Course syllabus

• Course name: French Linguistics.

• Course code: FRENCH 214 or FRENCH 314 (restricted against each other).

• Points Value: 15 points.

• Pre-requisites: for FRENCH 214, 15 points from FRENCH 100, 103, 129, 200-202, 204, 269, 304; for FRENCH 314, 15 points from FRENCH 200-202, 304.

• Convenor's name: Madame Viviane Lopes.

• Description

  The course presents, in the target language, key aspects of French linguistics relevant to the study and teaching of French as a foreign language.

  You will acquire the tools of linguistic analysis necessary for a rational understanding of how the French language works, not only in terms of its sound system (phonetics, phonology) but also in terms of word formation processes (morphology, lexicology) and sentence structure (syntax, grammar).

  As an added benefit, these tools will also help you to improve your pronunciation as well as to boost your overall spelling and sentence writing skills

• Weekly topics: (i) Phonetics/phonology, (ii) syntax, and (iii) morphology of French, including: (i) phonemes vs allophones, phonetic alphabet, phonemic (non-)syllabicity, minimal pairing, phonics, mute e, articulatory phonetics & distinctive features, syllabification, rhythmic groups, intonation & stress; (ii) generativity of language, form & function of words/phrases/clauses, syntactic constituency, syntactic polysemy, subordination, syntactic arguments vs adjuncts; (iii) morphological parsing, typology of morphemes, derivational vs lexical morphology, allomorphic variation, inflectional morphology.

• Teaching format: Two weekly lectures (1 hour each) common to both FRENCH 214 and FRENCH 314, supplemented by one separate weekly tutorial (1 hour) for each level.

• Workload: Students are expected to spend around 10 hours a week on the course over 15 weeks (i.e. over 12 weeks of teaching and 3 weeks of study break and examination); an average student would typically spend 36 hours on taught classes and tests, 36-42 hours on class and test preparation, 16-20 hours on written assignments, and 24-30 hours on final exam preparation.

• Learning resources: There is no prescribed textbook or course pack; course materials for each lecture and tutorial will instead be made available to students through Canvas, the University's Learning Management System, as and when required. 

• Assessment weightings: 60% coursework, 40% final exam (2 hours, closed book).

• Assessment breakdown: Coursework includes two written short-exercise assignments (each weighted 10%), and two written short-exercise tests (each weighted 20%, 1 hour, closed book); NB: different assignment/test/exam questions apply to FRENCH 214 and FRENCH 314, commensurately with their respective Stage II and Stage III requirements.

Well-being always comes first

We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.