FREN401-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025

Advanced French Seminar

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 14 July 2025
End Date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 27 July 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 28 September 2025

Description

A language acquisition course involving advanced work in reading, writing, listening and speaking French.

This course is the final course in a suite of French-language acquisition courses, destined for students pursuing a French major, Honours French, Masters French, as well as MATI.

The focus of FREN307-401 is on contemporary glocal issues. In lieu of the common themes found in language textbooks, this course will firstly discuss topics that are prevalent in Christchurch and Aotearoa’s Francophone research communities. There are researchers from French-speaking countries who engage in an array of topical and even urgent interdisciplinary issues. In seminar format, these external guests will present their research, and students will read texts of various genres in order to prepare for discussions with these specialists. This is an opportunity to engage with professionals from multiple spheres in French, and to further one’s proficiency through technical and academic documents. Furthermore, students will prepare seminars based on newspaper articles of their choosing from different French-speaking countries and based on dates, the goal being to focus as much as possible on contemporary issues. Students will gain linguistic, cultural, and professional experience in this capstone course.

Learning Outcomes

This course prepares students according to the UC’s graduate attributes in the following ways:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award as Employable, innovative and enterprising
Students will gain professional and transferable skills pertaining to advanced language learning, particularly in a vast array of disciplines, spanning the environmental sciences, linguistics, political sciences, and law, to name a few..

Biculturally competent and confident
students will discuss topics related to indigeneity and colonialism, particularly in the Francosphere. Comparisons will be drawn between these contexts and Aotearoa.

Engaged with the community
this course is designed to engage with the French-speaking community in Christchurch.

Globally aware
Foreign language learning, at its very core, is an international and multicultural discipline. Students will further intercultural competence and understanding of a globalized world through language, textual, and translation studies.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Employable, innovative and enterprising

Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Biculturally competent and confident

Students will be aware of and understand the nature of biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, and its relevance to their area of study and/or their degree.

Engaged with the community

Students will have observed and understood a culture within a community by reflecting on their own performance and experiences within that community.

Globally aware

Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Programme Coordinator.

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00 Karl Popper 508
14 Jul - 17 Aug
8 Sep - 19 Oct
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 13:00 - 15:00 Karl Popper 508
14 Jul - 24 Aug
8 Sep - 12 Oct

Examinations, Quizzes and Formal Tests

Test A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00 Karl Popper 508
18 Aug - 24 Aug
Test B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Friday 13:00 - 15:00 Karl Popper 508
13 Oct - 19 Oct

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Antonio Viselli

Lecturer

Eric Mouhica

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Midterm Grammar Test 15%
Oral Presentation 25% Varies
Essay 25% Two weeks after presentation
Final Test: Grammar and Comprehension 25% Held week 12
Participation 10% Ongoing

Textbooks / Resources

Required Texts

Maurice Grevisse; Le Petit Grevisse: Grammaire française ; 32nd edition; de boeck / duculot, 2010.

Maurice Grevisse, Marc Lits; Exercices: Exercices de grammaire française et corrigé ; de boeck / duculot, 2010.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $2,169.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .

All FREN401 Occurrences

  • FREN401-25S2 (C) Semester Two 2025