Student

Possible menu items:

  • FI features
  • Learning with FI (how to screenflow video introduction tutorials)
  • UT specific pdf's.

Screenflow video introduction to different sections of Français interactif for the student:

  • vocabulary preparation
  • phonétique
  • videos (explanation of different types:  vocab presentation, interviews,  culture)
  • links into Tex's French Grammar
  • internet activities

Français Interactif is the unique, award-winning first year French curriculum developed at the University of Texas at Austin with its companion site, Tex’s French Grammar.  Both sites are free and open multimedia resources requiring neither passwords nor fees. 

Français Interactif  helps students to explore the French language and culture by following the lives of real UT students who participate in the UT Summer Program in Lyon, France.  Français Interactif emphasizes interaction and real-life communication: student/teacher, student/student, student/computer, student/native-speaker. The goal of Français Interactif is in its title: interaction in French.   

The vidoes of native speakers and UT students in Lyon transport the student virtually to France. The people are real, not the fake Sophie or Jean-Pierre characters who people traditional beginning textbooks.  These videos give beginning students multiple models of authentic language, and integrate cultural information and language seamlessly to promote questioning, comparisons, social encounters across cultures. Français interactif received the 2009 CALICO Access to Language Education Award.

Features of Français Interactif:

  • 320 videos:  UT students in France, native French speaker interviews, vocabulary and culture vignettes
  • recorded vocabulary lists and phonetics lessons
  • links into the on-line reference grammar with self-correcting exercises and audio    dialogues (Tex’s French Grammar)
  • diagnostic grammar quizzes (testez-vous)
  • grammar tools (e.g. dictionary, verb conjugator and reference) 
  • Internet reading and writing activities
  • a textbook of classroom activities and homework assignments (13 chapters) available free in .pdf format and print-on-demand from the on-line publisher, qoop.com

Français interactifwas developed at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of French and Italian.  It has been funded and created by the Texas Language Technology Center in the UT Liberal Arts Technology Services. Français interactif is currently supported by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE Grant P116B070251) as a model open access site and in a TLTC initiative to lower textbook prices through print-on-demand publishing  (FIPSE Grant P116Y090057). 

 

The following materials should be labeled UT, possibly a menu item to itself. 

First-Year French Course information

(FR 506, FR 507, & FR 508K)

Prerequisites (course explanations, from catalog)

French 506

French 507 The prerequisite for French 507 is completion of French 506, taken at the University of Texas at Austin, with a grade of C or better. 

French 508K : Students who took French in high school, French 506 at another college, or at The University of Texas at Austin prior to fall 2008 should register for French 508K.

 

Course and Objectives

French 506, 507, and 508K are four skills language courses in which you will expand the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing as you explore the French language and culture with Français interactif, the first year French program developed at the University of Texas.  Completion of French 507 or French 508K with a C or better qualifies you to enroll in a second-year French course (FR 312K, 612, 118).

 

Required Materials (revise according to 506 info)

  • FR 507 text , Français interactif  available at the University Coop.
  • First Year French website: Francais interactif  (http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/) includes
  • videos (vocabulary, interviews and culture) downloadable mp4 files or podcasts.
  • recorded  vocabulary lists and phonetic examples:  downloadable mp3 audio files or podcasts.
  • links into Tex’s French Grammar (http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex): grammar explanations, audio files in mp3 format or podcasts, interactive exercises, a verb conjugation reference, and a verb tutor.   Written copies of the grammar pages are included in the 507 text for home study.
  • Compact  Oxford Hachette French/English Dictionary ISBN 0-19-864535X (at the Coop) which is required for FR 312K, L, N and upper division courses.  There is also an online dictionary for your use at http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/dictionary.

 

Recommended

 

Grading

   Exams (five  @ 100 points):                        50% = 500 points

Preparation & Participation:                     20% = 200 points

Speaking Exams (2 @ 50 points):              10% = 100 points

Listening Comprehension exam:                05% = 050 points

Final Exam (written; 2 hours):                   15% = 150 points

                                                                       100% =1000 points

 

Preparation/Participation

Daily preparation and persistent, active participation in class are essential to your success in learning French.  Your teacher will make specific assignments for each day.

 

The preparation/participation grade includes your performance on activities in the classroom and occasional pop quizzes.  Most daily homework and participation grades will be valued at 10 points each, except compositions, which will be worth 20 points.  No late homework will be accepted.  If you are not in class to get the assignment(s) due the next day, it is your responsibility to contact your instructor or another student in the class to get the assignment. 

 

Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning.  In order to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from time spent in class, unless otherwise approved by the instructor, students are prohibited from engaging in any form of distraction.  Inappropriate behavior (cellular phones, eating or drinking, tardiness, making offensive remarks, sleeping, overt inattentiveness, etc.) shall result, minimaly, in a request to leave class.

 

Computer Lab :  MEZ 2.104

You will  be required to do daily homework using the Français interactif  website.

Access to computers for individual study is available in the Liberal Arts ITS media lab in MEZ 2.104.  Liberal Arts ITS media lab operating hours:

M-Th 8 a.m.- 7:45 p.m., F 8 a.m.- 4:45 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m.- 6:45 p.m.

 

Attendance policy

Regular attendance is absolutely necessary for success in French 507. You are allowed a total of five absences without penalty during the semester.  All absences count. In addition to lowered preparation/participation grades, a penalty of 10 pts (or 1% of your final course grade/ up to 10%) will be deducted for each absence after 5 in the semester.

 

Exams

The five exams will contain a variety of listening, reading, and writing activities, similar to those in the text and on-line grammar.  Each exam  covers one chapter, lasts 50 minutes and is valued at 100 points.  There are also two five-minute speaking exams.  Note carefully the dates of these exams on the syllabus, as there are no make-ups.

 

The final exam will be Thursday, December 10 from 9 a.m. -12 p.m. contingent upon Registrar Scheduling.  A makeup will be given on Friday, December 11 from 7-10 p.m. for students with verified schedule conflicts.  Please notify your instructor to obtain course supervisor's permission.  

 

 

 

The Department of French & Italian offers many services to beginning students, including free tutoring in the French Department. Your instructor will announce tutorial center hours during the second week of classes.  You will also be invited to films and activities sponsored by the French Department. Your instructor will announce these and other events throughout the semester.  Bienvenue!  We hope you will enjoy learning French.  

 

 

Note to students with a disability:  The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities.  For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259 or 471-4641(TTY).

 

Lower-Division Grading Scale:

A      93-97

A-    90-92

B+    87-89

B      80-82

C+   77-79

C      73-76

C-     70-72

D+    67-69

D      63-66

D-     60-62

F       < 60

Vocabulary preparation template (add as an attachment)

Oral exam descriptions and rubrics:

 

Study Guides:

 

Syllabi (update to SP 10), include 506, 507, and 508K