French Department

French Department

Senior Sophister Handbook
2015–2016

13

This Handbook should be read in conjunction with relevant entries in the University Calendar. In case of any conflict between the Handbook and the Calendar, the provisions of the Calendar shall apply. Copies of the University Calendar can be purchased, consulted in the Library, or on the web:

http://www.tcd.ie/calendar/

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General Information ………………………………………………………… Page 3

Senior Sophister Requirements and Assessment Procedures ………… Page 7

Overall Assessment………………………………………………………….. Page 9

ECTS ……………. …………………………………………………………… Page 10

Examination Procedures …………………………………………………… Page 11

Essay Writing & Writing in French ………………………………………… Page 14

Books………………………………………………………………………… Page 16

Senior Sophister Modules:

Language ……………….…………………………………………… Page 17

Topics ………………………………………………………………… Page 19

Special Subjects (Dissertation)…………………………………….. Page 26

Plagiarism ……………………………………………………………… Page 27

Important Calendar Regulations…………………………………………… Page 33

GENERAL INFORMATION

This handbook applies to all students taking Senior Sophister Two-Subject Moderatorship French. It provides a guide to what is expected of you on this programme, and the academic and personal support available to you. Please retain for future reference.

The information provided in this handbook is accurate at time of preparation. Any necessary revisions will be notified to students via College e-mail and the Department notice board: be sure to consult both regularly. Please note that, in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the General Regulations published in the University Calendar and information contained in course handbooks, the provisions of the General Regulations will prevail.

The Department of French is part of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural studies. Trinity College College has the world's oldest tradition of modern language studies, with chairs dating back to 1776. Today the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies combines the strengths of this tradition in a group of established Departments which between them teach almost a dozen languages at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The School's research in literary, language and cultural studies ranges from the medieval to the very contemporary. The Head of School is Professor Juergen Barkhoff and the School is part of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. For further information, consult: http://www.tcd.ie/langs-lits-cultures/ .

LECTURING STAFF

Individual telephones can be accessed from outside College by pre-fixing (01) 896.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Department of French Staff 2015-2016

Language Assistants

Cauvin, Lisa

Joly, Louise

Loiez, Thibaut

Saade, Maya

Traschler, Virginie

Departmental Offices

Term Dates

Michaelmas Term:

Monday 28 September 2015 – Friday 18 December 2015

Hilary Term:

Monday 18 January 2016 – Friday 8 April 2016

Trinity Term:

Revision period: Monday 11 April 2016 – Friday 29 April 2016

Examination period: Tuesday 3 May 2016 – Friday 27 May 2016

SENIOR SOPHISTER REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES

Please keep this document for reference

French Senior Sophister Year Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the programme, students will be able to:

·  communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing, in English and French, with native speakers in academic, professional and social settings,

·  organize and present ideas in English and French, within the framework of a structured and reasoned argument, oral or written,

·  demonstrate a broad knowledge of the historical, social and cultural development of France and French speaking countries,

·  analyze critically and independently, in English and French, a variety of texts and documents from different periods and sources,

·  demonstrate an ability to use specific disciplines such as linguistics, literature, ideas and culture to analyze and contextualize texts, other documents, concepts and theories,

·  translate a range of texts to and from French, with accuracy, consistency and appropriateness of register and expression,

·  identify original research questions in one of the fields of linguistics, literature, ideas and culture and select and use appropriate methodologies and relevant resources, leading to the writing of a dissertation

·  mobilize the knowledge, strategies and skills needed for further intellectual development and independent, life-long learning as well as for undertaking further, autonomous study.

The requirements for Senior Sophister students in TSM French in 2015-16 are as follows:

1. Language: All students are required to attend language classes, and submit regular written work.

2. Topics: Students select two Topics from the range offered. All choices are subject to availability, to timetable constraints and to the approval of the Head of Department. For details of courses, see list below. One assessment essay counting toward the overall final mark must be submitted in respect of each topic.

Length: 2,500 words

Submission dates:

Essay 1: by 12pm on first day of HT (Monday 18 January 2016)

Essay 2: by 12pm on Tuesday 29 March 2016

One essay shall be in English and the other in French. Each of the essays furnishes 50% of the overall mark for each topic. The examination furnishes the remaining 50%.

3. Special Subject Dissertation: Each student selects a special subject of his or her own choice, in consultation with an appropriate member of staff. Please note that members of staff are instructed not to accept more than their quota of supervises, and the fact that a student wishes to be supervised by a member of staff does not guarantee that the member of staff will be able or willing to act. It would obviously be prudent to consult with the supervisor of your choice at an early stage. The candidate's work on this special subject is to be embodied in a dissertation of 9,000 to 12,000 words, to be written in English or French, or in an alternative piece of submitted work of a different nature but of comparable substance, to be submitted in either case by Dissertation: by 12pm Monday 7 March 2016. A computer-generated word-count must be included on the title page of your submitted dissertation. Please note that, if you exceed the set word-limit, your dissertation will be returned with an instruction to reduce the length appropriately. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure (s)he maintains adequate contact with her/his supervisor, who will provide guidance on how to improve content. Students should also ensure that they receive a copy of the Departmental document which provides essential notes on preparation and presentation of dissertations.

