Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor
Alex Kurmann
Contact via +61 (0)2 9850 8809
W6A 323
Wednesday 1-3pm or by appointment
Tutor
Nina Coorey
W6A 332
By appointment
Tutor
Lyse Thomas
W6A 332
By appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit, designed for those who have little or no knowledge of French, seeks to develop students' skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking. It introduces students to contemporary French culture. The work in this unit is of a very intensive nature. In addition to the compulsory class hours, an online program provides students with extra material for their written, oral and aural practice.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING DEPARTMENT POLICY ON LATE WORK
All assignments and assessments are compulsory and must be handed in or sat on time. Students unable to meet due dates may apply for an extension in writing by submitting an application for a 'Disruption to Studies' via ask.mq.edu, which comes through to the unit convenor, who will approve the extension online. As a general rule, extensions will not be granted without a valid and documented reason (e.g. medical certificate). Late submissions will be penalised by 5% for each day (including weekends) the task is late. Students who have an extension approved will not receive any penalties. No late work will be accepted after assignments and assessments have been corrected and feedback has been provided. Tasks handed in early will not be marked and returned before the due date.
Students are also advised not to travel overseas during the session when assessments are in progress.
Name | Weighting | Due |
---|---|---|
Participation | 10% | Ongoing |
Listening and Writing Test 1 | 15% | Week 4 |
Listening and Writing Test 2 | 15% | Week 7 |
Grammar test | 20% | Week 9 |
Reading and Writing Test | 20% | Week 11 (lesson 2) |
Oral Test | 20% | Week 13 |
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 10%
Participation
In this component of the course, tutors will take into consideration:
Internal students: Regular class attendance and level of involvement in group and pair activities, performance in informal vocabulary and grammar quizzes, and in individual commitment to classwork.
External students: submission of 2 recorded (audio or video) conversations with a partner in weeks 6 and 12 on set subjects, timely submission of on-line tests.
Note: "Regular attendance" means at least 80% of the relevant activity. Students falling short of this target may lose part of their participation mark.
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 15%
Listening and Writing Assessment
The listening assessment will not only test skills in oral comprehension, but also basic written composition, as students will be asked to respond to audio prompts with short answers in full sentences in French. The test will last for 45 minutes. Separate arrangements apply for internal and external students.
Internal students will sit the test in class in the second lesson of week 4.
External students will complete the test on line. The tasks will be available for a limited time only - from Friday to Monday at the end of week 4. Answers must be submitted on time; whatever has been entered when time runs out will be automatically saved and submitted on your behalf.
Specific details about the test will be available on ILearn in the weeks preceding the assessment.
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 15%
Listening and Writing Assessment
This assessment will evaluate the progress in your listening skills in French since the first test. Oral cues will elicit specific written responses to test your comprehension and ability to apply taught grammatical structures in extended written responses in French.
The test will last for 45 minutes and will consist of multiple choice grammar questions, short answer questions in French.
Internal students will sit the test in class in the second lesson of week 7.
External students will complete the test online. The tasks will be available for a limited time only - from Friday to Monday at the end of week 7. Answers must be submitted on time; whatever has been entered when time runs out will be automatically saved and submitted on your behalf.
Specific details about the test will be available on ILearn in the weeks preceding the assessment.
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 20%
Grammar Test
In preparation for students' oral test in week 13, in which they will need to apply grammatical rules learnt throughout the unit, a written test will assess students' understanding of and ability to employ grammatical structures in written French.
The test will last approximately 1 hour and will require students to complete some of the following tasks: answer multi-choice questions, fill gaps in ready-made sentences, write full sentence answers in correct French in response to written questions.
Internal students will sit the test in class in the second lesson of week 9.
External students will complete the test on line. The tasks will be available for a limited time only - at the end of week 9 from Friday to Monday. Answers must be submitted on time; whatever has been entered when time runs out will be automatically saved and submitted on your behalf.
Specific details about the test will be available on ILearn in the weeks preceding the assessment.
Due: Week 11 (lesson 2)
Weighting: 20%
Reading and Writing Test (with dictionary and grammar notes)
The test will assess students' comprehension of, and their writing skills in, French. They will be required to read a short text in French on a general topic that will draw from themes studied during the unit. Students will then respond to this text by writing a short text of up to 150 words in French using correct vocabulary and grammar taught throughout the unit.
Students will be allowed to employ a hard copy of a dictionary and their own grammar notes that the teacher will check before the test (no mobile devices will be allowed).
Internal students will sit the test in class in the second lesson of week 11.
External students will complete the test on line. The tasks will be available for a limited time only - at the end of week 11 from Friday to Monday. Answers must be submitted on time; whatever has been entered when time runs out will be automatically saved and submitted on your behalf.
More details about the test will be available on ILearn in the weeks preceding the test.
