01:420:137 (4 credits)

Accelerated Intermediate French

Pre-requisite: 420:102 or 121 and permission of department
Co-requisite: 420:133 (1 credit)
This accelerated one-semester intermediate course is designed for students who have attained
a significantly higher-than-average level of proficiency in 101-102 or 121 and who are strongly
motivated to make rapid progress in the study of French. Successful completion of this intensive
course will allow students to advance to 200-level French courses immediately, thereby making
it possible for students with little or no prior experience of French to major in the field.
Course description:
This course aims to develop more fluent communication in French through a thorough review
and interactive practice of language structures. Extensive reading and writing assignments help
students develop analytical and critical thinking skills. Aspects of French literature, history,
culture, and contemporary life will be introduced through readings, films, video, and listening
materials. In addition, the use of internet and computer-aided activities will be employed to
further improve students cultural competence. Concurrent with 137, students must take the onecredit course Intermediate lab (133), which is designed to improve their communications
skills.
Learning goals:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Comprehend spoken French with sufficient ability to grasp the main idea and some
supporting details in extended conversations and recorded audiovisual materials.
2. Speak French with greater accuracy using major time frames, discuss personal and social
topics with grammatical accuracy,ask and answer questions about a variety of topics.
This course will provide students with sufficient language practice to enable them to
become solid intermediate-level speakers of French (intermediate-high) as defined by the
ACTFL Guidelines.
3. Read and understand the main ideas expressed in literary texts from different genres, and
gain a greater awareness of Francophone cultures.
4. Write longer and more cohesive paragraphs than in French 102 or 121.
Required Materials:
Interaction: Langue et culture. Susan St. Onge & Ronald St. Onge. Cengage, 8th Ed. 2011
Interaction Workbook / Lab Manual. Susan St. Onge & Ronald St. Onge, Cengage 8th Ed. 2011
Robert & Collins French-English / English-French Dictionary
Additional materials will be posted weekly on Sakai.

Grade Distribution:
Exam 1 = 10%
Exam 2 =10%
Final Exam= 20%
Quizzes + Compositions = 30%
Homework + Lab = 15%
Attendance and Participation = 15%
COURSE OUTLINE
WEEKS 1-2: LE COMMERCE ET LA CONSOMMATION
Structures: present tense of regular -er verbs, stem-changing -er verb, imperative, irregular
verbs, nouns, articles.
Readings: Phillipe Delerm: Le croissant du trottoir (extrait) St. Onge 30-32
Texte de culture contemporaine: Document de l'Institut acadien de biotechnologie.
St. Onge 33-34
WEEK 3: MODES DE VIE
Structures: regular -ir and -re verbs, negation, basic question patterns, reflexive and reciprocal
verbs, idioms with tre and avoir, depuis + present tense
Readings: Annie Ernaux: Les Armoires vides (extrait) St. Onge 66-68
Texte de culture contemporaine: Je m'en vais! St. Onge 69-70
Film : Le Got des autres
WEEKS 4-5: LA VIE DES JEUNES
Structures: irregular -ir verbs, descriptive adjectives, il / elle est and c'est, possessive and
demonstrative adjectives, adverbs, comparative and superlative of adjectives/ adverbs, numbers
Readings: Arthur Rimbaud: Roman (pome) St. Onge 110-112
Texte de culture contemporaine: Coup de blues. St. Onge 113-114
WEEKS 6-7: LES TLCOMMUNICATIONS
Structures: pass compos with avoir and tre, irregular -oire, -re verbs, basic question patterns
and placement of adverbs with the pass compos
Readings: Jean Philippe Toussaint: La Tlvision (extrait). St. Onge 148-150
Texte de culture contemporaine: Simple comme un clic? St. Onge 151-152
WEEK 8: LA PRESSE ET LE MESSAGE
Structures: choosing past tenses, imparfait and plus-que-parfait
Readings: Guy de Maupassant: Bel-Ami (extrait). St. Onge 184-186
Texte de culture contemporaine: Kiosquier et Philosophe. St. Onge 187-188

