AP French Syllabus

AP French Language and Culture Course
Course Overview
Primary sources
Allons au-delà La Langue et les cultures du monde Francophone along with accompanying on line
activities Richard Ladd, Pearson Education, Inc., copyright 2012
AP French, Preparing for the Language and Culture Examination including access to the AP French Digital
Course (eText with audio, activities and test practice, Real Talk! Speak and Record), Richard Ladd,
Pearson Education, Inc., copyright 2012
Une fois pour toutes, Troisième edition, Une révision des structures essentielles de la langue française,
Halle Sturges II, Linda Cregg Nielsen, Henry Lynn Herbst, Pearson Education, Inc., copyright 2008
AP French, Preparing for the Language Examination Richard Ladd, Colette Girard, Scott Foresman
Addison Wesley copyright 1998
Secondary sources
Le Petit Nicolas Sempé/Goscinny
Barron’s How to Prepare for the AP Advanced Placement Exam French Lalia Amiry
501 French Verbs Christopher Kendris
AP French Language 2nd edition Ellen Knauer REA with Audio CDs
Trésor du Temps Yvone Lenard
Les Choristes film
La Rue Cases-Nègres film
Mon meilleur ami film
National French Contest past exams
Released AP exam
Youtube
Francoscopie Gérard Mermet
En Bonne Forme Simone Renaud, Dominique van Hooff
Amsco Troisième Livre Eli Blume
www.tf1.fr, www.france2.fr, www.france5.fr
www.petitjoss.com
www.tv5.org
www.wordreference.com
http://c-est-pas-sourcier.france3.fr
www.onisep.fr
www.monster.fr
www.cheriefm.fr
www.inssee.fr (graphs and charts)
www.haverford.k12.pa.us
www.bbc.co.uk
www.education.gouv.fr
http://wfinan.blogspot.com/2008/02/french-language-speaking-prompts-2006.html
www.jeuneafrique.com
www.voicethread.com
Animoto.com
Livebinder.com
Monsondage.com
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com
www.africa24.com
linglanguage.com
http://www.universcience.fr/fr/science-actualites.
Description of Course
The AP French Language and Culture Course is comparable in content and difficulty to a full-year course
in French composition and conversation at the third year college level. The course is designed, in
accordance with the Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century (ACTFL),
and College Board guidance to provide students with communicative fluency in French and to prepare
them for the AP French Language and Culture exam. This course, as described below, will be conducted
exclusively in French and students will be required to speak in French at all times in the classroom. The
framework of the course will be structured around the six themes of Les défis mondiaux, L’esthéthique,
La science et la technologie, La famille et la communauté, La vie contemporaine, and La quête de soi.
The resources used will be the above listed items including authentic video, audio and print materials
including but not limited to films, podcasts, music, Youtube videos, literature, newspapers, magazines,
maps/charts/tables. Grammar lessons as needed will be taught from Une fois pour tous.
The course’s objectives will be within the three modes of communication defined by the Standards for
Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century-Interpersonal, Interpretive, and
Presentational. These include the following:
Spoken Interpersonal Communication
Written Interpersonal Communication
Audio, Visual, and Audiovisual Interpretive Communication
Written and Print Interpretive Communication
Spoken Presentational Communication
Written Presentational Communication
The course focuses on the mastery of these three modes of communication rather than the content of
specific texts.
Skill specific goals:
A. The listening ability of candidates who have completed the course should allow them to:
 -follow the essentials of conversation between educated native speakers of French who
may occasionally use colloquial French
 -follow with general understanding oral reports and lectures on non-technical subjects
 -understand standard French transmitted clearly by means of CD recordings, radio,
telephone and films/videos/music
i. COMPONENT 4a - Students will complete a dictation where they must write
down the questions that they hear in an interview. The second step is to
answer that question.
ii. Students will answer spoken questions which are then recorded in the lab.
1. Spoken questions come from recordings found on
http://wfinan.blogspot.com/2008/02/french-language-speakingprompts-2006.html
B. The speaking ability of candidates who have completed the course should allow them to:
 -communicate facts, ideas, and feelings successfully
 -make presentations with a defined audience and register; narrate, describe, and
explain using past, present and future tenses correctly
**(Presentational Communication)**
i. Students on the first day of school are asked to present what they did over the
summer to the rest of the class.

1. Students in the audience must ask at least one question based on a
presentation after it has ended.
ii. Students in groups of 4 will play the headband game.
1. Students will write the name of a famous person or character and will
give it to another person in the group without letting them see it. One
student at a time will ask yes no questions to try and figure out the
person/character that is on the notecard on their forehead.
iii. Show and Tell
1. Students bring in a bag full of 3 things that are important to them and
they must speak about them to the class.
iv. Students teach a lesson.
1. Each student is chosen to teach a 20 minute lesson to the class on a
grammar subject. Ex. Student must teach the subjonctif to their
classmates.
-demonstrate a good command of grammatical forms and syntactic structures
i. Students teach a lesson.
1. Each student is chosen to teach a 20 minute lesson to the class on a
grammar subject. Ex. Student must teach the subjonctif to their
classmates.



-have immediate recall of a fairly broad range of vocabulary items
-discuss topics of current interest and express feelings and opinions
-conduct spontaneous communication (student-lead class discussions, debates,
unrehearsed role plays
i. Students are given a situation and they role play with a partner.

