Course Overview

In this advanced engagement with French, students deepen their focus and fine-tune their skills on four key skills in foreign language acquisition—listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing—integrating these skills to demonstrate understanding of and respond to a variety of authentic texts. The intensity, quality. and amount of material can be compared to a third-year college course. The majority of the course is conducted almost entirely in French. In addition, students read significant works of literature in French, and respond orally or in writing to these works. Students thoroughly review the basics of French grammar; practice listening skills with authentic dialogues, narratives and passages; master a wide range of common and specialized vocabulary terms and phrases; initiate and continue increasingly involved conversations, and respond appropriately to naturally-paced, increasingly involved, or open conversational prompts on a wide variety of topics; generate language incorporating basic and specialized vocabulary and a range of grammar patterns; write various types of essays—narrative, expository, descriptive, analytical and opinion; analyze and compare cultural practices, products, and perspectives of various French-speaking countries; express verbally with correct grammar a rich vocabulary and clear pronunciation in explanations, narrations, inquiries, arguments, etc.; and regularly assess progress in proficiency through quizzes, tests, and speaking/writing submissions.

Continuing the pattern, and building on what students encountered in the first three years, each unit consists of a new vocabulary theme and grammar concepts, numerous interactive modules reinforcing vocabulary and grammar, reading and listening comprehension activities, speaking and writing activities, and multimedia cultural presentations covering major French-speaking areas across the globe. The course has been carefully aligned to national standards as set forth by ACTFL (the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), and specifically designed to prepare students for the AP French Language Exam.