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Prerequisites
Having
completed at least the "Advanced" sequence of
Georgetown's French curriculum (FREN 101-102 or
111-112), and, preferably (but not necessarily), one
of the "Gateway" courses (FREN 3550 and/or 3551) or,
alternatively, having placed above the "Advanced"
sequence on our placement test.
Preparation
In-class work involves mostly close reading and
discussion of materials, for which you need to prepare
carefully. "Preparing" involves several stages:
- reading/viewing
the assigned materials, making notes on the difficulties
(in language or content matter) you encounter;
- looking
up some words and expressions in a monolingual dictionary
(Robert, Larousse), so as to clarify
the general meaning of the materials (always read/view
over the materials afterwards);
- looking
up notions, names, events and other content items (in the
reference materials on Canvas or other reliable source);
- write
out questions to be brought up in class in order to
elucidate whatever you cannot satisfactorily figure out on
your own;
- prepare
some notes reflecting the results of your research in a
rationally organized fashion: a summary, an outline, a
cognitive map (model, diagram)...
- each
75-minute class session should be matched by about 45
minutes of preparation before class, and another 45
minutes of follow-up work afterwards. Every evening,
review what was done in class that day to verify that you
understand it; if necessary, use books and on-line
resources for clarification. Bring up unresolved items in
class, or discuss them with your instructor during office
hours.
This work must be carried out entirely in French. Translation
to/from English or another language should never be a part
of it at any stage. The instructor will provide
specific strategies on how to function in French without
recourse to translation.
 THIS
IS NOT A "LECTURE COURSE"—YOUR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IS
CRUCIAL
Every
student is expected to be present
for every class. If an absence is anticipated for any
reason, the instructor must be notified beforehand by
e-mail or by phone (ext. 5852). In any case, students are
responsible for finding out what was done or assigned
while they were absent, and for turning in assignments on
time.
Every
student is also expected to be prepared
for every class, that
is, having something definite to say about the assigned
materials (based on research and/or reflection),
and/or questions to ask the intructor, and/or
issues
to raise in class for discussion. Students are mostly
responsible for conducting the readings and analyses.
Finally,
every student is expected to participate in
every class, that is,
speak up in response to prompts by the instructor or to
other students' comments, and volunteer comments without
being prompted (see
also the "Total Commitment
Policy"). Manifest
lack of adequate preparation will result in a reduction of
the portion of the final grade allotted to "Presence,
Preparedness and Participation."
Teaching methodology
This
course involves three different class
formats:
• Lectures by the teacher on the themes listed below.
Taking
notes efficiently is part of your work in this class, as
your instructor will provide original insights not
available from the text or any other source. If you are
unsure about note-taking strategies, consult with the
Writing Center. (http://writingcenter.georgetown.edu).
• Collective analysis and discussion of documents
(texts, images, film excerpts) assigned as homework or
presented in class;
• Student Oral Class Presentations (Exposés).
In class, some of the work may be
conducted in small groups; you will also have to prepare
short individual analyses at home, from which you may have
to deliver brief in-class presentations. These will not be
graded as such, but your involvement will influence your
participation grade.
In
order to study language phenomena in the most concrete way
possible, we will spend much of our time working with
documents where the various theories and models discussed in
the reading selections are exemplified. When examining
documents, we will follow a methodical approach which is an
important learning objective of the course. This involves
three main stages to be completed in sequence: description
of the corpus (what is it?), analysis of the
linguistic and semiotic phenomena involved in producing and
conveying a message (how does it work?), and tentative
interpretation of the message (what does it mean?).
In so doing , you will acquire a solid methodology for
considering all available evidence, asking relevant questions,
formulating a problem, devising hypotheses and proposing
solutions and possible interpretations.
•
Attendance
and Punctuality
Every
student is expected to be present for every class and
arrive on time (repeated tardiness will be penalized).
If an absence is anticipated, the instructor must be
notified beforehand by e-mail or by text message (571)
277-7421 (also Signal and WhatsApp).
An absence may be "excused" if it was
caused by an unforeseen event or accident that made it
impossible or extremely difficult for a student to
attend class, and which can be documented. If you feel
sick enough to miss class, then you should also seek
medical attention and obtain a certificate from the
health care provider who treated you. If you suffer
from a chronic mental or physical condition that
occasionally flares up to the point of incapacitating
you, you need to be registered with the University
health services in order to be granted accommodations.