WEEKS 9-10: LE MOT ET LIMAGE

Structures: interrogative adverbs and pronouns, expressing time, quel and lequel
Readings: Franois Truffaut: Donner du plaisir ou le plaisir du cinma, Le plaisir des yeux
(extrait). St. Onge 218-221
Texte de culture contemporaine: La Ville lumire se met en scne. St. Onge 222-223
Film: Franois Truffaut: une autobiographie (Anne Andreu)
WEEK 11: LES TRANSPORTS ET LA TECHNOLOGIE
Structures: object pronouns, disjunctive pronouns, possessive and demonstrative pronouns.
Readings: Pierre Boulle: La Plante des singes (extrait). St. Onge 258-261
Texte de culture contemporaine: Lavion du futur ne fait pas rver. St. Onge 262-263
WEEKS 12-13: LES UNIVERSITS
Structures: present and past subjunctive
Readings: Guy Tirolien: Prire dun petit enfant ngre (pome). Onges 304-306
Texte de culture contemporaine : les Centres de Formation des apprentis. St. Onge
307
Film: LAuberge Espagnole (Cedric Klapisch)
WEEK 14: LA FRANCOPHONIE
Structures: present participle, prepositions with infinitives, other uses of prepositions, relative
pronouns
Readings: Tahar Ben Jelloun: Interview with Le Monde; L'Enfant de sable (extrait). St. Onge
340-344
Texte de culture contemporaine: le Canada: la francophonie. St. Onge 345-348
Film: La Promesse (Luc Dardenne)
WEEKS 15: DCOUVRIR ET SE DCOUVRIR
Structures: future and the future perfect, present and past conditional, literary tenses
Readings: Charles Baudelaire: L'Invitation au voyage. St. Onge 380-383
Texte de culture contemporaine: Comment dtecter les extraterrestres. St. Onge 384386
Film: Tableau Ferraille (Moussa Sene Absa)

FRENCH 137
Accelerated Intermediate French
SYLLABUS
FALL 2010
Interaction: Langue et culture. Susan St. Onge & Ronald St. Onge. Cengage 8th Edition 2011.
Interaction Workbook / Lab Manual/ Quia access Webcard. Cengage 8th Edition 2011.
Student Companion site: http://interaction.cengage.com
WEEK
(OF)

8/30

CHAPTERS/
THEMES

READINGS

Le croissant du trottoir
(St Onge 30-32)

Le commerce et la
consommation

1
9/6

Le commerce et la
consommation

9/13

Modes de vie

9/20

La vie des jeunes

9/27

La vie des jeunes

10/4

Tlcommunications

10/11

Tlcommunications

10/18

La presse et le
message

10/25

Le mot et limage

3
3

4
4
5

TESTS/
COMPOSITIONS

LAB/FILM/VIDEO
MODULE (VM)*

Lab Orientation
Interaction Video
Module (*IVM)
IVM segment #1
Film : le got des
autres

La biotechnologie (St
Onge 33-34)

Composition #1

Les armoires vides (St

Onge 66-68)
Je m'en vais! (St Onge
69-70)

Quiz chapter 1

IVM #2
Chapter 1 Lab due
Film : le got des
autres

Roman (St Onge 110112)

Quiz chapter 2

IVM #3
Chapter 2 Lab due

Coup de blues (St

Onge113-114)

Exam
(Chapters 1-3)

La tlvision (St Onge

148-150)

Composition #2

IVM #4
Chapter 3 Lab due

Simple comme un clic?

(St Onge 151-15)

Quiz: chapter 4

Bel-Ami (St Onge184186)

Kiosquier et
Philosophe (St Onge
187-188)

Composition #3

IVM #5
Chapter 4 Lab due

Donner du plaisir ou le
plaisir du cinma, Le
plaisir des yeux (St
Onge 218-221)

Quiz: Chapter 5

IVM #6
Film : Truffaut

6
11/1

Le mot et limage

11/8

Les transports et la
technologie

11/15

Les universits

11/22

Les universits

11/29

La francophonie

12/6

Dcouvrir et se
dcouvrir

12/13

Dcouvrir et se
dcouvrir

10

10

La ville lumire se met

en scne (St Onge 222223)
La plante des singes
(St Onge 258-261)
Lavion du futur ne fait
pas rver (St Onge
262-263)
Prire d'un petit enfant
ngre (St Onge 304306)
Les Centres de
Formation des
apprentis (St Onge
307)
Interview :Enfant de
sable (St Onge 340344)
le Canada: la
francophonie. (Onge
345-348)
L'Invitation au voyage
(St Onge 380-383)
Comment dtecter les
extraterrestres (St
Onge 384-386)

Chapter 5 Lab due

Film : Truffaut
Exam
(Chapters 4-6)

IVM #7
Film : LAuberge
Espagnole

Composition #4

IVM #8
Chapter 7 Lab due
Film : LAuberge
Espagnole
Film: La promesse

Quiz Chapters
7-8
IVM #9
Chapter 8 Lab due
Film: La promesse

Composition #5

Final Exam

IVM #10
Chapter 9 Lab due
Film : Tableau
Ferraille
Chapter 10 Lab due
Film : Tableau
Ferraille

*IVM= Interaction video to be presented in class during weeks indicated.

