TAMALPAIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Larkspur, California

COURSE OF STUDY

FRENCH 9-10

I.	INTRODUCTION

French 9-10 is a one year advanced course that continues the study and development of communicative proficiency in the four skill areas, building upon the foundation established in the previous four years of French. With the focus on oral and written proficiency, the student will continue to expand his/her knowledge of grammatical structures and vocabulary. This course continues the emphasis on cultural awareness and appreciation of the Francophone world.

This course is available to students who have successfully completed French 8 with a C (70%) or better. This approach of foreign language addresses Student Learning Outcome # 8: communicates in a second language. It also contributes towards Outcome #10: analyze current issues from historical, political, economic, geographic, scientific and multi culture perspectives.

II.	STUDENT LEARING OUTCOMES

A.	Speaking: Students are able to elaborate in more depth on a variety of subjects than they were in French 7-8. They are more proficient at asking and answering questions in both controlled and spontaneous environments. With a greater mastery of grammatical structures, they can speak in more depth about driving conditions, laundry, public transportation, national and religious holidays, French high school, “the good-life”, North Africa, agriculture, and different professions. They are able to express themselves in the past, present, future, conditional, and subjunctive mood. Class discussion on a variety of issues and current events take place regularly, requiring students to comment on and respond to other student’s opinions in a natural speaking environment.

B.	Writing: Students effectively write in French based on the thematic units being studied. They continue to strengthen their writing skills through grammar, vocabulary and cultural understanding. Students will write a final unit paper incorporating the unit’s theme, grammar, vocabulary, and culture. They begin to write about French literature, including short stories, poetry and novels.

C.	Listening: Students will continue to hone their listening skills through a variety of activities based upon the unit themes and content and building upon the foundation established in French 1-8. Students will demonstrate their listening comprehension through a variety of means including written responses following audio cassettes or videos, oral or written responses to teachers’ questions, dictation, class exercises, and class conversations. They will listen to authentic French radio and television, through tapes and use of the Internet.

D.	Reading: Students will be able to read the printed version of any oral material learned. Students will continue to read and comprehend a variety of texts, including fairy tales, fables, authentic pamphlets, brochures, newspapers, magazines, short stories, and selections from the textbook. The language functions and vocabulary they can read and comprehend will parallel those found in the listening and speaking skills. Students will have a reading vocabulary, which will be considerably larger than their listening vocabulary.

E.	Culture: Students will continue to enhance their appreciation and awareness of the Francophone culture via movies, documentaries, presentations, classroom discussions, music, cuisine, fine arts and field trips. Students will incorporate their cultural knowledge into their written unit papers.

F.	Grammatical Concepts: The course will review the following grammatical concepts:

1.	Future irregular verbs
2.	The conditional and sentences with “si”
3.	Faire + “verb”
4.	Review “y” and “en”
5.	Venir de
6.	The present subjunctive with impersonal expressions
7.	The subjunctive with expressions of will
8.	The subjunctive with expressions of emotion
9.	The subjunctive with expressions of doubt
10.	“il me semble”and “il paraît que”
11.	The past subjunctive 
12.	The subjunctive after certain conjunctions
13.	The subjunctive after a superlative expression
14.	New grammar
15.	Plus que parfait
16.	Passé simple
17.	Relative pronouns 
18.	Interrogative pronouns
19.	Domonstrative pronouns
20.	Indefinite demonstrative pronouns
21.	Indirect discourse.

III.	ASSESSMENT

Students will be assessed on their ability to communicate about the thematic units in the third and fourth year: the post office, family life, the telephone, the train, the hairdresser, the hospital, a plane flight, school life, North Africa, a road trip, transportation and communication, etc.

A.	Receptive skills: 
Reading skills will be assessed through thematic reading, comprehension exercises and teacher recombination of previously learned topics. These may be given as portions of chapter and/or unit tests.

The assessment of listening skills will consist of questioning, dictation, class readings, responses to taped monologues, dialogues and videos, and participation in class discussions.

B.	Productive Skills: 
Students’ speaking skills will be assessed through group and individual presentations, interviews, dialogues, student created skits/dialogues, and taped responses.

Written skills will be assessed through workbook exercises, and essay responses as well as cultural projects. 

Students will be given the grading criteria, preferably in writing, at the beginning of the semester.

Course Assessment

At the end of the semester (May/June), all French 9-10 students will take standardized district-wide assessment, which will focus on one or more of the four skill areas.

IV.	METHODS AND MATERIALS

A.	Methods

In addition to text and ancillary materials, students will be presented with a variety of non-text oriented lessons and activities. These activities and the skills they model and practice include:

1.	Oral Proficiency Activities

a.	Listen to taped native speakers in dialogues and monologues
b.	Be able to use and understand classroom expressions
c.	Make oral presentations: interviews, role playing, dialogues, paired activities, reports and demonstrations
d.	Conduct spontaneous conversation with students and teacher
e.	Summarize the content from a reading passage
f.	Record and playback listening activities
g.	Watch and understand instructional videos
h.	Read aloud

2.	Written Proficiency Activities

a.	Written Outcomes based on thematic units
b.	Complete written workbook and textbook assignments
c.	Write dialogues, skits and poems
d.	Write answers to paired activities
e.	Write interview questions/answers
f.	Comprehend various written passages
g.	Use System “D” software
h.	Correspond with native speakers through “e-mail”
i.	Use the internet for research projects and outcomes

B.	Materials

The course will use a textbook and ancillary materials as adopted by the Board of Trustees (see approved textbook list).

In addition, the teacher will use a variety of print materials including selected short stories, fables, poems, newspapers, magazines, films and videos. Teachers will incorporate games, crossword puzzles, System D, and other teacher developed activities.

As technology is becoming increasingly important in the students’ education, the following resources may be used to enhance instructions: Internet, World Wide Web, 
e-mail, Language Audio lab, Multimedia (i.e. video, CD ROM, Laser Disk), computer lab, System D.

V.	GENERAL INFORMATION

A.	Prerequisites

A grade of “C-“ or better in French 8 is a prerequisite for French 9. A grade of “C-“ or better in French 9 is a prerequisite for French 10. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be approved by the instructor if the student completes a formal agreement for making up deficits within an agreed upon time period. The agreement may include mandatory attendance at tutorial sessions.

B.	Fulfillment of Graduation Requirements

French 9-10 qualifies as an elective as part of the 220-unit high school graduation requirement. There is no specific graduation requirement involving foreign language study, though foreign language proficiency (Outcome # 8) will be required for graduation upon adoption of the graduation outcomes proposed by the Education Task Force (ETF) and is highly recommended.

C.	College and University Entrance Requirements

French 9-10 fulfills 1 unit of the U.C. “e” requirement of 2 units in Foreign Language or may be used in partial fulfillment of the “g” requirement. It also is accepted as one year of the CSU 2 year foreign language requirement.

BOT Approved: 4/24/84
Revised: 6/21/02
F:\INSTRUCT\COS\Forlng\French 9-10.doc