AP French

The AP French Language course is designed as an advanced third-year college level class.  Therefore, students are instructed to speak, read, write, and listen to authentic sources in French only.  Conducted only in French, this course develops greater fluency in the spoken language and reinforces vocabulary and idiomatic expression. Advanced Placement French prepares students for the A.P. French Language exam, by teaching them to use the three modes of Communication: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational as defined in the Standards for World languages, while exposing them to a variety of authentic language through French music, films, articles and literature hence emphasizing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Students will read and discuss French literature as well as articles on contemporary issues enhancing the study of the Francophone world. Lessons require such higher level thinking skills as expressing opinion, analyzing, predicting, and comparing and contrasting in the target language. Students will be familiarized with the different cultures of the francophone world.

Prerequisite: ▪Completion of French IV with a final grade of 90 or better; or 

▪Completion of French Cinema (level 5) with a final grade of 90 or better; 

▪ AND/OR Teacher and Program Administrator recommendations 

THIS IS A COLLEGE LEVEL COURSE

I. Learning objectives (A statement of learning objectives is a statement of changes to take place in students.)

The six primary learning objectives are aimed to develop the students’ skills to be able to communicate in French.

1.  Spoken Interpersonal Communication

2. Written Interpersonal Communication

3. Audio, Visual, and Audio Visual Interpretive Communication

4. Written and Print Interpretive Communication

5. Spoken Presentational Communication

6. Written Presentational Communication

The six themes will be integrated in order to help the students communicate personal views on real world issues, make connections to other disciplines, and be able to compare the aspects of the target language, cultures and communities to their own.

II. Learning Experiences (A learning experience is the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the

environment to which he/she can react.)

• Discuss personal opinions about themes in literature

• Share stories, opinions and experiences

• Read and discuss many different forms of authentic French text including short stories, film, theatre, and poetry

• Write compositions based on themes discussed in class

• Formal debates on issues pertinent to topics studied in texts

• Listen and respond to authentic French conversation

• Read, understand, and interpret selections of French literature.

• Identify main points in a television program, news, or film.

• Respond appropriately in a conversation with a native French speaker. 

• Discuss and write about plot, characters, and themes of literary texts and films.

• Express complex opinions, ideas and personal feelings in oral and written form.

• Write a structured 5-paragraph essay in French supporting a thesis.

• Compare and contrast audio sources with written sources.

• Interpret authentic conversational French.

• Discuss stylistic differences between authors.

• Identify supporting evidence in a text.

• Write a coherent, well-articulated thesis and be able to support that thesis.

• Paraphrase, synthesize and analyze texts.

• Identify important historical events.

• Use context clues to derive meaning of unknown words in a passage.

• Relate a story using appropriate tenses.

• Deliver oral reports / presentations.

• Review grammatical structures using the text Une Fois Pour Toutes

• Participate in organized debates.

III. Course Outline (A brief outline of the major topics and units which are central to this course: the sequence of topics and

units may be altered by the teacher based on the needs of students):

1. Grammar: Students will review, learn and use the following grammar topics:

• All of the verb tenses previously learned including: présent, impérative, passé composé, imparfait, plus

que parfait, conditionnel, passé conditionnel, futur proche, futur simple, futur anterieur, subjonctif,

passé subjonctif, and passé simple.

• The participe present and the passé récent in the imperfect and in the future.

• Articles and gender of nouns, and pronouns (direct, indirect, accentuated, complimentary, relative, and

demonstrative.)

• Adjectives and adverbs and their use in comparative and superlative phrases.

2. Vocabulary: Students will learn thematic vocabulary as is associated with the literature studied.

This will include but is not limited to:

• household vocabulary, travel, relationships, philosophy, education, animals, and art.

IV. Course Materials: The following list represents the major texts and/or resources used in Advanced Placement French.

Teachers also use additional supplementary texts: articles, materials and curriculum documents

which they have gathered or prepared themselves and which they believe enrich and extend student learning.

  Primary texts and sources:

• Hale Sturges II, Linda Cregg, Henry L. Herbst, Une Fois Pour Toutes: The independent School Press, 1976.

• Bette G. Hirsch, Chantal P. Thompson, Moments littéraires

• Baker, Mary J. Panaché Litteraire, Heinle&Heinle, 1995

• Bernard Werber, Nos amis les humains, 1998

• Richard Ladd, AP French Preparing for the Language and Culture Examination, Pearson, 2012

• Richard Ladd, Allons au-delà, Pearson, 2012