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 20%
Oral Assessment
In 5-10 minutes you will show your tutor how your oral skills have developed. All of the topics of the test (conversation or role-play) will be given to all students at the start of week 12 on iLearn so that they may prepare for their test.
Internal students working in pairs will come to class 15 minutes before their allotted time to receive the one topic on which they will speak (these are drawn randomly from the list of topics given in week 12). Students will have 15 minutes to prepare before completing the test which is recorded by the tutor. The end of session oral test takes place during regular class hours for internal students, there are therefore no classes in week 13.
External students will be sent their topic by the tutor via email 15 minutes prior to the appointed test via Skype. They will be tested individually and not in pairs. Notes may not be consulted by students during the exam. External students do their tests on Skype during set times in week 13.
Specific details about the test will be available on ILearn in the weeks preceding the assessment.
Internal students
Students attend 2 x 2 hour tutorials per week: 4 hours of tutorials. There are no lectures for FRN 122. Classes are scheduled on Mon and Wed or Tue and Thu. Please go to eStudent to register in one of the classes on offer. The classes are streamed, which means you must attend the same 2x2 hour classes each week with the same group.
If you have a clash and need to change classes, go to the appropriate iLearn forum ("Je veux changer de classe/I want to swap classes") to rearrange your classes.
Classes start at five minutes past the hour. We recommend that you arrive on time so you do not miss out on important information given at the start of a class. We encourage students to come to as many classes as possible to facilitate the best learning experience possible.
External students
External students do not need to register in any particular classes and just need to make sure you are enrolled in FRN122 on eStudent. Your only timetabled activities will involve: A. a voluntary attendance of a 3 hour, on-campus Saturday session for students based in Sydney (the date will be communicated shortly) and B. the attendance of a live video-conferencing (Skype) speaking test to be held in week 13 at specific times (some evenings will be assigned) allocated by your tutor at the start of the course.
All students
The course is of a very intensive nature. FRN122 aims to prepare students for FRN 123 in session 2. This latter course prepares students for FRN 226 Intermediate French I, which is designed for students who have completed HSC French Continuers (Band 4 or higher) or HSC French Extension.
The work required for the unit is two-fold, involving:
Internal students' attendance of at least 80% of classes is strongly encouraged. If you are unable to attend classes check ilearn in order to catch up and talk to your tutor. Your "participation" mark depends on your regular attendance of class.
External students' participation mark is derived from the submission of 2 audio or video recordings of conversations with a speaking partner (fellow student or other) on set topic. On recording will be required by week 6 and the second by week 12. More information will be available on iLearn closer to the submission time. It is suggested to prioritise finding a French speaking partner with whom to practice your spoken French to compensate for not being in the interactive language learning classroom. The forum on iLearn called "Je cherche un copain/copine de classe" (I'm looking for a study partner) will allow you to connect with other external students on line.
Those unable to attend assessments (tests) due to illness or other valid reasons should notify their tutor. Then, having collected the relevant documentation such as a medical certificate, they should make an application for Disruption of Studies. See below:
To submit a Disruption to Studies notification, you will need to:
1. Log in as a Current Student at ask.mq.edu.au 2. Click 'Disruption to Studies' from the 'Submit' menu on the left 3. Fill in the required fields as prompted. Once you have completed filling out the information, please click on 'Submit'
All new students will need to purchase the textbook: Saison 1. Méthode de français A1+, and the activity book: Saison 1. Cahier d'activités [A1+] published in France by Didier publishers. The two books are available from the Co-op Bookshop. External students living outside the Sydney metropolitan area are urged to purchase the required package online (through the Co-op Bookshop website) before the start of the session.
The online resources on iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au) are another essential part of the unit. Students have access to all materials (including recorded iLectures on Echo360) from the beginning to the end of the session.
Please refer to iLearn for announcements, and possible amendments to the program as this is how the convenor will communicate with you throughout the session.
Standard requirements include a computer and internet access to interact with the teaching materials on iLearn.
External students will need to have access to a webcam, headphones as well as a microphone for use during the video-conferencing sessions. We recommend you use Firefox which has been reliable with respect to media files used in the course.
IT and iLearn assistance is available via the iLearn login page or by clicking on the words "Help me" under the iLearn logo at the top right hand side of every iLearn window.
Please note that replies to e-mails will be automatically directed to the account they were sent from. All new threads will be sent to your University account where you are free to supply the e-mail address of your choice. You are encouraged to use the University account rather than a private e-mail account and to check this account regularly for announcements from the convenor and emails form your tutor.
Please refer to the FRN 122 ILearn page for 2016 for a detailed unit plan
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
New Assessment Policy in effect from Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html. For more information visit http://students.mq.edu.au/events/2016/07/19/new_assessment_policy_in_place_from_session_2/
Assessment Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
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