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Programme code | 1FREN002U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Marianne Ailes
|
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of French |
Second School/department | School of Modern Languages |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Languages, Cultures and Societies (2023) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
This programme is designed to allow students to achieve a command of modern spoken and written French to a high level of fluency and accuracy. It also gives students the opportunity to study aspects of French society, literature and linguistic history so as to provide a deeper understanding of the rich diversity of the culture in France and elsewhere in the French-speaking world, thereby fostering a heightened intercultural competence. In addition to introducing students to a wide range of areas of knowledge, the programme offers an intellectual training which develops skills in seeking out, analysing and critically interpreting information. Graduates enter employment in a broad variety of contexts, building on their practical language skills and on the training provided by a degree in the Humanities.
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures, seminars and tutorials. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Regular language exercises (translations, essays, comprehension, grammar exercises, oral presentations and aural comprehension) during academic session. (1, 2, 3)Examinations (unseen) in all three years testing breadth of knowledge of different subjects. (1, 2, 3)Range of short and extended essays, testing ability to present and analyse a single topic in detail. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)Oral presentations. (1, 4)Class tests, assessing knowledge of basic factual data. (3, 7)Coursework dissertations completed during the session abroad. (1, 2, 4, 8)Special subjects to allow final-year students to investigate areas in depth, with the option of a dissertation researching a subject of their own choice in detail. (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)Practical exercises and most class tests are formative; essays and certain class tests are both formative (with feedback to help students improve their performance) and summative (marks contributing to the final degree). Examinations and the final-year dissertations are summative. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures, seminars and tutorials. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Essay writing, formal presentations and examinations test the students' ability to analyse information and present reasoned arguments. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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|
Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures, seminars and tutorials. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Non-language units are assessed through, written examination, written coursework and oral presentations requiring detailed and informed handling of the primary literature and extensive background reading in support of the argumentation advanced. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 of the course has been expressly designed to lay the foundations, both in terms of subject-specific knowledge and skills and in terms of more general skills and abilities, which will allow students to fulfil the programme's aims and objectives. Core units in language are geared to help students progress in the consolidation and development of their A-level (or equivalent) language skills. Mandatory non-language units cover some of the main themes and concepts of French culture, familiarising students with the literature and political/social backcloth of France and thereby introducing them to the key areas of study offered in the programme. This will enable students to make informed choices between the optional units available in future years and provide a sound basis for study in Level I. The expectation is that their work will require considerable direction from members of staff at this stage. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In Year 2, students are expected to be able to demonstrate that, in both mandatory and optional units, they have expanded the range and depth of their knowledge and also their capacity to evaluate their work. The topics explored and source materials consulted will be of greater depth and substance. Students will develop their analytical skills, their ability to structure their work and to expound it effectively with the increased requirement for seminar presentation. Language work will be of a higher level of complexity and students will develop their capacity to work accurately and creatively with French. They will be encouraged in group-work skills through active participation in seminars. They will be acquiring a heightened capacity for self-directed learning (for example, through the researching and writing of coursework assignments). |
Level H/6 - Honours |
In Year 4, students are expected to expand the breadth of their knowledge through the study of optional units that allow them to pursue more closely their particular areas of interest. These units are more directly linked to staff research specialisms. Students are thereby able to benefit from a wide range of expertise at the cutting-edge of research that not only enhances their intellectual development but also serves actively to foster in them a research culture. Students will be expected to develop their ability to gather and assimilate information, synthesise it in an appropriately informed way, and engage in sophisticated evaluation of primary texts. These skills will have been enhanced through the heightened command of the French language acquired during the mandatory period of residence in a French-speaking country. |
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
The Single Honours French degree programme involves a mandatory year (Year Three) to be spent abroad in a French-speaking country. Many students opt to take an assistantship in a French school under a scheme organised by the French government. The French Department has Erasmus exchange agreements exchanges with universities in, Cergy-Pontoise, Bordeaux, Aix,Graz, Genève, Brn, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris at Saint Denis, Paris, Provence, Poitiers, and Toulouse II - Le Mirail.
A number of placements on stages are also taken up; some placements are recurrently available to Bristol students while others are arranged anew each year.
