48
French Language and Translation
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION SKILLS
The following course of study aims to provide students with the knowledge and methodological tools necessary for the analysis of syntactic structures and diastratic and diaphasic nuances of the French language from a translation perspective, strengthening the ability to understand French texts that are complex in both form and content. Linguistic analysis aims to strengthen knowledge of the different linguistic registers of contemporary French and of different types of texts in relation to the tourism sector. The socio-cultural themes addressed during the year will enable the student to get to know the fundamental aspects of the French and French-speaking cultural world. At the end of the course, the student will have to demonstrate a solid mastery of the syntactic structures of the French language, with in-depth study of some significant aspects of the differences between oral and written language.
APPLICATION SKILLS
The course aims to develop written and oral comprehension skills on medium to complex topics as well as translation skills through the contrastive observation of French and Italian on authentic texts. Students will be able to apply the knowledge acquired during theoretical lessons to consolidate their mastery of the linguistic registers of contemporary French, in production and comprehension, to the development of skills in written production, in particular of argumentative texts. The student will be able to analyse, critically discuss and communicate the key concepts of contemporary French and Francophone culture through the socio-cultural themes addressed during the year. The more descriptive and theoretical module will provide the tools of syntactic analysis by reinforcing knowledge of French metalinguistic terminology; the student will have to demonstrate the ability to apply theoretical descriptions to the production of written texts and translation. Specifically, the analysis of the different types of texts relating to tourism as well as the key terms of the domain aims to strengthen the student's communicative skills in the field of tourism.
AUTONOMY OF JUDGEMENT:
The course aims to develop the students' autonomy of judgement in analysing and reconstructing issues related to the structures of the French language in order to address different aspects of French and French-speaking society and culture. The course aims to provide students with the tools to analyse different textual typologies.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The student consolidates written and oral communication skills on topical and cultural subjects, on which he/she will be able to argue in French. He/she must also strengthen communication skills on abstract topics, such as syntax and the language policy of France. The communicative skills that the student must achieve to pass the examination correspond to levels B1/B2 QCERL.
ABILITY TO LEARN:
Through the study of the syntax of the French language, the student will strengthen his ability to understand and elaborate texts of various types, in an autonomous and analytical manner so that he will also be able to pursue independently the learning of new knowledge about the French and French-speaking language and culture.
Course Prerequisites
It is essential that students have knowledge of the morphological and lexical structures of the French language and have attained an intermediate level command of French (A2-B1). It is also important to have basic knowledge of French linguistics (lexicology and semantics).
Teaching Methods
The teaching activities are mainly organised in lectures during which theoretical elements and methods of analysis are provided. The last part of the lecture, which is interactive, is dedicated to exercises and guided analysis of texts, translation practice of texts, with the contribution of multimedia and printed material. In itinere, attending students and volunteers may be asked to do group work to be shared with the class. In addition to the 4 hours per week and semester of frontal lectures, students must follow 4 hours per week, annually, of exercises with CELs. Attendance at the course and tutorials, although not compulsory, is highly recommended.
Assessment Methods
The examination consists of a language proficiency test and an oral test. Access to the oral test is conditional on passing the language proficiency test. Language skills will be assessed by means of: an oral comprehension test, the production of an argumentative text, a translation from French into Italian of an institutional text. The oral test aims to ascertain possession of the concepts of syntactic analysis covered during the course and dealt with in the study bibliography. During the examination, students will have to discuss the activities chosen and carried out in self-study and will also have to have translated 10 sentences for each chapter of the book ‘Traduire en Français d'aujourd'hui’ and the texts in the virtual classroom.
Language of examination: French
Evaluation criteria: The final evaluation, expressed in thirtieths, is aimed at ascertaining the acquisition of the correct knowledge and skills in linguistics and metalinguistics. The assessment criteria used to verify the knowledge and skills acquired are: phonetic and morpho-syntactic correctness, fluency of the language, correct use of metalinguistic terminology, ability to apply the knowledge acquired to authentic texts (analysis of sentences in immediate constituents), ability to reason about linguistic phenomena in French, ability to express articulate and complex reasoning of a general nature in French.
Texts
Bibliography
1. Françoise Bidaud, Traduire en français d’aujourd’hui, UTET
2. Maria-Teresa Zanola (a cura di), Le français de nos jours. Caractères, formes, aspects, Carocci, 2023 (Cap. 5, 6, 7, 8 e 10)
3. Sample of texts about French for turism
Insights:
1. Josiane Podeur, La pratica della traduzione. Dal francese in italiano e dall’italiano in francese, Liguori.
2. Alberto Brammati, Le trappole del francese, Cortina, 2019.
Contents
Course title: La syntaxe du français : approche contrastive
The course is divided into two modules
1 - The syntax of the French sentence
The sentence and syntagmatic analysis; sentence modalities; word order in French and Italian; syntax and diastratic and diaphasic variation.
2- Textuality and translation
From the sentence to the text: anaphora, thematic progression, connectors, argumentation; syntax and translation; textual types in the field of tourism (French and French-speaking)
Socio-cultural themes addressed during the course and language exercises: Les médias ; L'amour et la vie affective ; Les valeurs de la République française aujourd'hui ; Hier, aujourd'hui demain.
Course Language
French
More information
Lecture material, supplementary resources and insights are provided in the course virtual classroom of the University's e-learning platform