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Rennes, Francecourses/credit Total recommended credit for the semester is 15–18 semester/22.5–27 quarter hours. Total recommended credit for the academic year is30-36 semester/45–54 quarter hours. Maximum number of credits per semester is limited to 18 semester hours. Participants are required to take a minimum of12 semester credits. Course contact hours and recommended credit is listed with the descriptions of the various degree levels below. Five to seven courses areconsidered a normal load. These consist, in part, of the required Preliminary Language and Culture course (for a recommended two semester credits) and therequired language class during the semester. Students typically sign up for three additional courses and/or a teaching internship, thereby bringing the averagecredit load to 15 recommended semester credits.After the Preliminary Language and Culture course, students take courses directly through the Centre International Rennais d’Etude du Francais pour Etrangers(CIREFE). The CIREFE’s mission is to provide an appropriate level of language instruction to all foreign students while preparing them to participate in regularFrench university classes. Students are placed in one of five levels in the CIREFE depending on their performance on the placement examination at the end ofthe Preliminary Language and Culture course. Each level has a prescribed set of courses that are detailed below. Since placement is determined after arrival,students should have their home school advisor evaluate courses at all levels for credit. Placements during the spring semester for academic year studentsare dependent on performance during the fall semester. In the case of insufficient enrollment in certain electives, some courses may not be offered. Courses areoffered in the fall and spring semesters, unless otherwise indicated. All courses are considered to be junior- and senior-level. The academic administration of theUniversity of Haute Bretagne, Rennes II, does not publish course syllabi on a regular basis. Therefore, course syllabi are not always available prior to departure.faculty All courses are taught by faculty members from the University of Haute Bretagne, Rennes II.course listingRequired CourseFREN 3501 RENS – Preliminary Language and Culture Course, IFREN 3502 RENS – Preliminary Language and Culture Course, IIFREN 3503 RENS – Preliminary Language and Culture Course, IIIFREN 3504 RENS – Preliminary Language and Culture Course, IVUpon arrival in Rennes, students are tested for language proficiency and are placed in thelevel corresponding to their ability. Instruction during this initial period concentrates ondeveloping language skills, with emphasis on overcoming initial grammatical and lexicalproblems and increasing conversational fluency. Contact hours: 40. Recommended credit:2 semester/3 quarter hours. Instructors: This pre-program course is held at Langue &Communication, a nationally certified private language school in the historic city center.FondamentalStudents who place into CIREFE’s fondamental take the following four required courses:French Language; Comprehension and Oral Expression; Written Expression; and FrenchCivilization and Culture: Initiation. Upon obtaining successful results on midterm (January)examinations in these courses, academic year students may be able to advance to intermediairepremier in the spring semester.Required CoursesFrench LanguageThe focus of this course is to expand the student’s ability to express themselves in aconcise manner. Students will write short, well-organized texts in which they use indirectdiscourse, description, retelling, and simple argumentation. Students learn how to constructdescriptive, narrative, and argumentative texts by learning logical connectors, morecomplex verb tenses, cause and effect, hypothesis and the conditional, and finally, oppositionand concession. Weekly one-hour laboratory sessions take place, as well as writingassignments. Contact hours: 105 classroom hours and 15 language lab hours (7 hours perweek including 1 hour of laboratory). Recommended credit: 6 semester/15 quarter hoursper semester. Instructors: Maryvonne Boukhalfa, Christine Davette, Genevieve Kraml,Denis Vigier, Francoise Boudet, Elisabeth Rimasson, and Isabelle NouryComprehension and Oral ExpressionDesigned to improve students’ competence in oral comprehension of topics encounteredin daily life in France. Through audio/visual materials, students will produce a global synthesisand then point out pertinent details, paying attention to rhythm and intonation.In oral expression, students will increase their fluency through spoken exercises thatconcentrate on expressing emotions, feelings, opinions, and obtaining information. Contacthours for this course are 45 and recommended credit is 3 semester/4.5 quarter hours.Written ExpressionStudents will be asked to produce short texts in which they focus on style and correctsyntax. The instructor will guide them in acquiring a more natural expression in French.They will also learn to structure a text in a coherent manner using logical links, pronouns,and expressions of substitution so as not to repeat themselves. By producing their ownwritten texts, students will learn how to relate an incident, a visit, or an experience invarious tenses; to integrate examples or arguments; and to reconstruct spoken languageinto indirect discourse. Contact hours for this course are 52 and recommended credit is4 semester/6 quarter hours.French Civilization and Culture: InitiationThis course allows students to explore French culture in its various lifestyles: family,students, business, and workers. Students participate in interactive communicativeexercises to comprehend and practice introducing oneself appropriately in differentcontexts, requesting information, inviting/refusing an invitation, etc. Contact hours: 26hours (2 hours per week). Recommended credit: 2 semester/3 quarter hours per semester.Instructor: Maryvonne BoukhalfaIntermédiaire and Premier DegréStudents who place into these two levels must take the French Language course in theirrespective level. It is suggested that they take the additional language classes: Comprehensionand Oral Expression and Written Expression. Students can also choose additionalelectives from the following courses: French Civilization and Culture: Introduction, Initiationto French Literature, History of France: Ancien Regime to the Present, Introduction to theFrench Press, Art History, or Cinema. Three may be taken for credit. Upon passing midterm(January) examinations in these courses, academic year students are eligible to move tothe deuxième degré level and select electives from among the 4000-level CIREFE offeringsduring the spring semester. Contact hours are 26 hours (2 hours per week) and therecommended credit is 2 semester/3 quarter hours, unless otherwise indicated.Required CourseFrench LanguageThis course emphasizes the ability to express oneself in diverse communicative settings.Students will be taught to report an event in the past tense; to express tastes, feelings oropinions using the subjunctive and relative pronouns; to formulate hypotheses; to expresscertainty, uncertainty or fear using the subjunctive and conditional; to announce or exposea factual event using the correct form of past verb tense and/or voice. Weekly one-hour laboratorysessions take place, as well as writing assignments. Contact hours: 105 classroomhours and 15 language lab hours (7 hours per week including 1 hour of laboratory).Recommended credit: 6 semester/15 quarter hours per semester. Instructors: MaryvonneBoukhalfa, Christine Davette, Genevieve Kraml, Sévrine Bordeau,, Francoise Boudet,Elisabeth Rimasson, and Isabelle NouryRecommended Language CoursesComprehension and Oral ExpressionStudents will work on improving their oral comprehension skills through audio/videorecordings. The course focuses on distinguishing pertinent information in recordings andconversation as well as frequently used expressions and vocabulary in spoken French.The instructor will also help students increase their oral French proficiency through spokenexercises that concentrate on introducing oneself; purchasing something in a store;pointing out directions, etc. Contact hours: 45. Recommended credit: 3 semester/4.5quarter hours.Written ExpressionThrough a number of activities using written French, students will advance in their abilityto produce correct sentence structure using the appropriate vocabulary. They will also beasked to produce written work that reflects daily life in France: e-mails, letters asking forinformation, cover letters, and a CV.Writing PracticeThis course is designed to help students foster better writing practices in French. Workingwith short texts, students will be asked to produce “variations” changing gender and number;narrator’s point of view; verb tenses and modes; vocabulary and form. Students willalso keep a journal and write weekly passages on a chosen topic.pg/46