Created at Western Kentucky University by Blair Hoglen

Created at Western Kentucky University AP Summer Institute by Blair Hoglen

AP French Language and Culture Syllabus

AP French Language and Culture is a college-level course intended for students in their final year of French study in secondary school. This course will be led exclusively in French. Students enrolled in this course should already have a good understanding of the French language through competency, grammar, speaking, writing, reading, cultural knowledge, and interdisciplinary topics. French AP students should be capable of comparing their native tongue with the target language as well as their culture with French culture. This course should help students improve their use of the target language in real-life settings.

Throughout the class will be focusing on six themes: global challenges, families and communities, personal and public identities, beauty and aesthetics, science and technology, and contemporary life. Each unit will have an essential question. The three modes of communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational) defined in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century are foundational to the AP French Language and Culture course.

Students will demonstrate their proficiency in each of the three modes in the intermediate to pre-advanced range throughout the course as described in the ACTFL Performance Guildelines for K-12 Learners.

Authentic resources will be used as noted below.

GENERAL GUIDE TO THEMATIC UNITS

Unit 1-Global Challenges-la nourriture et la santé

August-early September

Comment les francophones mangent en comparison aux américains?

Interpersonal writing: reply to email from a prospective host family about eating habits
Food Journal (checked by teacher)-for one week write everything you eat in French, Do not forget to include snacks! (written interpersonal communication)
Penpal exchange (teacher provides copies), describe your eating habits, ask about your penpal’s eating habits, request a copy of their school menu. (Written Interpersonal Communication)
Analysis of government recommendations: US and Francophone country (class discussion), students will prepare a summary of the assigned country’s nutritional recommendations to present to the class. This combines Interpretive, Presentational, and Interpersonal Learning Objectives.
Interpretive and Interpersonal Learning Objectives : Synthesis of student eating habits from journal with government recommendations (to be checked by teacher) - Students will produce a visual representation of their eating habits in the context of the assigned country’s nutritional recommendations. Drawings, graphs, or other colorful representations which can be displayed on the wall are preferred. Students will then compliment their classmates as to what positive aspects of the diet are in evidence and give advice for improvements.
Grammar review of the (imperative) command form
Review encouraging statements
Will discuss healthy meals and foods provided at schools in US and Francophone country. How important is good nutrition in Francophone school versus the US. (Interpersonal speaking)
Students will design their own restaurants and a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Students will present this menu and restaurant to the class. The menu must be healthy and fit with their improved visual eating representation. (Interpretive Presentational Communication)
Spoken Presentation Communication: Students willproduce, edit, and present a video 3-5 minutes long describing and demonstrating how to prepare a healthy menu.
Grammar reviews of l’impératif and transition words such as d’abord, ensuite, après ça, etc.
Students work in pairs to support each other as they develop ideas, and to record video segments of each other. Each will choose a dish to prepare, list ingredients they will need, convert standard measures from metric, and draft a guiding script. Students may incorporate text into video detailing ingredients and quantities in metric measure.
Videos are formatively assessed using AP Scoring Guidelines for Presentational Speaking

Resources:

Government documents (nutritional guides, health statics)

- France

- US

- Canada

add other countries as needed

Public service announcements

- France

Public service announcements

Scientific studies and interviews

Print and video

Print and audio:

News reports

Article: Michelle Obama

Podcast: Message sanitaire contre l’obésité

School menus

menus from penpals

recipes and cooking videos

advertisements for food/restaurants/grocery stores

penpal exchanges

Ladd book has entire chapter including email prompt, reading, and audio!

Le ventre de Paris by Zola

Cantines Scholaires in Allons au-delà Ch. 5

Secondary Materials:

Julia Child - movie, cookbooks

Unit 2-Families and Communities-Childhood and Adolescence

September-October

How is childhood and adolescence different in francophone countries versus the US?

Focus on Education, with minor focuses on how children are growing up too fast (no childhood)

Begin by speaking about childhood in the US (or one’s country of origin) and how the class thinks it compares to childhood and growing up in a francophone country (will focus on Africa (DRC) and France) (spoken interpretive communication)
Look at a black and white picture of a French classroom from the Ladd book and answer questions about it. Then discuss answers in small groups. Ladd page 302 (written interpretive and spoken interpersonal communication)
Read an excerpt from le Petit Nicolas. As students read they will work on a reading strategy table from Ladd page 303 (spoken interpretive communication).
Watch a clip from the movie Le Petit Nicolas and discuss how child / adolescent education differs in the US and whether children share the same views on family (specifically siblings) the US vs. France.
Listen to an audio clip and read an article from RFI about scholarships students in African countries are offered and write a letter to a college of their choice saying they deserve a scholarship and why. What can they offer or bring to the college? As a class we will discuss scholarships in African French-speaking countries versus the US. (audio and reading interpersonal communication, written interpersonal communication)
Watch a clip from the movie The Class and discuss how it compares to American schools. (spoken interpretive communication)
Read an article and listen to a radio excerpt about childhood in danger in francophone countries and answer multiple choice questions. (reading and written interpersonal communication)
Read an article from RFI about how childhood / adolescence is in danger and another article from RFI about young francophone children with jobs. Write a persuasive essay arguing for or against the things that are making children grow up “too fast” according to the two articles. “Is it ok for children to start working when they are young and should be ‘living life’?” (Reading interpersonal communication, presentational writing)
Listen to an audio clip about adolescence in danger and read an article about child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and listen to an audio clip about it too. Students will debate the issues behind child soldiers and the reasons they think are causing this phenomena even today. Students will then write a persuasive essay arguing what reasons they believe are behind children joining or being forced into the military in DRC.

