Course Description

FRE 111:        Oral French  I

In this course, emphasis is laid on correct basic French grammatical structures, exercise, and practice of structural forms and diction in the language laboratory. Recommended : C.D L’echo, STUDIO, etc.

 

FRE II2:         Oral French II

This is the study of French grammar and syntax and analysis of standard  French structures in the language laboratory. Recommended : C.D L’echo, STUDIO, etc.

 

FRE II3:         Oral French II

In this course students do compte rendu of texts, débats, interview and exposés designed to encourage oral participation and enhance fluency in the language.

 

FRE II4:         Laboratory Exercises II

This is a continuation of FRE 112.  This course involves practice of phonetics with drilling in listening and speaking skills in and outside the language laboratory aimed at equipping the students for sound articulatory habits and speech automatism.  Examples should be based on sentence patterns and on automatic responses in simple situations. Situational learning.

 

FRE 121:        French Grammar I

This is the study of French grammar and syntax with the aim of preparing students for composition and translation courses. This course emphasises elementary grammar ,conjugation of verbs syntax (present indicative); accords, lexis adjectives, gender of nouns/adjectives.

 

FRE  122:       French Grammar II

A continuation of Fre 121.A study of French grammar and syntax as as standard  French  structures .

 

FRE 123:        Introduction to Phonetics

The emphasis in this course will be placed on the acquisition of good pronunciation of French sounds especially in the language laboratory.  There should also be classroom work on sounds structures through corrective phonetics. Lucile Chaliac et Anne – Claude Motron :  Phonétique progressive du français

 

FRE 131:        Introduction To French Composition

This course is designed to introduce students to basic techniques of composition writing in French.  Emphasis is on free composition writing and emphasis on narrative, descriptive and expository forms.

 

FRE 132:        French Composition

This is a continuation of FRE 132 Emphasis is laid on the use of simple and complex sentences, tenses and lexis.  Emphasis should be laid on descriptive, narrative and expository writings through the use of detailed outlines.

 

FRE 101:        Elementary French

This is a course requiring no previous knowledge of French .It is designed to satisfy the language requirement of students from other departments or students majoring in languages other than French. The course will enable students develop the basic skills involved in language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Most of the time will be devoted to practical exercises in elementary French phonetics , dicton and patterns in the language laboratory.

 

FRE 102:        Elementary French II

This is a continuation of FRE 101 at a more advanced level. It emphasises listening, understanding, reading, reading and writing. Much time, however, will be devoted to practical oral work preferably in the use of the language.

 

GER 101:       Elementary German I

This course is for students with no previous knowledge of German. It is designed to satisfy the second language requirement for students majoring in French or any other language. The course will give basic competence in the skills involved in language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and writing.  German 101 begins with an introduction to basic vocabulary, from numbers and greetings and introductions. Class time is used to practice reading and listening skills, do numerous pair exercises and participate in role playing. The reading assignments will provide interesting cultural information about the German-speaking countries. Students learn about the gender of nouns and pronouns, the nominative, accusative and dative cases and the use of prepositions. Regular and irregular verbs in the present tense are taught as well as modal auxiliary verbs. Among others, the basic functions of asking and giving personal information will be stressed.

 

GER 102:       Elementary German II

This is a continuation of Ger 101. It will expose the learners to a higher structure in German language.

 

SPA 101:        Elementary Spanish I

This course requires no previous knowledge of Spanish. It is designed for students of the department majoring in languages other than Spanish. The course covers the basics of the Spanish language beginning with the alphabets, introducing oneself and describing daily routines. The grammatical aspect will involve pronunciations, simple Spanish verbs, the demonstrative pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, etc. Students will also be introduced to the Spanish speaking world.

 

SPA 102:        Elementary Spanish II

This course is a continuation of SPA 101. It exposes the students to simple sentence constructions in Spanish. These include describing the family, discussing means of transport, describing the weather, days of the week, etc. In terms of the Spanish grammar, the students will learn the use of irregular verbs, simple comparisons, the simple prepositions, the difference between hay and estar, etc. Particular attention will also be drawn to stress rules and pronunciation. The course also gives an overview of Spanish history.

 

FRE 211:   Oral Expression and Comprehension I

This involves a comprehension of written French language in form of exercises based on selected passages.  Emphasis is laid on the use of French gramophone document (songs, short plays etc) to help students  communicate and express themselves freely.  This will enable them to increase their vocabulary.