The French Department is able to offer a rich array of internal pathways for students to follow. All the pathways place an emphasis on the development of language skills and the enhancement of the students' knowledge and expertise in a variety of genres and periods of culture selected from the wide range available. The Department has always encouraged a strong synergy between research and teaching. This has resulted in the creation and development of a vibrant learning environment for students within the Department, as staff continuously upgrade existing teaching materials and introduce fresh optional units. A further source of strength in the learning experience of students comes from the interaction between French and other departments. Single honours students will normally follow Additional units taught outside the French Department. In addition, units have consistently been available as options within other departments as well as French.
Furthermore, almost all the units figuring in the programme may be followed by students of French within the School of Modern Languages. The School offers a wide variety of joint programmes involving the study of any two of the following languages: Czech, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. There are also joint programmes combining French with Film, Theatre, History of Art, Music, Philosophy, Politics, and Law. Such students serve to enrich the intellectual environment within which teaching and learning take place within the French Department.
Mandatory Unit FREN10029 is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A | |||||
French Language | FREN10029 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
List B | |||||
Shaping France | FREN10032 | 20 | Mandatory | B | TB-1 |
List C | |||||
List D | |||||
Global French | FREN10011 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Comparative Literature: What is it and how can we practise it? | MODL10016 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List E | |||||
Representations of Francophone Cultures | FREN10013 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
List F | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Unit FREN20066 is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Students may take up to 40cp of MODL-coded units from the lists below, and must take at least 80 CP of FREN-coded units | |||||
List A | |||||
French Language 2 for Single Honours | FREN20066 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
List B - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
General Linguistics | MODL20016 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Woman and Nation | MODL23017 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
French Drama | FREN20026 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Algeria and France: Memory and Migration in Text and Image | FREN20059 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Race, Gender, and Intersectionality in Twenty-First Century France: Cultural Production, Politics, and Identity | FREN20072 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List C - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Introduction to French Cinema | FREN20056 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
French Thought | FREN20068 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Women and Gender in Medieval French Literature (1150-1450) | FREN20071 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Catalan Language (Elementary) | MODL23014 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (Elementary) | MODL23015 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to teaching Modern Languages as Foreign Languages | MODL20021 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Beginners Portuguese | MODL20022 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Migrations of Culture | MODL20024 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
French Fiction: from Realism to the 21st Century | FREN20048 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Francophone African Literature | FREN20069 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
France during the Second World War: culture, politics and society | FREN20070 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
French Fiction: from Realism to the 21st Century | FREN20048 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
France in Ferment 1870-1940 | FREN20063 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List F | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units – OR choose an additional 20 CP from lists B-E above | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Year Abroad units MODL20014 and MODL20015 are must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year Abroad TB-1 | MODL20014 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR | |
Year Abroad TB-2 | MODL20015 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR | |
120 |
Mandatory Unit FREN30001 is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Students may take up to 40cp of MODL-coded units from lists B-D, and must take at least 80 CP of FREN-coded units. However, MODL30005 may count towards the 80 CP requirement where a dissertation is based in the study of French. | |||||
List A | |||||
French Language 3 for Single Honours | FREN30116 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
List B - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Les Miserables: Readings and Receptions | FREN30030 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Political Cultures of Early Twentieth-Century France | FREN30044 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Intellectuals and the Media in France | FREN30108 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Culture, soft power and diplomatie d'influence: Exporting French culture from the 1870s to the present | FREN30138 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
List C - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
French for Business and Enterprise | FREN30047 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Intellectuals and the Media in France | FREN30108 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Me, Myself, and I: The Essais of Michel de Montaigne | FREN30114 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Translating in a Professional Context | MODL30010 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Catalan Language (follow-on) | MODL30011 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (follow-on) | MODL30012 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Follow-on Portuguese | MODL30037 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Liaison Interpreting | MODL30006 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
List D - Choose 20 CP from the list below | |||||
Surrealism: Pleasure and Provocation in 1920s Textual and Visual Culture | FREN30040 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
Francophone Women Directors: Documentary Filmmaking | FREN30111 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
Theoretical Approaches to Language Teaching | MODL30036 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
Studying and Making Early Printed Books | MODL30040 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Transnational Narrative in pre-modern cultures | MODL30041 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E | |||||
Independent Study 1 | MODL30005 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
List F | |||||
20 CP From Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty Wide Units – OR choose an additional 20 CP from lists B-D above | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
French (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
An oral distinction may be awarded.
The alternative classified honours degree of Arts (Modern Language Studies) may be awarded on this programme. For further details please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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