Resources:

Written articles:

RFI article about adolescence en danger:

Droits de l’enfance article on RFI:

Jobs for francophone children:

Pictures:

Audio:

RFI adolescence en danger:

Children’s rights RFI radio:

Travail des enfants audio from RFI:

Video clips:

LepetitNicolas

The Class

Unit 3-Personal and Public Identities-Beliefs and value systems

October, November, December

What does society expect from its celebrities?

Introduce essential question and have students answer it. Would a Francophone believe the same thing?(Spoken Interpersonal Communication)
Read and discuss “DSK: Deux Versions S’Opposent” (Written Interpretive Communication; Spoken Interpersonal Communication)
Write a reaction to “DSK”, answer questions, and have a discussion (Written presentational communication; Spoken interpersonal communication)
Watch “DSK” video taking place on Riker’s Island in France. Ask about thoughts and what was understood of video.(Audiovisual Interpretive Communication; Spoken Interpersonal Communication)
Why is DSK in prison? Review the story and the scandale then discuss and share in small groups and then with the class as a whole. (Interpersonal communication)
Analyze different secondary sources in groups. Students must prepare summaries of the different articles and explain what they have read to the class for students to ameliorate their comprehension of the scandal. (Written Interpretive Communication; Spoken interpersonal communication)
Compare the DSK scandal with an American scandal similar to this one (e.g. Weiner) and argue your thoughts and ideas on the subject in a persuasive essay. (Written Interpretive Communitive)
Write an informal letter to the hotel maid imagining you are DSK. Students will have a list of questions assigned by teacher to answer in their letter. (e.g.What would you say? Do you regret your actions? Etc.)(Written interpersonal communication)
Exchange and read letters to DSK written by peers. Then write your response as the hotel maid. What would you have to say to this man? (Written interpersonal communication)
Prepare a speech on whether the actions of DSK represent all famous men and women to be presented to the class. Students will also answer the questions: Do powerful men not have to follow society’s rules? What famous American men are like DSK? Are there many? What are you thoughts on this topic? (Written presentational Communication)

Authentic Materials

Primary Source

Article: «DSK : Deux versions s'opposent» de

Secondary Sources

Vidéos: DSK détenu à Riker’s Island

France 24 Dominique Strauss-Kahn – Le Scandale

(30 minutes – il faut couper/choisir des extraits)

Articles: «Tu sais qui je suis?» et «Affaire DSK: Les soubrettes sont en colère»

«Les avocats de DSK se défendent de vouloir "salir" la plaignante»

Unit 4-Beauty and Aesthetics

January

What is the importance of “solfège” in Francophone culture and how does it compare to American music education to students in elementary to high school?

Show students the definition of solfège from tv5.org and explain what all solfège incorporates. Use wikipédia to give a more explanatory definition.
Discuss the manner/ way of teaching music in the United States versusBelgium (and France). (Spoken interpretive communication).
Show students solfège books and ask students to compare in writing what is taught music-wise to elementary-high school level students in Belgium (and France) versus what is taught in American elementary-high school. (written interpersonal communication)
Discuss the importance of teaching music inBelgium (and France) versus the US. What is the impact on the culture? (New French musicals every year in France, keep singing the same ones in US and rarely come up with a new musical on stage). Listen to musical clips of these musicals and discuss how not only is the music cultural but the theme of the music is often cultural (e.g. Notre Dame de Paris, Le Roi Soleil) (Spoken interpretive communication, listening interpretive communication).
Listen to the “Les Choristes” music cd to compare a French choir with an American choir from youtube. Discuss in small groups which students prefer, what the differences are, etc. (Speak about the importance of singing in solfège) (spoken interpersonal communication)
Write about and later discuss the level of music acquisition in solfège in Francophone schools versus American schools (Solfège is mostly for children in Belgium though there are adult classes. The level of music theory, singing, and dictée learned as a child in France is college level in US for the most part). (written and spoken interpretive communication)
Show a video of a solfège exam and write a persuasive essay for this kind of exam versus a regular American exam.
Discuss and debate which kind of music including choir music is better or preferred American versus Belgian. What is the difference in sound and knowledge required by the singers.