 

FRE 212:   Oral French and Comprehension II

The comprehension exercises will be drawn from texts written by French and African francophone authors. It is a continuation of French 211 (Oral expression and comprehension) which involves a comprehension of written languages, based on selected passages.  Emphasis is laid on the use of French and francophone documents. (songs, short play etc) to help students to communicate and express themselves freely.

 

FRE   221:      French Grammatical Structures I

In this course ,emphasis is laid on the basic correct French grammatical structures through exercises and practice of structural forms and dictations .It involves exercises  in grammar ,study of different grammatical forms ,sentence structures as well as principles of organization of the French language.

 

FRE 222:        French Phonetics and Phonology

A course dealing principally with practical application of French phonetics. Students are taught French sounds (vowels and consonants) which are then used in oral exercises and in the analysis of standard French production .It is a study of vocal aspects of speech from articulatory and acoustic point of view. Phonetic transcription, description and classification of French sounds will be taught as well as prosody and phonetic analysis.

 

FRE 223:        French Grammatical Structures II

This is a continuation of FRE 221 in a more advanced form.  Formal approach of French grammatical structures will be adopted and special emphasis will be laid on the identification of verbal forms, sentence structures and grammatical functions.

 

FRE 231:        French Composition

This is continuation of FRE 131 and 132 on a higher level.  Emphasis is laid on the use of simple and complex sentences, tenses and lexis.  Paragraphs will be based on given topics, dictation exercises etc.  Formal and informal letter writings, short narrative and descriptive composition, guided writing though the use of detailed outlines and /or pictures.

 

FRE 232:        Introduction to Stylistics and Composition

This deals with simple tenses and texts.  It also deals with the composition of sentences and paragraphs, based on given topics.  It provides basic skills in the practice of writing essays in standard French.  It involves basic techniques of composition in French and the study of syntax and usage of figures of speech, context and usage.

 

FRE 241:        Introduction to French Literature

This is a general introduction to French Literature. It is a survey of French Literature from the Middle Ages to the present day showing major trends of literature of each Century.

 

FRE 242:        French Literature of the Middle Ages, 16th and 17th Centuries. 

The course is based on the detailed study of selected works of Literature of Middle Ages, 16th and 17th Centuries.

 

FRE 244:        Critical Appreciation of French Literature

The course is designed to expose students to the practice of literary appreciation and its written expressions, such as “l`explication de texte,” “le résumé de texte”, “l`analyse littéraire” and” le commentaire de texte, etc.

 

FRE 245: Introduction to African Literature in French Oral Tradition (Drama and Poetry)

This is a study of African Literature in French starting from the Oral tradition. It comprises poetry and drama and traces the oral nature of African Literature, the nature, the style of dissemination and the public. It also traces the progress of the study of this literature from oral to written.

 

FRE 246: African Literature In French (Written Trad./Prose)

This is a study of African Literature in French (Prose). It is an introduction to African Literature (written tradition/prose). It includes an introduction to colonial and postcolonial African Literatures.

 

FRE 251: Culture and Civilization of Francophone World

This course is designed to teach the students aspects of the culture aand civilisation of the some of the countries that make up the francophone world.

 

FRE 201:        Intermediate   French

In this course emphasis is on oral language skills as on French grammatical structures, lexis ,and syntax. Aural and written comprehension are treated as well as easy composition

 

FRE 202:        Intermediate French  II

This is a continuation of FRE 201 in an advanced level . Students are to be introduced  to selected texts in French and Francophone literature and culture.

 

GER 201:       Intermediate German I

This first level of the intermediate course reviews the basic skills   acquired in elementary language study and builds upon them. Although a thorough review of all grammar is given, special attention is paid to the following difficult areas of grammar: adjective endings, past tenses, relative pronouns. The students will be introduced to more complex grammatical structures and patterns. There will be a selection of reading assignments which are appropriate for this level. The selected topics will deal with topics of German-speaking culture and life. Real life situations such as dialogues in restaurants and in the supermarket or hotel are practised in the class.

 

GER 202:       Intermediate German II

German 202 is a continuation of the intermediate level and builds upon the skills practiced in 201 including further work on passive voice, subjunctive and relative pronouns. GER 202 is the prerequisite for advanced level German language classes. Class work provides listening and speaking practice while homework affords the chance to sharpen writing skills.

