| CODE | FRE3043 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Linguistique théorique 3: Etudes de la syntaxe du français/Theory in linguistics 3: Studies in French syntax | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | French | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The students will be acquainted with the principles and methods of descriptive grammar and they will be directed towards a broad and deep analysis of the structure of modern and contemporary French. The students will be guided to analyse simple and complex sentences, whilst learning the different grammatical criteria which govern juxtaposition, coordination and subordination in each format. They will focus on other grammatical phenomena such as sentence types, including an in-depth study of compulsory enunciation modalities and optional modalities of conveying the message. This will include varying patterns of thematisation. They will also be acquainted with varying verb diatheses due to the different voice structures. A study of verb moods, tenses and aspect will also be addressed. Syntactical patterns of written French will be compared to the specific structures of the spoken language. This will involve considerations from a sociolinguistic perspective, related to stylistic variation, the dominant variational type in the case of the French language. Stylistic variation will be defined in contrast with diachronic, geographic, social and diamesic variation. Study-Unit Aims: The objectives of this study-unit are to present students with the principles and methods of descriptive grammar and to offer them techniques to be able to carry out, by means of the guidance provided, a broad and deep analysis of the structure of modern and contemporary French. The study-unit aims to help students observe the structural differences that divide simple and complex sentences, whilst equipping them with formal criteria that help them identify and interpret grammatical relationships involved in juxtaposition, coordination and subordination in both simple and complex sentences. The study-unit aims to focus on other grammatical phenomena such as sentence types, with a study of the « modalités d’énonciation » and the « modalités du message ». Students will also observe how the verb diathesis varies with the sentence voice. The unit aims to also tackle verb moods, tenses and aspect. A further objective is to deal with syntactical patterns of written French in comparison to the more flexible but equally specific structures of the spoken language. The French language will also be considered from a sociolinguistic perspective, showing how stylistic variation is the dominant variational type in the case of French. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - depict how the traditional teaching of grammar of the French language is now obsolete and apply the more modern approaches now in use; - the student will employ grammatical approaches based on structure and will be able to contrast these with later approaches focusing on utterance meaning and the importance of the communicative situation; - the student will be able to classify simple and complex sentences and to illustrate how juxtaposition, coordination and subordination feature in these two distinct sentence structures; - the student will be able to identify declarative, interrogative, exclamative and imperative sentences and to describe the structural features and communicative values of all types. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - solve problems pertaining to the inner structure of the French language; - handle in a more perfect way the written component of the French language; - enhance the way he writes and analyses the written language; - identify and describe in what ways the grammar of spoken structures differs from the syntax of written French; - recognize features of informal, semi-formal and formal French and match these features with the situations in which they are used by native speakers; - the student will be able to demonstrate how the different voices (ex. active, passive, reflexive…) affect sentence structure with regard to the number and position of the different sentence constituents around the verb; - given a list of sentences, the student will be able to reconstruct them according to instructions pertaining to sentence modality, degree of complexity and voice. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Armstrong N. (2001). Social and Stylistic Variation in Spoken French: A comparative approach. Amsterdam, John Benjamins. - Blanche-Benveniste C. (2010). Approches de la langue parlée en français, nouv. éd. Paris, Ophrys. - Dubois J., Lagane R. (2004) La nouvelle grammaire du français, 2e éd. Paris, Larousse. - Gadet, F. (2007) La variation sociale en français. Paris, Ophrys. - Judge, A. (1993). French : a planned language ?. In C. Sanders (éd.), French today: Language in its Social Context (7-26). Cambridge : CUP. - Riegel, M., Pellat, J.-C., Rioul, R. (2016) Grammaire méthodique du français, 6e éd. Paris, P.U.F. Supplementary Readings: - Baylon, Ch. & Fabre, P. (2001). Grammaire systématique de la langue française, 4e éd. Paris, Nathan. - Blanche-Benveniste C. (2005). Le français parlé: Etudes grammaticales, 3e éd. Paris, CNRS Editions. - Garagnon, A.-M., Calas, F. (2002) La phrase complexe: De l’analyse logique à l’analyse structurale. Paris, Hachette. - Gary-Prieur, M.-N. (2000) De la grammaire à la linguistique, l’étude de la phrase. Paris, Armand Colin. - Lodge, A. (1993). French: From dialect to standard. Londres et New York : Routledge. - Maingueneau, D. (2007) Syntaxe du français, 2e éd. Paris, Hachette. - Paveau, M.-A. & Rosier, L. (2008). La langue française : passions et polémiques. Paris, Vuibert. - Sanders, C. (1993). Sociosituational variation. In C. Sanders (éd.), French today: Language in its Social Context (27-53). Cambridge: CUP. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: A grade C or better in the French Advanced Matriculation Pre-Requisite Study-unit: FRE2014 |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Anne Marie Bezzina Busuttil |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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