Resources:

Definitions:

solfège exam video clip of Jenna and Anika Hoglen

Video clip from movie-les choristes

Youtube-American choir video clip

Comédies musicales: Le Roi Soleil, Notre Dame de Paris

Solfège music books from Belgium

Unit 5-Science and Technology-Modes of Communications from a Distance and their Evolution

February, March

How has technology changed the way people talk and communicate throughout the years?

Show students a picture of an old printer and have them answer questions about it (Ladd p 110) “What is this machine? When was it invented? How is it used today? Has it been replaced, by what?” (Interpersonal communication)
Discuss how we went from old manual printer to electronic printers and from there how we made it to the Kindle. Literature as a form of communication. Ask students if they read and if they prefer books or Kindles. (Interpretive communication)
Listen to “Il est venu le temps des cathédrales” sung by Bruno Pelletier. In his song Bruno sings about how we are coming into a new century, the 2000s and how poetry and literature are all being replaced. He finishes by saying that this new century is “foutu” doomed since France had it’s golden age and people are slowly moving away from the great things that are literature and so forth. Discuss this song and its meaning with students. Ask them if they agree. (audio interpretive communication, spoken interpretive communication)
Discuss the types of messages literature gives. (Interpretive communication)
Students will write a persuasive essay arguing for the kindle or regular print books and then debate the topic (written and spoken presentational communication)
Listen to RFI radio article and read article page 122 in Lade (2012) textbook and have students write a summary of each and then compare them in a third paragraph (following their summaries). Following this we will have a discussion on what they learned, do they agree with what they heard / read. Teacher will ask multiple choice questions about the Kindle article in Ladd book (page 122). (Listening and written interpretive communication, Interpersonal writing communication, Interpersonal speaking)
Review past, future, and subjunctive verb tenses as students discuss what communication was like in the past and what they expect it to be like in the future. Subjunctive tense is needed when discussing facts, certainties, and uncertainties.
Discuss how communication from a distance went from written to auditory (paper to telephone).
Listen to RFI radio clip on the mobile device. How good or bad is this “tool” really? How is it better than writing a letter?
Students will write a letter to a pen pal asking them about their communication methods when they are far away from the person they wish to communicate with. The teacher will then ask if students prefer to use the phone or write. Do they prefer to receive a call or receive a letter? There will be a discussion followed by a written report students will present to the class. (written interpersonal communication, spoken interpretive communication).
Discussion on whether the cell phone’s bad qualities (e.g. cause of cancer) outway the good listening to audio file from RFI. Was the written word a better and safer mode of communication from a distance? (spoken interpretive communication)
Write a persuasive essay about how communication will change in the future. (written interpersonal communication)

Resources:

Evolution of the telephone:

Books endangered:

Mobiles, bad for you?

Audio: “Il est venu le temps des cathédrales” of Bruno Pelletier

Unit 6-Contemporary Life-Growing Muslim Population in Francophone Countries

April, May

Why is the Muslim population growing in Francophone countries? How is the growth of Muslim populations in Francophone countries affecting Francophone culture?

Discussion about Muslim beliefs and compare to own beliefs.
Learn history of colonization (how North Africans came to France and Belgium) and reasons behind it.
Discuss and learn about Muslim integration into society and changing culture. Compare integration of Muslim culture into Francophone culture to Mexicans coming to U.S.
Show Shariah4Belgium video and talk about different Muslim groups and their beliefs. Discuss how some groups are more extremist than others.
Read passages from Les Français to better comprehend integration of Muslim beliefs into society
Research Muslim population in Francophone countries to see the growth they have made in the last few years. Discuss implications, pros and cons of this.
Compare Muslim population in Francophone countries to that of United States and other countries in class discussion.
Read l’Étranger by Camus or Le Blanc de L’Algérie by Assia Djebar. Discuss Muslim culture and beliefs and how it is or appears to be affecting Francophone culture.
Listen to radio broadcasts discussing growing Muslim population and culture from RTF1 and BBC World News and write own comments on topic.
Watch clips of movie Tamarez et Gomez and discuss the way North African Muslim culture is shown.
Watch videos of recent Muslim activities in Belgium and France including other Francophone countries. See news clips of suicide bombers and other activities that were not prevalent in Francophone countries until recent years and are said to be led by Muslim extremist groups.
List and discuss how Muslim culture has influenced French architecture (mosques, markets…).

Resources:

a)Les Français by Laurence Wylie and Jean-François Brière

b)L’Étranger by Albert Camus or Le Blanc de L’Algérie by Assia Djebar

c)BBC World Briefing and Witness videos, radio, and articles searched June 1, 2012. searched June 1, 2012.

d)Video Tamarez et Gomez

e)ShariahBelgium video from Youtube searched June 1, 2012 searched June 1, 2012

f)Youtube videos of suicide bombers, Muslim growth and beliefs in Belgium searched June 1, 2012 searched June 1, 2012 searched June 1, 2012 searched June 1, 2012 searched June 1, 2012