A student who was absent
(justifiably or not) remains responsible for finding
out what was done or assigned during the missed
class(es), and for turning in assignments on time.
Unjustified absences will result in a reduction of the
portion of the final grade allotted to "Presence,
Preparedness and Participation."
You must come to class prepared by having
completed readings and other assignments as indicated
by the instructor, in an appropriate manner (see the "Total
Commitment Policy"). Manifest lack of adequate
preparation and voluntary participation (i.e., without
being individually called upon) will result in a
reduction of the portion of the final grade allotted
to "Presence, Preparedness and Participation."
•
Deadlines
A
deadline indicates the absolute last day and time when
assignments should be turned in. Unless otherwise specified,
the cut-off time is the end of class on the day of the
deadline, whether you bring in a hard copy of your paper or
e-mail it. It is not advisable to start working on an
assignment on the day it is due. Give yourself enough time
to allow for unforeseen delays or problems (printer running
out of ink, e-mail bugs, network access down, etc), which
cannot be used as excuses for not meeting a deadline.
Acceptable excuses are acts of God, system-wide server
outages and documented medical emergencies.
• Continuity
As a rule, this class will follow official university
guidelines as to whether sessions are to be held in a physical
classroom or remotely. Circumstances may lead to the following
alternate formats:
— Class is held in a physical
classroom and in the presence of all involved (default
setting)
—
Class is held in a physical
classroom and in the presence of some of the students, while
others attend through videoconferencing
(in
case they are ill with severe symptoms that make active
participation impossible—this must be documented and the
teacher must be notified at least two hours before class
starts).
—
Class is held in a in
a physical classroom and in the presence of students, and is
recorded (in
case some students are ill with severe symptoms that make
active participation impossible—this must be documented
and the teacher must be notified at least two hours before
class starts)
— Class is held exclusively through
videoconferencing (it will be announced ahead of time)
— Exceptionally, instruction may be provided as a recorded
lecture available on line on the day of a schedule live
session (it
will be announced ahead of time).
THIS
IS A FRENCH IMMERSION CLASS! NO ENGLISH WILL BE USED OR
TOLERATED
For greater authenticity, we will only use
materials originally produced for a French speaking public:
Only purely administrative matters (such as this syllabus)
will be handled in English. In all other circumstances,
including discussion and critique of your work in class or
during office hours, French will be used exclusively orally
and in writing, by you and by the instructor. You will never
be asked (with rare, very precise exceptions) to translate
anything, nor are you expected to use translation ever as a
means to accomplish your work in this class. NO BILINGUAL
DICTIONARIES ARE ALLOWED IN CLASS. Use of a monolingual
dictionary is strongly encouraged, however.
•
Attitude and Behavior
This is a class held in a university classroom. It
is not a meeting of a book club at a local library branch; it
is not a game in a stadium or a workout at the gym; it is not
a get together at someone's home or a pajama party in your
dorm room; it is not a luau at the beach. Please dress and
behave accordingly!
Namely:
When class is held in
person
- No eating or snacking during class (drinking is OK)
- Cell phones, smartphones and other mobile communication
devices must me turned off and stored away in a pocket or a
bag (except for emergency situations, with prior notification
to the instructor)
- No chit-chat unrelated to class matters
- Use of computers is class is strictly limited to working on
relevant tasks matters. Anyone caught using a computer in
class for anything else (checking e-mail, Facebook status,
stock prices, playing games) will be issued a warning the
first time, and, the second time, banned from using a computer
in class altogether for the rest of the term.
When
class is held remotely through videoconferencing
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Log on and be ready to be admitted by the set time (I activate
the waiting room function for classes).
- Your camera must be turned on for the duration of the class.
If for some overwhelming reason you must turn it off, you may
do so for a maximum of three minutes. Any longer interruption
will be treated as an absence.
- In case of a technical interruption beyond your control, let
me know ASAP that you have been cut off—you may text me at
(571) 277-7421—and try to reconnect as quickly as you can.
- Your audio must be off unless you are talking. However,
always remain ready to go on as I may call on you at any time.
- Preferably use the "raise hand" function of the software to
intervene; you may also raise your actual hand (when there are
fewer than 12 students in the class)
•
Honor
system
All
aspects of this class fall under Georgetown University's
honor system. If you are not thoroughly familiar with
its provisions, please review them at http://honorcouncil.georgetown.edu/system/policies.
