116-022 Spoken French: Theory and Practice

116-133 French I: Contemporary French B and 116-134 French I: Language in Context II. European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed first year European studies, see Prerequisites.

In this subject, students will be trained to recognise, transcribe and describe the sounds of French (articulatory phonetics), and to contrast them with the sounds of English. They will acquire a basic understanding of intonation patterns and linking phenomena (liaison and elision). They will be introduced to theoretical approaches to phonological description and to methods of oral data collection and transcription. Grammatical and lexical differences between spoken (colloquial) and written forms of the language will be examined (in particular, negative and interrogative constructions, left and right dislocations, use of personal pronouns). Features of the French spoken by young people will also be studied. The subject will be taught in French.

• be capable of thinking in theoretical and analytical terms through lectures, tutorial discussion, essay writing and engagement in the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences;

• develop understanding of social, political, historical and cultural contexts and international awareness/openness to the world through the contextualisation of judgements and knowledge, developing a critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and new aspects of French culture, and by formulating arguments;

• develop skills in public speaking and confidence in self-expression through tutorial participation and class presentations;

A 90-minute written test 40% (due during exam period), practical work and problem solving exercise totalling 1300 words 30% (due during semester), and an essay of 1200 words 30% (due at the end of semester).

• F Gadet, Le Français populaire. PUF 1994.
• B Tranel, The Sounds of French. CUP 1987.