 

SPA 201:        Intermediate Spanish I

At this level, the students are expected to have acquired the basics of the Spanish language from SPA 101 and SPA 102. This course therefore, lays emphasis on correct speech, pronunciation, more complex sentence constructions and intonation in describing daily events. The grammar covers the use of reflexive verbs, the use of por and para, direct and indirect personal pronouns, etc. The cultural aspect looks at Spanish based creoles in the ABC Islands.

 

SPA 202:        Intermediate Spanish II

This is a continuation of SPA 20I. At this level, the students should be able to describe their immediate environment, explain how they use their free time, etc., as part of deepening their communication skills. The use of the present imperative forms, the progressive, adverbs and some fixed verbal constructions in the grammar will be learnt at this level. The cultural focus introduces Spanish in the United States.

 

SPA 301:        Advanced Spanish I

The course will focus on the development of conversational and written skills in Spanish. The course is designed for students that have previous knowledge of Spanish Grammar from the intermediate level and need to improve on comprehension and communication. The class will be highly participative and will be imparted partly in Spanish. It includes cultural affairs of different countries.

 

SPA 302:        Advanced Spanish II

This course is a continuation of SPA II. The focus is a further deepening of student’s conversational and written skills in Spanish. Different registers, in particular the language of the Spanish mass media will be handled in this course. Students are given a survey of Hispano-Spanish relations as part of cultural orientation in the Hispanic world.

 

FRE 411:        Advanced Oral French I

Continuation of FRE 312 in a more advanced form. Students will make oral expositions on selected topics and selected literary works.

 

FRE 412:        Advanced Oral French II

Continuation of FRE 312 and 411 on a very high level. There will be exercises involving presentations in French of group and individual project topics.

 

FRE 421:        Linguistic Theories  

Study of rudiments of general linguistic theories and methods. Nature, functions, and varieties of languages and types of communication.  The scope, objective and branches of linguistics will be dealt with.  Definition of key concepts and the usefulness of linguistics to language studies. De Saussure, Ferdinand. Cours de la Linguistique Générale. Paris, Edition ClE 1916.

 

FRE 422:        Linguistics Applied to the Teaching of French Language

In continuation of Fre 421, applied linguistics will be used to acquint students with the psyco-pedagogical context of French teaching and learning methods , vocabulary  and understanding the various problems raised by different methods. Students will be taught how to understand , identify and analyse problems related to sounds, signals ,prosody, communication and grammatical functions of French language. Lyons, Jean. Linguistique générale :  Introduction a la linguistique théorique. Paris : librairie larousse 1970.

 

FRE 441:        19th Century French Literature

This is a study of the historical background of 19th Century with particular reference to its literary history, then the study of various authors and of the literary trends (genres) of this century, namely: Pre-Romantism, Romantism, Realism, Naturalism, etc. Cover to cover reading of at least each of the literary trends and their respective authors, e.g. Chateaubriand for Pre-Romantism, Victor Hugo for Romantism, Balzac for Realism, Zola for Naturalism and Baudelaire (Les fleurs du mal) for Symbolism.

 

FRE 442:        Caribbean Francophone Literature

This deals in depth with the works of major Francophone authors of the Caribbean region such as Jacques Roumain Aimé Cesaire, Rene Maran.

 

FRE 443:        African Literature in French (Poetry and Drama)

This is an in-depth study of major literary works representative of African Francophone world. We shall consider here, poems and drama in African Literature.

 

FRE 444:        20th Century Fernch Literature

This is a study of the historical background of the 20th Century French Literature with its influence on the Literature of the period. The literary trends of the Century – le Dadaism, le surrealism, l’existentialism and the Absurd. Cover to cover reading of at least one textbook for each literary trend.

 

FRE 445:        African Literature in French (Prose and Drama)

This is an analytical study of works on African Francophone literature. Students are expected to read books on male and female writer and be able to analyze these structurally and thematically.

 

FRE 461:        Advanced Translation I

Translation from English into French and vice-versa, at an advanced level. A continuation of FRE 361 (Introduction to translation: The course is designed to provide students with the basic skills and techniques of translation from French to English and vice-versa. There will be exercises in correct translation of texts from the two languages including handling words with identical spellings but with different meanings in the two languages) and FRE 362 (Intermediate Translation, continuation of FRE 361 the translation of “theme et version” from more complicated texts. Students will also be initiated into the basic principles of the theory of translation.)

 

FRE 463: Advanced Translation II

Deals theoretically and practically with how a French/English bilingual person can approach the process of translation from one language to another. It is also designed to teach how the meaning of certain discourse can be expressed in different words in French language, such as stylistic changes and summary writing.