B.A. in French

Learning Outcomes

The French Section offers multiple contexts for studying the language, with many experiential opportunities for students in their individual areas of interest. While specific expectations will vary from student to student and by their co-disciplines, the French section seeks to regularly gather and report concrete evidence on what students can do based on their program of study. Learning outcomes are focused on all four modalities of the language: speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as knowledge of Francophone cultures and the skills of collaboration and critical thinking.

A. Language Proficiency

Speaking

  • Students can satisfy requirement of everyday situations.
  • Students can handle complicated tasks such as elaborating, complaining and apologizing.
  • Students can narrate and describe in past, present and future time.
  • Students can use communication strategies such as circumlocution, paraphrasing.
  • Students can support opinions and hypothesize.
  • Students can be understood without difficulty by a native interlocutor.

Listening

  • Students can understand most speech on a familiar topic.
  • Students show an emerging ability to understand complex discourse.

Reading

  • Students are able to demonstrate good comprehension of written discourse in areas of special interests.
  • Students can understand the main idea and some detailed aspects of complex or unfamiliar texts.
  • Students show emerging awareness of esthetic properties of language and literary style.
  • Students recognize the role of cultural knowledge in understanding written texts.

Writing

  • Students can write on a variety of topics with significant precision and in detail.
  • Students can narrate and describe in past, present and future time.
  • Students can state their opinions and provide some support for their ideas.
  • Students can demonstrate ability to do basic analysis and research on a literary or cultural topic and present their findings in a research paper.

B. Cultures and Literature

  • Students demonstrate a knowledge of French and francophone literatures and cultures.
  • Students are aware of extent and nature of the francophone world.
  • Students can compare and contrast cultural practices as they relate to French and American culture and are able to generalize about the importance of understanding cultural differences.

C. Critical Thinking and Collaboration

  • Students can demonstrate critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving through advanced task-based language activities.