4. Residence Abroad Requirements[1]:

Students taking one or more modern languages other than English must spend not less than two months in the country of each language in order to fulfill the requirements of their course; students of Irish must spend at least the same amount of time in the Gaeltacht. The residence required for each language MUST BE COMPLETED before the moderatorship examination in that language. Students who fail to meet this requirement will have their Moderatorship exam results witheld. This requirement can be waived only in exceptional circumstances and with the prior approval of the schools or departments concerned.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

The assessment for Moderatorship Part II for 2015-16 is set out below. The value of each of the six components in respect of calculating the overall mark for the SS year is proportionate to its ECTS weighting (i.e. each block of 10 ECTS provides one sixth of the marks making up the overall mark for the SS year).

FR4032 Prose (translation English to French) (2 hour exam)

Résumé (2 hour exam)

(10 credits)

FR4034 Essay and Translation (French to English) (3 hour exam) (10 credits)

FR4033 Oral (half an hour exam: 15 minutes presenting on one of two titles submitted by the student a month beforehand and fifteen minutes talking about the dissertation)

(10 credits)

FR4060 Dissertation (10 credits)

FR40XX Topic (one assessment essay and one three hour exam, equal weighting) (10 credits)

FR40XX Topic (one assessment essay and one three hour exam, equal weighting) (10 credits)

Finally, the overall percentage mark for the SS year (Mod Part II) is then combined with the overall percentage mark carried forward from the JS year (Mod Part I) examinations to produce a final mark out of 1000 (the remaining 500/1000 being allotted to the Minor subject).

Candidates are reminded that they must satisfy the examiners in respect of the written language assessment as a whole (components 1, 2 and 3 above) by achieving an average of 40/100, or better).

The oral examination takes place in the presence of an extern examiner. As part of this examination, candidates will be required to deliver an oral exposé on one of two subjects chosen by the candidate, and approved in advance. The examination is followed immediately by discussion, also in French, of the candidate’s dissertation, which may result in a modification of the provisional mark given.

Students are required to submit two term essays during the year, one per topic and one of which must be written in French. Students may decide which topic their essay may be written on for each term (e.g. a student may submit a MT essay for Topic 1 in French and a HT essay for Topic 2 in English.)

Candidates should note that, following comments from external examiners concerning an unduly narrow focus of study in some instances, all ‘Topic’ papers will carry the rubric that candidates should avoid substantial overlap with (a) answers on the same paper and (b) dissertation subjects.

WHAT IS ECTS?

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is an academic credit system based on the estimated student workload required to achieve the objectives of a module or programme of study. It is designed to enable academic recognition for periods of study, to facilitate student mobility and credit accumulation and transfer. The ECTS is the recommended credit system for higher education in Ireland and across the European Higher Education Area.

The ECTS weighting for a module is a measure of the student input or workload required for that module, based on factors such as the number of contact hours, the number and length of written or verbally presented assessment exercises, class preparation and private study time, laboratory classes, examinations, clinical attendance, professional training placements, and so on as appropriate. There is no intrinsic relationship between the credit volume of a module and its level of difficulty.

The European norm for full-time study over one academic year is 60 credits. The Trinity academic year is 40 weeks from the start of Michaelmas Term to the end of the annual examination period. 1 ECTS credit represents 20-25 hours estimated student input, so a 10-credit module will be designed to require 200-250 hours of student input including class contact time and assessments.

ECTS credits are awarded to a student only upon successful completion of the course year. Progression from one year to the next is determined by the course regulations. Students who fail a year of their course will not obtain credit for that year even if they have passed certain component courses. Exceptions to this rule are one-year and part-year visiting students, who are awarded credit for individual modules successfully completed.

EXAMINATION PROCEDURES

1)  Examination papers and assessment essays will be set and marked according to the agreed procedures of the Department. In the case of Moderatorship (or degree) examinations, papers will be submitted to extern examiners for comment prior to submission to the Senior Lecturer’s office.

2)  Sophister language papers and all Moderatorship part II papers will be double-marked.

3)  For each year or course, a Chief Examiner will be appointed to co-ordinate the running of the examinations, return marks, and provide relevant information to candidates. The Chief Examiner shall, in agreement with the Head of Department, convene an examiners’ meeting to review and finalize marks, in the presence of extern examiners where a Moderatorship examination is concerned. In the case of interdisciplinary courses (ES, CSLL) the only function of the French Department meeting is to return a mark to the relevant course co-ordinating committee.

4)  The criteria according to which papers will be assessed will be included in the Department’s Handbooks and circulated to students.

5)  In the first instance, calculations of results will be mathematical based on the university’s general scheme (or reductions or multiples thereof):

Fail 2 extremely weak 0 - 29%

Fail 1 weak 30 - 39%

Third adequate 40 - 49%

Lower Second quite good 50 - 59%

Upper Second good 60 - 69%

First excellent 70 - 100%

Where, in the case of an individual course, a scheme other than the one outlined above is in use, the Department will make returns according to that convention. Where the course requires a mark out of more than 100 to be returned, the Department will use that convention to make a return. The Department will ensure through its Handbooks or otherwise that candidates for examinations are aware of the weighting of the respective components, and where questions on a given paper are not equally weighted, the rubric shall indicate the weighting of the components within the paper.

6)  When the Department examiners’ meeting has had an opportunity to take cognisance of the mathematically derived marks, it may consider the spread of marks, the balance between marks of different classes (see 5 above) and take into account the possible implications of a given return. It may moderate individual marks. It will pay particular attention to marks close to a class border (i.e. marks where a slightly higher mark would result in the student being returned in another class). It shall pay special attention to ensuring that the moderation of an individual mark or overall return does not create inequalities or anomalies by promoting a student with a lower mathematically derived mark above a student who had achieved a higher mathematically derived mark, except where the spread of marks provides a justification for so doing.