. 10 minutes).

• 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. The Module options by department page has a full list of the credit options.
• You must be prepared to attend all classes and undertake approximately 3 hours of private study each week in addition to the assessment.

Course book

Relevant reading lists and/or materials will be published on the VLE.

Grammar support

TBC