The
French Studies program offers a major, an advanced certificate, and a minor.
The
major is designed to be completed within four years of a student’s
undergraduate studies.
(A
first year student with no previous experience can major in French studies,
starting with First semester French 101).
French
and francophone Culture and literature are crucial to understanding and
promoting intercultural exchanges.
Upon
completion of a French studies major, students will have acquired the
linguistic and cultural competency to function in a French speaking
environment. The major gives access to the rich literary and cultural heritage
of the Francophone world preparing students to pursue graduate work and
careers, or undertake volunteer work, in a wide variety of Francophone
countries.
Lower-division
French courses include first, second, third and fourth semester French language
courses.
The
first three semesters of French count toward the foreign language requirement
for all students in the College
of Arts and Sciences
majoring in the Arts. Students majoring in Sciences need only two semesters of
French language to fulfill their foreign language requirement.
Fourth
semester French is the first course required for the major and the minors in
French. It consists of a review of French grammar in the four areas of
listening, speaking, reading and writing, with an emphasis on French and
francophone cultures. It also introduces a variety of excerpts of French and
francophone literatures.
Upper-division
French courses include 300-level courses as survey or introductory types of
courses. 400 level-seminars concentrate on themes or a variety of subject
matters for more in-depth knowledge and understanding of French and francophone
literatures and cultures.
The
study of French and Francophone literatures and cultures, with an emphasis on
reading, writing, and textual analyses remain central to upper-division
courses. Literature provides the richest material for intellectual challenges
and thought provoking ideas, a learning goal that is core to the French studies
major and minor.
At
the 300-level, Introduction to Textual Analysis provides tools for reading,
understanding and analyzing texts. The course is divided by genres: poems,
plays, novels, from all periods and origins, French or Francophone.
Other
300 level courses are divided by time periods or regions of the world:
Introduction to 17th and 18th Century French Literature
and Culture; Introduction to 19th and 20th/21st
Century French Literature and Culture; Introduction to Francophone literature:
African or francophone speaking countries other than African.
400-level
seminars represent topics developed by full-time faculty members based on their
research specialties, and personal interests. (See course descriptions below).
The French Writing
Center: a Pedagogical
Tool
The goal of the FWC
The goal of the FWC is to improve students’ writing competence in French by providing one-on-one help and personal feedback on the student compositions.
Who can attend the FWC?
- French 202 students attend regular appointments in the FWC to work on four compositions throughout the semester. They meet with a consultant every week for a 30-minute session.
- Upper Division students can attend appointments in the FWC for one-on-one help on a specific composition if:
- Their professor refers them.
or
- They get approval from their professor to contact the FWC directly.
Corrective feedback used in the FWC
Coming to the FWC is a learning activity. For this reason, the corrective feedback method used in the FWC is a non-explicit / indirect method: the consultant marks the error (underlines it and uses codes) and encourages the student to make the necessary corrections. The consultant does not give the correct answer.
Using correction codes provides students with an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and to gain confidence in their ability to write and edit their own compositions. It is common for students to feel frustrated if all their errors are not corrected, but providing direct answers to specific errors won’t make students more proficient writers. The objective of the FWC is always long-term improvement.
In the FWC, students will learn skills that can be applied to any assignment and become proficient editors of their own texts. Regular appointments in the FWC will help students recognize frequent patterns of errors and develop strategies for correcting them. However, it is important to remember that it takes consistent work; a few consultations won’t eliminate all errors.
Setting realistic goals and expectations
Writing in a Foreign Language cannot be compared to writing in one’s native language. Therefore, students are not expected to be able to write with the same level of complexity as an educated native speaker. Improving foreign language writing skills is a slow process. One needs to be patient and consistent.Accordingly, it is not recommended to translate from English. Making an effort to think in French will limit sentence structure errors and force students to use a language that is appropriate for their level. Students are encouraged to look up specific words or find synonyms to enrich their vocabulary, but are advised against translating phrases or sentences on a translation website.