A point of particular concern is using source material
appropriately and avoiding plagiarism:
"Plagiarism, in any of its forms, and whether
intentional or unintentional, violates standards of
academic integrity. Plagiarism is the act of passing off
as one’s own the ideas or writings of another (…). While
different academic disciplines have different modes for
attributing credit, all recognize and value the
contributions of individuals to the general corpus of
knowledge and expertise. Students are
responsible for educating themselves as to the proper
mode of attributing credit in any course or field.
(…) Note that plagiarism can be said to have occurred
without any affirmative showing that a student’s use of
another’s work was intentional.
•
Diversity
and scientific integrity
This class welcomes a diversity of
approaches to the topic, materials and methods
involved. Debate
and disagreement are considered an integral
part of the process of scientific inquiry,
as long as scientific
integrity remains the most important value in what we
say and write; this means that all claims and
propositions must be supported by evidence or
creditable scholarly sources, i.e., not manifestly
rooted in opinion, faith or ideology. If and when
their opinion is solicited, students are
welcome to express whatever point of view they happen
to hold, even if does not align with that of the
teacher or their classmates.
TOP OF
PAGE
Writing /
Paper Rules
Specific
objectives, principles and guidelines for each writing format
will be discussed in class and in e-mail messages. Your papers
will
be marked up, and possibly given a provisional grade and
handed back for rewriting. The rewritten paper will receive a
higher grade only if significantly improved, and with a
maximum of one letter-grade increase from the provisional
grade (e.g., from B- to A-, or from C+ to B+). Any further
rewrites will be graded according to the same principle. Note:
an "F" on a first draft cannot yield a final grade higher than
a "C". A coding system
will help you identify and correct problems in your writing.
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All
writing assignments completed outside of class must be
composed with a word-processing software and you should
always keep a back-up copy. They must
be submitted electronically as e-mail attachments to spielmag@georgetown.edu
in <.doc>, <.docx> or <.rtf> format—when
you save your document, make sure that the software
(especially MS Word) does
not automatically save it as anything else than a text
document. Note that MS Word may save a Windows Media
document with a <.doc> extension.
Name
the file beginning with "FR291", then your last name and a
paper code as follows:
-- Expo for the outline of your presentation (e.g.
<FR291SmithExpo.doc>)
-- AP0, AP1, AP2 for the three
versions of the self-portrait (e.g.
<FR291SmithAP1.doc>)
-- Pub1, Pub2 for the analysis of the
print ad, versions 1 and 2
See the instructor if you are unsure about text formats,
sending attachments, or if there is a reason why you wish
to submit your work in printed rather than electronic
format.
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Every
paper should bear the number of the
course (FREN 3995), the name of the author, the date
and a draft number (1, 2, 3)
- Revisions
may result in a one-increment grade increase, e.g. from B-
to A- if revisions are fully satisfactory. Note: an "F" on a
first draft cannot yield a final grade higher than a "C."
- Use
plain fonts like Times Roman or Geneva, in size 12.
Double-space your text, leaving 1-inch margins on all sides.
- All
standard French diacritical marks must be used: accents (é,
è, ê, ë, ù, à, û, ï) cedillas on ç and Ç, guillemets («
...»), superscripts (XVIe siècle).
- Division
into paragraphs must be consistent with the content, and the
first line of each paragraph must be tabulated on the left.
Texts
There is no
textbook to purchase for this class. In addition to
proprietary on-line course materials developed by Dr.
Spielmann, excerpts from two books have been placed on Canvas.
Note:
Unless specifically indicated by the professor, there are
no assigned readings for any particular class. However,
the readings outlined below must be completed as
quickly as possible to provide the necessary background to
class activities, which mostly consist of document
analysis and discussion. These readings are also helpful
in completing homework assignments.
Jacques
Lerot, Précis de linguistique générale.
Paris, Minuit, 1993. This is a reference book
that provides definitions and detailed explanations related
to all aspects of the language sciences. Use the index to
locate passages relevant to specific notions and issues
discussed in class.
Marina Yaguello, Catalogue des idées reçues sur la
langue. Paris, Seuil, coll. «Point Virgule»,
1988. Organized in short, very readable chapters, this book
exposes some of the most commonly-held misconceptions about
language. «Entre la nature et la culture», p. 19-22; «Le Don
des langues», p. 29-32; «Le Multiple dans l'unique», p.
33-38; «Avé l'assen», p. 39-42; «L'Arbre des langues», p.
