Course Description

This is a combined French AP/4/3/3H class. We will be covering the same AP material with modifications for different levels. AP French Language and Culture is a course designed for students in their fourth year of French. It is a semester-long course. This course is designed to prepare students to take the AP exam in May as well as to be able to effectively communicate in French on a variety of topics in real life situations. The course design is based on six themes, which involve an in-depth exploration of essential questions and various contexts for each theme. The course will be taught exclusively in French, and students will maintain all communication with the teacher and each other in French. Reading and listening materials used in class will also be exclusively in French. 

In this course, we will use proficiency-based teaching strategies that lead to language acquisition. “Acquiring” a language is different than “learning” a language. In order to acquire a language, we need to listen first, then we read what we have heard, we write what we have heard and read and finally, we are ready to speak because we have heard, read, and written. Our class will be conducted in French at least 90% of the time. In order to learn to communicate in French, you must listen, read, write, and speak in French as much as possible.

In addition to AP authentic materials, we will be using stories, pictures, songs, and short movies to acquire French. We will work on 3 high frequency structures with the vocabulary taken from the 6 themes until we acquire them. 

AP Themes 

Unit 1: Families in Different Societies

You’ll learn French language skills in the context of studying family life and values in French-speaking societies and explore contemporary beliefs and challenges that families face.

Unit 2: The Influence of Language and Culture on Identity

You'll build your vocabulary and learn about how language and culture shape and reflect evolving ideas about identity in French-speaking societies.

Unit 3: Influences of Beauty and Art

You'll explore how ideas of beauty and art influence and reflect culture in French-speaking communities.

Unit 4: How Science and Technology Affect Our Lives

You’ll examine how developments in science and technology affect daily life in French-speaking communities and use your growing language skills to help you interpret unfamiliar words and engage in more complicated texts.

Unit 5: Factors That Impact the Quality of Life

You'll learn more about contemporary life in French-speaking communities and how social status, cultural perspectives, and access to jobs and resources can make an impact on the quality of life.

Unit 6: Environmental, Political, and Societal Challenges

You'll explore how complex global issues affect people’s lives in French-speaking communities and engage in deeper discussions to suggest possible solutions.

Authentic Materials

Authentic materials are a crucial part of this course. In addition to the primary textbook, Thèmes, which is essentially a collection of various types of authentic materials, students will be exposed to many different types of authentic materials including newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, poems, short stories, literary excerpts, advertisements, songs, video clips, interviews, and radio clips. Language and culture will constantly be integrated simultaneously through exposure to authentic materials. Modifications will be applied for students in French 3/3H.

Course Objectives 

Students will become proficient in the six primary learning objectives that make up the basis of the AP French Language and Culture course and exam.

• These are the ways that students should be able to effectively communicate in French. All communicative activities that we do inside and outside of class will fall into one or more of these categories.

- Spoken Interpersonal Communication (examples: class discussions, interviews, role plays, debates)

- Written Interpersonal Communication (examples: e-mail and letter exchanges, posting and replying to online discussion boards)

- Audio, Visual, and Audiovisual Interpretive Communication (listening to and demonstrating comprehension of songs, radio interviews, podcasts, or videos)

- Written and Print Interpretive Communication (examples: reading and demonstrating comprehension of short stories, poems, or news articles)

- Spoken Presentational Communication (examples: cultural comparison presentations)

- Written Presentational Communication (examples: persuasive essays)

• Students will examine the cultures of a variety of francophone cultures through integration of authentic materials and study of the products, practices, and perspectives of francophone cultures. Students will also examine their own culture as they compare and contrast it to those of francophone countries and relate material to their own experiences
• Students will become familiar with the format, grading, and test taking strategies for the AP exam. Students are expected to take the AP exam at the end of the course, so a vital part of the course is preparing them for the test
• Strategies for preparation will include the use of AP rubrics for grading, refining language skills in listening, reading, writing, speaking, and grammar, and taking assessments in the course that will closely resemble the AP exam

Textbook Name, Novels and Supplies

Class Texts, Materials and Online Resources

• Themes Vista Higher Learning Ap French Language and Culture 
• AP Central College Board Account for AP students only 
• a French section of a 3 ring binder (can be part of another class's binder), with 6 parts: 1. AP, 2. stories, 3. gestures, 4. movietalks, 5. picturetalks and 6. homework/ handouts (occasional readings)
•  a pencil pouch
•  2 pencils, so that one is always sharpened
•  1 pen, blue or black
•  a set of colored markers, pens, or pencils