McGill Faculty of Arts

French Language Centre

Beginner's French FRSL 101 (Fall 2014)
Name: Prof. Suzanne Pellerin E-mail: Suzanne.pellerin@mcgill.ca
Office: 451, Ferrier Bdg, office 438

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

FRSL 101 is the first term of a two-semester course series (FRSL 101 / FRSL 102 for 3 credits each) for
students who neither speak nor write a word of French and who have never studied French before or who
do not have the prerequisite knowledge for the near beginner or elementary level (determined by a
Placement Test).

The course is designed to enable students to learn the basic grammatical structures of written and oral
French (morphology and syntax) and to acquire basic vocabulary for use in daily life.

B. OBJECTIVES

By the end of FRSL 101 / FRSL 102 series, students should be able to: talk about themselves and their
environment (class, family, etc.), handle survival situations (grocery shopping, eating in restaurants,
travelling, general shopping, etc.), maintain a conversation in an everyday context (about weather, daily
routine, relationships, etc.), give and ask for information, give advice or orders, express feelings and
opinions, describe a person or an event in the present and the past, tell a story, communicate in a French
social milieu. Students are expected to get acquainted with the North American and European French
culture and history.

During the 2 terms, the student should develop the following skills:

1) Written comprehension: texts related to everyday life (letters, ads, public signs, menus, etc.),
dialogues, cultural texts, short stories and short literary texts;
2) Written production: dialogues, short compositions, simple narrations, descriptions and short
essays with structural accuracy and re-use of new vocabulary;
3) Oral comprehension: people addressing one another at normal speed, the gist of conversations
among native speakers, simple oral texts;
4) Oral production: communication at a functional level (dealing with common situations
such as asking and answering questions, requesting, expressing opinions
and feelings, giving orders and advice); talking about common subjects
dealing with everyday life (narration, description, etc.), French
pronunciation.
C. CLASS MANAGEMENT

1. IN CLASS

FRSL 101 is divided into 5 chapters (one chapter =  6 class hours). Each chapter includes

 Thematic text
 Vocabulary
 Grammar theory
 Cultural text
 Written exercises
 Oral practice
 Phonetics (in lab, AMLF)

2. OUT OF CLASS WORK

 individual practice with CAN-8 at the language multimedia laboratory: a minimum of 1 hour a week
(besides laboratoires individuels and laboratoires de groupe). Good participation grade will be
awarded to those who practiced more than the minimum.
 monitorat: conversation with a monitor 1 hour a week, if available (starts later)
 writing work, preparing quizzes (to be determined by instructor)
 visiting MyCourses for practice, learning, written exercises, etc.
 assignments: 5 written (MyCourses), 5 oral (CAN-8)
 reading, studying, class preparation, etc.

3. PARTICIPATION, ATTENDANCE & EVALUATION

 Active participation in class, work done beyond the regular class hours and graded assignments
such as written activities done at home, preparation of exercises and reading when
required by the instructor, lab practice (écoute, exercices divers, culture, extra practice done
for the laboratoire de groupe) and monitorat practice (if available) are taken into account
for the participation grade. Lab practice is considered for participation only for work done on
student’s own time. Students are advised to keep up with the day-to-day work in order to make
progress.

 Attendance is a mandatory part of this course. All absences will affect the participation grade (out
of 10, -1 for each course absent). Students are expected to attend class regularly. Attendance will be
taken on a daily basis. A student who has been absent for one third of classes (more than 13
hours or 9 classes) will get a “J” as the final grade. NO STUDENT COULD PASS THIS
COURSE WITHOUT ATTENDING AT LEAST THE 2/3 OF THE COURSE.

 Students must attend all in-class evaluations unless exceptional circumstances exist (medical
reasons only for which a doctor's certificate is necessary). If a problem arises, students are expected
to contact their professor before an exam or on the exam day. Long weekends out of town, and
holidays out of the country, for example, will not be accepted. Students who miss an in-class
evaluation will receive a 0. Marks may not be upgraded through additional work.
4. POLICIES

 Students are required to consult the calendar for test dates and to read about the policies related to this course in
the syllabus and in MyCourses (plagiarism, rereads, in-class evaluation, course conflict, etc.).

 Consult
http://www.mcgill.ca/secretariat/sites/mcgill.ca.secretariat/files/university_student_assessment_policy_5.pdf 
for more information about student rights and responsibilities.

 Students are responsible for informing themselves about the university rules and regulations regarding to
Method of course evaluation and grading procedures.
http://www.mcgill.ca/oasis/general/grading/ 
 
 Students are responsible for reading the McGill mail. No excuse will be accepted for not be aware of emails
content sent by an instructor or the coordinator.

 McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and
consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and
Disciplinary procedures.
(See http://www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest).

 Students have the right to reasonable accommodation for religious commitments in accordance to religious
Holy Days listed in McGill important dates Holy days (http://www.mcgill.ca/importantdates/holy-days-0).
Students who need such arrangement have to inform their instructor at the beginning of the term.

 Students who need special arrangements under the Office for Students with Disabilities specifications have to
inform their instructor at the beginning of the term in order to organise appropriate lab testing sessions.

 A student who cannot fulfill a class commitment (assignment, exam, composition, etc.) for a valid
documented reason (such as illness or family tragedy), could be granted permission to an alternative
arrangement. No credits will be awarded to a student who missed more than a 3rd of the course even under
medical or other attenuating circumstances.

 The Oral and Written Christmas exams are in-departmental in-lab eveluations and are not governed by the
McGill formal examination schedule. In case of scheduling conflict on the final testing day, follow instruction
that will be sent you at the appropriate time or contact the course coordinator.

 Electronical devices are not allowed during class time: phone, laptop, etc. unless required by the instructor.
Electronical devices have to be turned off. They have to be put aside during testing time.

 No disruptive walking in and out will be tolerated during class time. Students are asked to go to the washroom,
get water, etc. before class starts or wait at the end. Students should address an instructor in a polite and
formal manner in class and by email.

 Attending class without a placement test or auditing without formal registration are not permitted.
D. REQUIRED MATERIALS

Pellerin, Suzanne, Bienvenue au Québec en français (niveau débutants), Ed. FCLE, Montréal, 2013.

Le Dicogramme, Ed. FCLE (little dictionary + conjugation+ grammar tables), Montréal, 2014 (2001). (Le
Dicogramme is the only outside resource allowed during the in-class composition).

both available at Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Avenue (corner of Sherbrooke
Street.) Tel.: 514 845 5811.

A set of headsets (with microphone): available for purchase at McGill Bookstore. The Plantronics Audio
355 Multimedia PC Headsets sold at the Bookstore have been tested and approved for use with the
hardware and software installed at the AMLF (http://www.mcgill.ca/amlf/). The purchase price will be
$24.99, plus taxes, as long as supplies last. Important features:

1) Voice recordings for exams and assignments must be of high quality.

2) Headphones have to offer good isolation to prevent surrounding sound to affect your concentration,
listening and recording. Earbuds are not appropriate.

3) It has to be a stereo mini-jack to 2 connectors.

E. EVALUATION

GRADES AND EXAMINATIONS

Oral Christmas Exam : 20 %

Written Christmas Exam : 20 %
Written homework and Individual labs : 20 %
Quizzes : 10 %
Composition : 10 %
Lipdub :5%
Participation: class participation, lab practice, monitorat (if available),
writing practice and class attendance : 15 %
TOTAL : 100%