A session in the FWC
Sessions in the FWC are conducted in French to provide students with an opportunity to speak French outside of the classroom.
Consultants will read compositions and underline errors using codes. Students will be asked to reflect on those errors and work to correct them. If they are unable to do so, the consultant will explain the grammatical rule and give students another chance to correct them independently. If they are still unable to correct some of the errors, the consultant will give a handout regarding that particular rule or refer students to a specific chapter in their textbook, grammar book or online. The student will always be the one finding the correct answer.
Each appointment will focus on a few errors and the priority will be on frequent, serious and treatable errors. Treatable errors are errors that are ruled-based instead of usage-based. Usage-based errors will slowly be eliminated over time as students are more and more exposed to French: through reading and interacting with native speakers. Errors interfering with communication will also be addressed.
Study Abroad Programs:
French majors and minors are strongly encouraged
to study abroad and spend a semester or a junior-year in a French or
francophone speaking country.
USF sponsors two International Programs for
Students: ILCF in Paris, and University of Lille
Catholique, Lille – France.
For more information on these programs and
registration packages, please consult the Office of Students Development and
the Study Abroad Office, in UC fourth floor.
Full-Time Faculty:
Their Research and
Teaching Interests
Dr. Ahmed
Bangura, associate professor of French,
KA 378,
x6372 banguraa@usfca.edu
Ahmed has published articles and translations in
the area of African literature, contributed the article “Black, Orientalism …”
in the New Dictionary of the History of
Ideas, a book on Islam and West African Fiction, and also published a book
in Arabic on narratives from the life of the Prophet Muhammad. He is completing
a book on the values of Islam, and a version of the same book in Arabic.
Teaching Interest: Introduction to Francophone
Literature I, Introduction to Textual Analysis, Twentieth Century French
Literature, and Third semester French
Dr. Karen Bouwer,
associate professor of French,
KA 381, x6390 bouwerk@usfca.edu
Karen
has published articles on contemporary French women poets and African women
writers. Her research interests include
Francophone African literature, African cinema, and gender studies. Gender
and Decolonization in the Congo: The Legacy of Patrice Lumumba is
forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan.
Teaching
Interest: Francophone Literature II (Francophone World other than Africa); 400
level seminars (Carte d’Identité/Mapping Identity; Migrations; French and
Francophone Women Writers; French Algeria, Algerian France); A Season in the Congo (Freshman Seminar); Africa Films Africa;
a.k.a. Africa: Mapping African Identity
through Literature and Film. Also
taught: Introduction to 17th and 18th Century French
Literature.
Dr. Anne Mairesse, professor
of French and Comparative Literature and Culture,
KA 355, x6359, mairesse@usfca.edu
Anne has published extensively on 19th/20th century French poetry
and art (Mallarmé, Valéry, Degas, Duchamp). Her book, Figures de Valéry (please
italicize), came out in 2000.
She has also published on contemporary French women poets, playwrights and
novelists (Rouzeau, Quintane, Detambel, Salvayre, Olmi, Sekiguchi). She
co-authored several publications on Paul Valéry and Mallarmé; co-edited the
proceedings of several poetry conferences including “Other Words” publication
of the SF International Poetry festival. Her current research focuses on
Human-Animal. She is co-organizer of the 20th/21st Century French and
Francophone International Colloquium to be held in San Francisco in 2011. She is also co-editor
of a special issue of l’Esprit Créateur,“Facing the Animal,” to be published in
Fall 2010.
Teaching Interest:
Introduction
to Textual Analysis; French Culture and Civilization; Introduction to 17th
and 18th Century French Literature; Introduction to 19th
and 20th Century French Literature; 400 level seminars (19th
Century French literature; 20th Century French literature; Representations of the Feminine; Condition of Love; French Culture for
Business; French Culture and Civilization; French Cinema and Literature).
She
also teaches in the Comparative literature and culture program: Introduction to
Comparative Studies: Literatures of the
Body ; First Year Seminar: The Beauty
of the Beast; Senior CMPL Seminar: Political
Fictions.
