This is an introductory course in French Linguistics, covering such areas as the history of the French Language, French Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology and Semantics.
It also introduces students to the basic concepts in Linguistics with the aim of helping them understand how language works as a complex system of signs.
The course introduces students to the emergence and evolution of modern African literature written in French. The historical development of the Négritude Movement is examined. Selected poetic
works of the protagonists and antagonists of the Négritude Movement are studied with due emphasis on their themes and style. Other genres (drama and prose) illustrative of current themes are
studied through representative texts. Works of Sembène Ousmane, Bernard Dadie, Oyono-Mbia, Ferdinand Oyono, Birago Diop, Aimé Césaire, Mongo Beti, Calixthe Beyala, Mariama Bâ are studied.
The course is designed to expose students to the various literary currents in the 19th and 20th Centuries. It explores the major changes in theme and style in French Literature resulting from new philosophical, political and ideological developments. Some works representative of the two centuries, works of writers like Alphonse de Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Sartre, Camus and Malraux are studied.
This course examines the political and social institutions of France and their evolution from the French Revolution to their present state. It studies the division of political
power among the three arms of government: the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It also examines the functions of the three Councils: the Constitutional Council,
the Economic and Social Council and the Judicial Council. Additionally, it studies the political party organisations, the electoral process and French Trade Unionism.
Finally, it studies the French Educational System. Wherever necessary, parallels are drawn and differences noted between the French and Ghanaian systems.
The course enhances the student’s knowledge and skills in essay writing acquired during the last three years (Level 100 – 300) by giving him the scope for unguided self-expression
in more complex situations and on more demanding topics/subjects. It also studies some works of some of the great masters of the art of the essay with a view to encouraging students
to develop a sure, mature and personal style of writing.
This course lays emphasis on the theory and techniques of translation. It studies and analyses the cultural, temporal and spatial origins of the source texts.
It studies the various levels/types of translation: communicative and semantic translations, the importance and limits of context in translation, punctuation and transcription.
For the practicum: A close study and translation of a variety of texts - literary, cultural, administrative, commercial, political, philosophical is emphasized.
This course offers an additional opportunity for deepening and widening students’ knowledge and general sensitivity to French and Francophone Literature. Texts studied
are selected from the two major areas of Metropolitan France and Francophone Africa. More advanced exercises in critical essays and literary appreciation are offered here.
This course equips students with more advanced techniques in linguistic analysis in French, especially in the areas of syntax, morphology and semantics.
Students are also exposed to a more advanced study in the field of pragmatics such as the use of modality and speech acts in selected texts.
This course complements FRE 101. It develops the written competence of students through the use of simple texts. This is done through exercises in grammar, comprehension,
exercises on conjugation and construction of the basic sentence. Students are then helped to use the grammatical structures they have learnt in writing simple narrative essays.