53-61; «Au commencement était le verbe», p. 69-73; «Moi,
j'ai jamais fait de grammaire», p. 75-79; «Ce n'est pas dans
les dictionnaire!», p. 85-90.
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Readings
from books, downloadable from Canvas |
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Materials
available on line only |
Structure
This course is
articulated in three main parts, subdivided into smaller
units.
0. Introduction
(session 0)
1.
Communication Communiquer
(sessions
1-9)
A)
What is communication? (sessions
2-3)
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Spielmann,
Introduction
à la communication: définitions
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Yaguello
1, «Le
Sentiment de la langue», p. 11-14. Lerot,
Ch. IV, 5 («Les disciplines linguistiques»), p.
98-107 dans Lerot1.pdf
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B)
Conversation for starters (sessions 4-5)
Communication is often
described as the primary function of human languages; yet,
most if not all communication involves a number of different
codes which can be purely linguistic (syntax,
morphology, phonology), para-linguistic (prosody, pragmatic
and communicative strategies), or non-linguistic, such as
the use of distance, gestures, etc. In addition, images,
colors, sounds, textures, even smells and tastes are used
communication in non-linguistic codes.
We will begin with the most
common and mundane situation, "conversation," i.e.
synchronous face-to-face verbal-dominant communication, that
we will study through short filmed sequences involving
French native speakers. You will learn how to
analyze a language sample in context, in order to
distinguish the various parameters that contribute to the
creation, negotiation and exchange of meaning. We will
examine how such empirical data supports—or fails to support—theoretical
models of communication.
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DANS LA
PEAU DES FRANÇAIS.
Videotaped dialogues between two young people - used
in class as sample |
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PLUS
BELLE LA VIE.
Video (Season 1 streamed on Canvas). France's
favorite sitcom provides excellent samples of
informal conversation between native speakers.
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Spielmann,
Introduction
à la communication: paramètres de
la conversation face à face. |
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Lerot,
Ch. II, 1 («La Communication verbale»), p. 30-37.;
Ch. II, 7 («Les Bases de connaissance»), p. 49-53;
Ch. II, 8 («Le Processus d'interprétation»), p.
53-58; Ch. II, 9 («La Convivialité des échanges»),
p. 58-60 dans Lerot1.pdf
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SIGN
UP FOR CLASS PRESENTATIONS : analysis of a
sequence from Plus belle la vie (a detailed
outline in writing must be handed in)
See instructions at comm/plusbelle.htm
Also see on Canvas additional background materials on
Plus belle la vie
- Test
1 –
Communication
and
Conversation basics (Thursday,
September 19) on
Canvas
C) Code
and system (sessions 7-8)
In the course
of studying verbal, face-to-face communication, we come
across various codes: spoken language (speech),
gestures and postures (kinesics), use of space
(proxemics), styles of dress, social norms and others. A
code is a system: a coherent set of elements
(units) bound by certain relations, for a specific purpose
(in this case, expressing and conveying meaning).
Identifying and understanding what a system is and how it
works allows us to understand and analyze precisely what
goes on in the process of communication.
- OUTLINE
OF COMMUNICATIVE SELF-PORTRAIT due on Saturday,
September 28 @ 10:00 am
See instructions at comm/portrait.htm
D)
Linguistic building blocks: signs (sessions 9-10)
Most modern theories
of signification are derived from a linguistic model first
established by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in the
early 20th century. Saussure's work focused on analyzing
"linguistic signs," i.e. the units of language considered as
a system. It is indispensable to be familiar with this
model, as well as of others which have been developed since
(Peirce, Ogden and Richards, Hjelmslev) in order to better
understand how linguistics seeks to break down the complex
reality of language into relatively simple building blocks
and mechanisms. The field of semiotics
(the "science of signs") has extended these principles to all
systems that can be used to express or convey meaning
through images and sounds, and, to a lesser degree,
textures, smells and tastes.
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Spielmann,
Théories
du signe
(text and models). |
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Lerot,
Ch. III, 2 («Le Signe linguistique»), p. 67-69 dans
Lerot1.pdf |
- TEST
2 – Communicative situations – TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 8 / Debriefing on Thursday, Oct. 10
- ORAL
PRESENTATIONS ON CONVERSATIONS FROM PLUS BELLE LA
VIE on Tuesday,
October 15 (session 13)
and Thursday
October 17 (session 14)
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