French 3300
Rhetoric and Public Speaking
Do you blush when you have to give a presentation in French? Do you say one thing but your body language sends another message? You only use "Je pense que ...." to express your opinion or you donýt know how to answer when someone asks you " Pourquoi dis-tu ýa?" This course will enable students to become more comfortable speaking in front of a group.
Course content
Convincing and debating in French. This course will be structured by rhetoric: memory, invention, elocution, diction. Students will participate in various oral exercises: recitation, role playing, debating, structured discussions, analyzing and summarizing short audio and video documents. Students will see how important it is to read non-verbal language and to send verbal and non-verbal messages that express the same idea. Finally, students will fine tune their language skills and help their fellow students to do so.
When there are two sections of 3300 offered in a given term, debates and oral exercises can involve both sections.
Attendance is compulsory since there will be regular in class evaluation. Two 75-minute periods of instruction plus one 50-minute period of conversation class per week with one of the assistants.
Prerequisites
6 credit hours in French at the 2000 level
Textbook
Simone Robaire et Raymond Lýgarý, Discours et communication, HMH, 1997.
Assessment
Term work :
Conversation classes with the lecteur or lectrice (10%)
Class participation (10%)
Recitation (10%)
Presentation (10%)
"Compte rendu oral" (10%)
Interview (20%)
Final examination:
Debate (30%)
Frequency
Fall and Winter.
