Unit name	Beginners French
Unit code	UWLP10001
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Mrs. Duranton
Open unit status	Open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Modern Languages
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit provides a general introduction to the target language. It is intended:

• To provide students with a solid foundation of the essential structures of the target language thus enabling them to communicate effectively across the four key language skills at an elementary level on a variety of general topics
• To enable participants to give and understand information and to achieve a confident elementary level of communicative competence in everyday situations
• To introduce students to the customs, culture and society of the regions/countries in which the languages are spoken and to develop student awareness of the general social and cultural background of the language
• To enable students to apply their developing language skills into areas related to their field of study

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will:

1. be able to communicate orally and in writing with a reasonable degree of accuracy and fluency.
2. be able to work at a basic level with authentic material and retrieve necessary information.
3. have acquired knowledge and awareness of the general social and cultural background of the target language
4. be able to understand and interpret written texts at a basic level
5. be able to respond to written texts at a basic level

Overall, students will attain a level comparable to A1/ A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Teaching Information

3 hours of teaching per week covering all four topics of Reading writing speaking and listening. Classroom based learning is supplemented by online access to resources delivered via Blackboard. Regular formative homework is set.

Assessment Information

As free text:

The four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are assigned equal weighting for the purposes of assessment (25% each).

• For reading and writing there is a formal examination in the summer examination period, which comprises 50% of the total mark. This assesses ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

• Listening is assessed by a class test at the end of TB2, which comprises 25% of the total mark. This assesses ILOs 1, 2 and 3.

• Speaking is tested by one oral test at the end of TB2. This assesses ILOs 1, 2 and 3.

Reading and References

A course book, clearly identified for this level by the Language Director concerned. Reading and reference material will be provided on Blackboard.