* Films will be available at the language lab and should be viewed prior to class

Course Requirements
French is the language of instruction in this course and the use of English will be kept to a
minimum.
Grade distribution: 1st Exam = 10%; 2nd Exam=10%; Final = 20%; Quizzes + Compositions
= 30%; Homework + Lab = 15%; Attendance and Participation = 15%.
Grading scale : 92-100 =A; 88-91 =B+; 82-87 =B; 77-81 =C+; 70-76 =C; 60-69 =D; below 60 =
F
Attendance is mandatory. Attendance and participation are essential components of the course.
The more absences you have, the more your final grade will be lowered. If it is necessary for you
to be absent from class, it is your responsibility to get the homework assignment from either the
instructor or from Sakai. Make a constant effort to participate in each class. The classroom, not
the textbook, is the primary focus for all language courses. Your participation will be evaluated
by your instructor and will enhance your progress in the course.
Workbook/Lab activities. Your instructor will post class assignments on Sakai. Do these
exercises regularly as they are assigned and follow instructions carefully. Each exercise has been
designed to give you practice in using specific French structures. You homework grade is based
on both the completion and the quality of your work. Late homework will incur a grade penalty
of half credit on the total earned score. Lab work is a mandatory part of the course. All audio,
video, and computer assignments must be handed in on time. You should spend as much time in
the lab as you need in order to complete your assignments properly. The College Ave. Lab is in
the CAC Language Laboratory/Language Institute Bldg., Room 119; the Douglass Lab is in the
Ruth Adams Bldg., Room 102, and the Livingston Lab is in Tillett Hall, Room 202. For the
Language Labs schedule, please click here
Readings. You should prepare the reading selections noted on the syllabus for the indicated date.
In class, we will put into practice the grammar points and discuss the literary readings that you
will have already familiarized yourself with at home. You will also participate weekly in the
class Blog to discuss the readings.
Quizzes. After the completion of each chapter, a quiz will be given in class as indicated on the
syllabus. Missed quizzes cannot be made up. The grade for a missed quiz is a '0'. However, the
lowest quiz grade may be dropped when the final course grade is calculated.
Compositions. 5 compositions will be assigned during the semester as indicated on the syllabus.
They must be typed and double-spaced. You will write a final composition developing two drafts
and a final version.
Exams. Every student is required to take the examinations at the time and location schedule.
Department policy and exam security require that under no circumstances will a make-up be
given prior to the scheduled exam. Students with conflicts in their exam schedules (i.e. another
class or exam a students employment schedule is not an excused conflict) must write up the

specific details of their situation, including course, section, instructor, PO address (or home
address), phone number, and student ID number and give it to their instructor. Attendance at
make-up is by department permission only and must be limited to the reason cited above.
The French conversation group meets weekly at the Language Institute. Registration is not
required. Ask your instructor for details. The fall schedule will be posted on this site:
http://languageinstitute.rutgers.edu/conversation2.htm
Academic Integrity: all students must strictly adhere to the Rutgers Academic Integrity
Policy. Read carefully the University's policies and procedures regarding academic integrity and
students responsibility: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml
Rutgers University abides by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Americans with
Disabilities Act Amendments (ADAA) of 2008, and Sections 504 and 508 which mandate
reasonable accommodations be provided for qualified students with disabilities and accessibility
of online information. If you have a disability and may require some type of instructional and/or
examination accommodation, please contact your instructor early in the semester so that he/she
can provide or facilitate in providing accommodations you may need. If you have not already
done so, you will need to register with the Office of Disability Services, the designated office on
campus to provide services and administer exams with accommodations for students with
disabilities. The Office of Disability Services is located in the Kreeger Learning Center, 151
College Ave, (732)932-2848.