-relate their own culture and personal experiences to those of the Francophone world
i. Ex Lesson: Students are given a copy of the French Constitution and the
American Constitution (both in French) They must interpersonally communicate
about the similarities and differences between both Constitutions.
ii. Ex Lesson- Students read an excerpt of an average day of a Moroccan fisherman.
They must speak on the differences and similarities of an average day in
America vs. in Morocco.
C. The reading ability of candidates who have completed the course should allow them to:
 -read expository and narrative French prose with good overall comprehension
 -understand French magazine articles on various topics
 -read literary texts: novels, essays, poetry, and short stories in their original form



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-deal strategically with texts that are conceptually abstract or linguistically complex
-draw inferences, and separate main ideas from subordinate ones
-discriminate between different registers of language and recognize their cultural
implications
-make cultural and linguistic comparisons Component 4b
i. Ex Lesson: Students are given a copy of the French Constitution and the
American Constitution (both in French) They must fill in a Venn diagram of the
similarities and differences.
D. The writing ability of candidates who have completed the course should allow them to:
 -express themselves in a variety of modes, styles and purposes including but not limited
to emails, letter writing, essays, summaries, reports, journals, blogs
 -set forth and develop ideas in a clear, logical manner
 -demonstrate an understanding and control of the verb system
 -use language appropriate for the purpose of the text, topic and intended audience
 -utilize a variety of grammatical structures and vocabulary
i. Students complete a writing test each Friday that gives them a different topic on
which to write. Component 5b
1. Example situations... “1e jour à Paris," "Si je gagnais à la loterie," "mon
ancienne maison," "Quand j’aurai 50 ans.... " Le lycée
Stevenson....qu’en penses-tu ?"
 The cultural comprehension ability of candidates who have completed the course
should allow them to:
 -demonstrate an understanding of cultural perspectives
E. -have an understanding of the diversity of the French speaking world
These skills will be taught with the use of the above listed textbooks and supplementary materials as
well as extensive use of our digital language lab. The lab will be used on a weekly basis to target the
three modes of communication (Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational). Students will write
regularly in journals, blogs, and compositions. The course provides opportunities for students to
demonstrate their ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize information from
a variety of authentic audio, visual, audio-visual, written and print resources.
Assessment
-homework assignments (written and spoken)
-compositions
-quizzes/tests/exams
-participation
-presentations
The course syllabus will include lessons in each theme as listed but not limited to below:
Thème: Les défis mondiaux (context: Les Droits de l’être humain)
Primary Source: Allons au-delà La Dernière Classe ch. 4, 6, 19
Secondary Sources:
AP French Sélection no. 28 pp. 58-59
La citoyenneté canadienne no. 15 pp. 114-115
Presentational writing AP French selection 1 pp. 176-177
Songs: Faudel – Mon Pays
Stanislas- Tu verras en France
Édith Piaf- Mon legionnaire
Thème: La science et la technologie (Les nouveaux moyens de communication)
Primary Source: Allons au-delà Ch. 8
Secondary Sources:
AP French Sélection No. 3 pp. 90-91 (publicité pour un App iPhone)
No. 7 pp. 98-99 (telephone mobile et GPS)
No. 10 pp. 104-105 (Youtube face à Viacom)
No. 11 pp. 106-107 (La Presse de Montréal)
No. 7 p. 170 (email)
No. 9 p. 194-196 (iPad)
No. 3 p. 202 (le portable)
Thème: La vie contemporaine (l’education et l’enseignement & le logement)
Primary Sources: La rue Cases-Nègres- film
Allons au-delà
Secondary Sources :
AP French Sélection #5 pp. 12-13 (?)
#6 pp. 14-15 (lettre)
#33 pp. 68-69 (littérature)
#2 pp. 88-89 (le baccalauréat-reading/listening)
#14 p. 112 (recipe)
#13 pp. 140-141 (listening)
#4 pp. 184-185 (Faut-il supprimer le bac?)
Songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWHfIVF2HtE&feature=related
http://www.paroles-musique.com/paroles-Knaan-Wavin_Flag_feat_Fefe-lyrics,p88873
Thème: La quête de soi (l’aliénation et l’assimilation/l’amitiés)
Primary Sources: Mon meilleur ami (film)
Allons au-delà Ch. 16, Ch. 17
Secondary Sources:
AP French Sélection #37 pp. 76-77 (Immigrés…..)
#38 pp. 78-79 (L’Étranger)
#8 p. 171 (email)
#3 p. 182-183 (La carte d’identité)
Songs: Faudel Mon Pays
Stanislas Tu verras en France
Thème: La famille et la communauté (l’enfance et l’adolescence, la famille, l’amitié, l’amour)
Primary Sources: Allons au-delà –Le Petit Nicolas
Le Petit Nicolas- le film/CD
Allons au-delà Ch. 21, 24
Secondary Sources:
AP French #3 pp. 130-131 (Goscinny)
#30 p. 157 (listening)
Etre et Avoir film clips Songs: L’Hymne à l’amour Édith Piaf & Josh Groban
Thème: L’esthétique (L’architecture)
Primary Sources: Allons au-delà Ch. 26, 27
Secondary Sources:
The building of cathedrals (PBS video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeMzyPQQ-EQ
navigala.fr
AP French Sélection #34 pp. 70-71 (la structure familiale)
#17 pp. 144-145 (Jeanne d’Arc)
Les Piliers de la Terre (extraits du roman, film)
La Cathédrale de Chartres
Versailles
Songs: Notre Dame de Paris musical production