This course involves preparation for the Advanced Placement French Language and Culture Examination. Students will be expected to achieve an extremely high level of proficiency in the four main language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). Students will develop the capacity to understand French when spoken by a native at a normal tempo on a topic within their experience. They will be able to speak on topics within their experience with sufficient clarity to be comprehensible by a listener who is not used to dealing with foreigners. They will read and understand authentic materials within their experience. Finally, they will be able to write with sufficient clarity to inform and to persuade.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

• Students will discuss man’s impact on the environment and how this impact poses different challenges for various francophone regions and the United States.
• Students will describe health issues faced in different francophone countries and compare them with those in the U.S.
• Students will describe principal areas of conflict in the francophone world and relate the current conflict to its historical background.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

• use selected internet sources, students will compare and contrast the role of science and technology in their daily lives vs. that of selected francophone countries.
• describe their viewpoint on the role of ethics in modern science and technology.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

• compare and contrast education systems in several francophone countries.
• prioritize the elements of contemporary life that are most important to them, including school and sports, housing, professions, and travel.
• analyze how cultural products, practices, and perspectives influence contemporary life in their own and in different francophone countries.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

• discuss how language and culture influence identity.
• compare and contrast attitudes and beliefs about immigrants and immigration in their own society and in several francophone societies.
• discuss what it means to be a citizen of their own country, of another country, and of the world in general.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

• form a definition for family, friendship, and love in their own society and in several francophone societies.
• discuss parent-child relationships in their own society and in francophone societies.
• compare class structure and social mobility in their own society and in several francophone societies.

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

• discuss several important francophone contributions to the arts.
• compare and contrast perceptions of beauty in several different francophone cultures and in their own.
• experience a French opera performance.