| Unit name | French Dialectology: Language Variation and Change in the Espace Francophone TB-2 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FREN30120 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Damien Mooney |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of French |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
It is perhaps inaccurate to refer to ‘French’ in the singular, as if to imply that the French language is a homogeneous monolithic object. Indeed, modern contemporary French varies and changes over geographical and social space and, while it may seem odd to refer to ‘Frenches’ in the plural, we must acknowledge at the very least that ‘French’ is made up of a wide variety of accents and dialects. The French dialectological tradition originally focused on the regional languages of France, the so-called langues de France, with which French has now been in contact for some time. In many ways, contact with these regional languages has resulted in the development of distinct regional accents and dialects both within and outside of France. In this unit, students will first have the opportunity to consider geographical variation in France before French was widely spoken as the national language and to examine linguistic variation and change taking place in modern Norman and Occitan, two obsolescent languages descended from Latin but distinct from French. The genesis of regional French accents in France, Belgium and Switzerland will then be studied from a language contact perspective; students will analyse the linguistic mechanisms that have given rise to geographical variation in French as well as the social and linguistic processes of dialect contact that currently drive linguistic change in modern European French. This unit will also introduce students to the French spoken in Canada and Africa and, finally, to the theoretical processes involved in the formation and evolution of French-lexified créole languages.
Aims:
Successful students will, on completion of the unit, be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities, including seminars, lectures, and collaborative as well as self-directed learning opportunities supported by tutor consultation.
1 x 2000-word essay (40%). Testing ILOs 1-4
1 x 3000-word essay testing ILO's 1-5 Students will devise their own project for this second assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30120).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
