French I Fall 2024 Syllabus
Five College Center for World Languages
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Course Description and Requirements

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Director: Janna White
Contact Information: fcmlp2@umass.edu or 413-542-5264

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About Independent Plus Language Courses

Independent Plus courses combine independent study with small group conversation sessions and one-on-one peertutoring. Independent Plus courses emphasize speaking, listening, and basic literacy in the language; reading and writing practice reinforces developing oral skills. Students are required to complete a standard syllabus during the semester and demonstrate competencies through regular attendance and participation in conversation and peer-tutoring sessions, a homework portfolio, and a final oral evaluation with an external evaluator conducted at the end of the course.

Course Requirements

1. Successful mastery of the material assigned on the syllabus and accompanying study guides. The study guides provide instructions for speaking, listening, reading and writing practice, including preparation for conversation sessions and instructions for work to be submitted to the student’s homework portfolio. Students are reminded that the final comprehensive oral evaluation will cover all material assigned for the course regardless of whether it was used or discussed in conversation or peer-tutoring sessions.

2. Time commitment: Half-courses: Minimum of one hour per day of independent study.

3. Small Group Conversation Sessions. Weekly conversation sessions are led by native speaking conversation partners. Most conversation partners are Five College international students. Conversation sessions provide practice in both speaking and listening comprehension. Sessions emphasize activities that require language use similar to what students may encounter using the language in the real world. The sessions also constitute the primary practice for the oral evaluation at the end of the course. Attendance is required and a student’s attendance record affects the final grade for the course. Half-course conversation sessions: 1 hour per week.

4. Meetings with a Peer-Tutor. Weekly one-on-one meetings with the peer-tutor assigned to the course. The peer-tutor will help students with pronunciation practice, help students identify and self-correct errors in speech and written homework, and facilitate activities such as dictation and reading aloud. The peer-tutor will also help students understand and use idiomatic language or culturally complex expressions. Peer-tutors do not provide answers to homework assignments and do not correct or edit homework. Half-course peer-tutoring sessions: 30 minutes per week.

5. Weekly homework assignments submitted to the FCCSWL office for inclusion in the student’s homework portfolio. Students should bring finished homework to meetings with peer-tutors for discussion. Students should self-correct homework and then either hand it in directly at the FCCSWL office, scan it and email it, or send it via Five College Mail. Homework is due at the end of each week and must be received by the FCCSWL office no later than noon on the following Monday. Late assignments received within one week of the due date will only receive half credit; assignments turned in more than a week late will receive only one-quarter credit.

6. Weekly self-assessment reports submitted on time. Self-assessments are due at the end of each week and are recorded as “on time” as long as they are received by noon on the following Monday. Late self-assessments receive only partial credit. Self-assessments help students to evaluate their own progress in learning the language, their overall development of language learning strategies, and also alert the program staff to any problems with preparation or logistical details of the course.

7. Final comprehensive oral evaluation covering listening and reading comprehension, conversational fluency, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural knowledge.

Assignment Due Dates:

Written homework is due at the end of every week except for designated introduction and review weeks. Assignments will be considered late if they are not submitted by noon on the following Monday. Assignments must be turned in to receive full credit. Late assignments turned in within a week of the due date will receive half credit. No credit will be given for assignments more than a week late.

Homework Submission Instructions:

Submit homework listed under “Homework for Tutorial” on the weekly study guide.  Submit written homework with your own self-corrections and notes directly to the FCCSWL office either by 1) bringing it to your course organizer in the FCCSWL office; 2) emailing a scanned copy; or 3) sending it via Five College Mail with pre-addressed envelopes provided by your course organizer. Please let your course organizer know at the beginning of the semester how you will submit the homework. We recommend submitting photocopies of your homework, so you can keep your originals for study reference.

Grading Criteria

10% attendance, preparation, and participation in all conversation sessions and meetings with the peer-tutor – regular attendance is required in order to pass the course 1

10% on-time submission of self-assessment reports due at the end of each week

10% on-time submission and completeness of the written homework portfolio

70% final comprehensive oral evaluation covering listening and reading comprehension, conversational fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation The final comprehensive oral evaluation must be passed in order to pass the course. Final grades are submitted by the program director based on final evaluation grades, the student’s overall course participation record, and the on-time submission and completion of the homework portfolio.

Grading scale: A (94-100); A- (90-93); B+ (87-89); B (84-86); B- (80-83); C+ (77-79); C (74-76); C- (70-73); D+ (67-69); D (64-66); D- (60-63); F (59 or lower). Final oral evaluation must be completed in order to pass the course.

Drop and Course Repetition Policies

Drop policies differ by home campus. The drop policy for your campus is stated on the course contract you signed at registration. A student who receives a grade below a B- for the course or who has repeated absences from conversation sessions will not be allowed to enroll in future FCSILP courses. FCSILP courses cannot be repeated to replace a failing grade or to improve a grade.

Accommodations

The University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Five College Center for World Languages are committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students.  If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with UMass Disability Services (DS) or your home campus, you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course.  If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify the program director within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements.  For further information, please visit Disability Services at https://www.umass.edu/disability/ or your home campus office of disability services. 

Academic Honesty Policy

Students must adhere to all University of Massachusetts Amherst and Five College policies regarding professional conduct and ethics, including policies covering non-discrimination, sexual harassment, and academic honesty. University of Massachusetts Amherst Academy Honesty Policy: Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University.  Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty.  Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty.  Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct.  Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible.  Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair.  Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent. More information about the Academic Honesty Policy and Procedures may be found online here: https://www.umass.edu/honesty/.

Importance of Communication

Practice communication skills similar to what you would need in a professional work or internship situation: check email twice per day; read email carefully and respond in a timely manner; contact the office by email or phone about questions or issues; take a proactive approach to solving any problems or issues that come up. Save fcmlp2@umass.edu in your address book to help ensure that important messages about your course do not end up in your spam folder.

Schedules and Schedule Changes

Each student will be assigned regular weekly tutorial and conversation session times. Any temporary or permanent changes in these times must be worked out with the director of the Five College Center for World Languages, who maintains the master schedule of all tutorials and conversation sessions. Email questions related to schedules to your course organizer. Do not ask your mentor directly for changes because they may not be aware of other scheduling issues affected by the change. The mentors have been instructed to refer anyone who requests schedule change to the program office.

Students who miss tutorials or conversation sessions will not be provided with make-up opportunities. Students who know ahead of time that they will need to miss a future session should inform their course organizer with as much advance notice as possible. 

In the event that the mentor or conversation partner has to cancel a session due to illness or another emergency, every effort will be made to provide an appropriate make-up session or substitute.

Snow emergencies and snow days: Winter snow emergencies occasionally cause delays and cancellations of Five College bus service, early closings of campuses, or snow days being declared on one or more campuses. Because we do not want any students or mentors to get stranded away from their home campus, we will generally cancel tutorials and conversation sessions if 1) the National Weather Service has issued a warning for severe winter weather for the time period of the sessions; and 2) the students and or mentors affected would have to travel to other than their own campus. We will not cancel if the mentor and the students involved live on the same campus, unless that campus has cancelled classes for the relevant time period. If a snow day has been declared in the morning, tutorials and conversation sessions may still take place late in the late afternoon or evening if the weather has cleared and the buses are running. Cancellations due to weather will be sent by email. If you have weather related questions, email your course organizer or call the office at 542-5264.