Requirements for a Major or Minor in French


– also see Education
– also see Global Studies
– also see International Business

Programs offered
• Major in French (32 credits)
• Minor in French (20 credits)
• Major in International Business with a minor in French
(see international business) (30 to 32 credits in French)
• Major in French Education (32 to 34 credits plus 36 credits in education)
• World Languages add-on endorsement for Elementary Education majors (see education) (24 to 26 credits)

Faculty
Gay G. Rawson, chair
Zacharie N. Petnkeu

The purpose of the French department is to foster a deep sense of passion, curiosity, discovery, understanding, and connectedness with the global community in order to empower our students to engage and act responsibly in a culturally sensitive and multilingual manner.

The French department provides learning experiences that prepare students to achieve the following outcomes:
• to acquire communication skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – at various levels of proficiency.
• to develop the ability to communicate with people of other cultures in their language.
• to have the opportunity to have direct contact with speakers from France and the Francophone at home and around the world
• to appreciate the contributions by people of the target civilizations to history, the arts, literature and their established institutions, etc.
• to acquire a better understanding of the English language and the U.S. culture through comparison with other languages and cultures.
• to stimulate the curiosity and the imagination and motivate to continue the study of languages beyond college to full proficiency.

The French department’s on-campus resources for students include the opportunity to live in the Maison Française language residence, the student-run French Club, After-School French teaching, being a counselor at the Concordia Language Villages French weekend programs, membership in the National French Honor Society (Pi Delta Phi), and more. Off-campus programs provide opportunities for students to study French language and culture through immersion. These include: FREN 300 – May Seminar in France or the Francophone World, FREN 490 – Practicum in France, study at the University of Rennes in France or the Université François Rabelais in Tours, France, internships with companies in France, exploration seminars, and the opportunity to compete for a French government assistantship. (See Global Learning at Concordia, Page 25, for details.)

Liberal Arts Core Distribution World Languages Requirement
Students may satisfy this requirement by either option A or B:
A. Successful completion of a French language and culture course taken at Concordia College: FREN 112 – Beginning French II or a higher-numbered course. All students who have studied French prior to coming to Concordia are expected to take a computerized placement test in French to determine which course level is the most appropriate for each individual’s ability. If the transcript shows that the student has not previously studied French, the student is not required to take the placement exam and qualifies to enroll in FREN 111 – Beginning French I.
B. Achieving successful scores on the oral proficiency interview and a timed essay that demonstrate the student has mastered the content and scope of the sequence FREN 111 – Beginning French I and FREN 112 – Beginning French II. Prior to taking the oral interview and writing the essay, students must first place beyond FREN 112 on the computerized placement exam in French.

Major in French
The requirements for a major in French are 32 credits:
• FREN 211 – Intermediate French I, 4 credits
• FREN 212 – Intermediate French II, 4 credits
• FREN 311 – Intensive Oral and Written Communication, 4 credits
• FREN 331 – French Culture and Civilization, 4 credits
• 16 additional credits in French (excluding FREN 220 – The Best of French Literature and FREN 223 – Race, Gender and Power in the Francophone World)

Minor in French
The requirements for a minor in French are 20 credits:
• FREN 211 – Intermediate French I, 4 credits
• FREN 212 – Intermediate French II, 4 credits
• FREN 311 – Intensive Oral and Written Communication, 4 credits
• FREN 331 – French Culture and Civilization, 4 credits
• 4 additional credits in French (excluding FREN 220 – The Best of French Literature and FREN 223 – Race, Gender and Power in the Francophone World)

Major in International Business with a minor in French
The business requirements for a major in international business with a minor in French are listed in the international business pages of the catalog. A minor in French may be completed as described above. However, in order to participate in the international business program in France, students must complete the minor by taking the following courses:

Qualified international business majors with sufficient French language skills take courses the second semester of their junior or senior year at the Management Institute of the University of Rennes in France and complete an internship with a French company. The normal French requirements for participation in this semester in France include 30 to 32 credits:
• FREN 211 – Intermediate French I, 4 credits
• FREN 212 – Intermediate French II, 4 credits
• FREN 311 – Intensive Oral and Written Communication, 4 credits
• FREN 331 – French Culture and Civilization, 4 credits
• FREN 360 – French in the Business World, 4 credits
• FREN 255 – Pre-May Seminar, 2 credits
• FREN 300 – May Seminar, 4 credits
• FREN 490 – Practicum, 4 credits
The department may waive French 300 and/or 490 requirements for those students who are satisfactorily proficient in French language and culture as a result of an extended stay in a French-speaking country.

Licensure for Teaching French
Under the new Minnesota Board of Teaching rules, world languages have two licenses available, either a K-8 or a K-12 license. (The K-8 program is an add-on endorsement to a K-6 elementary education major) In order to receive departmental approval for student teaching, all candidates for K-12 or K-8 licensure must pass a screening at the intermediate-high level of language proficiency as described by the Board of Teaching Standards, and a screening of geographical and cultural knowledge of the French-speaking world. The department strongly recommends that all students have a language-immersion experience in a French-speaking culture in order to increase their level of proficiency.

Major in French Education
This major prepares students to be recommended by the Concordia College department of education for Minnesota licensure to teach French in grades K-12. To be eligible to complete this major, the student must be admitted to the teacher education program. (See education pages for program information, requirements and course descriptions.)

The requirements for a major in French education are 32 to 34 credits plus 36 credits in education:
• FREN 211 – Intermediate French I, 4 credits
• FREN 212 – Intermediate French II, 4 credits
• FREN 250 – Pre-May Seminar: Francophone World, 4 credits OR
FREN 255 – Pre-May Seminar: France, 2 credits
• FREN 311 – Intensive Oral and Written Communication, 4 credits
• FREN 331 – French Culture and Civilization, 4 credits
• FREN 340 – French Phonetics and Other Linguistics Issues, 2 credits
• 12 additional credits from the following:
– FREN 300 – May Seminar, 4 credits
– FREN 360 – French in the Business World, 4 credits
– FREN 370 – Current French Political, Social and Economic Affairs, 4 credits
– FREN 410 – Introduction to French Literature through Poetry, 2 credits
– FREN 411 – The Development of French Theatre, 4 credits
90 FRENCH
– FREN 412 – The Development of French Prose, 4 credits
– FREN 413 – Advanced Composition and Grammar, 2 credits
– FREN 490 – The French Practicum, 4 credits
• FREN 300 – May Seminar and FREN 490 – Practicum are highly recommended as two of the three above-listed courses.
• EDUC 362 – Secondary Methods of Teaching in World Languages, 4 credits (required methods of teaching course)
• EDUC 363 – FLES Methods of Teaching, 4 credits (required methods of teaching course)
• Successful completion of the secondary/K-12 required coursework (see Education: Curriculum in Secondary/K-12 Education)

In order to receive departmental approval for student teaching, all candidates for the major or add-on endorsement must pass a screening at the Intermediate High level of language proficiency as described by the Board of Teaching Standards, and a screening of geographical and cultural knowledge of the French-speaking world. The department strongly recommends that all students have a language-immersion experience in a French-speaking culture in order to increase their level of proficiency.