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French (B.A.) (2 subjects/teaching profession profile)

Features

« Je voudrais mourir par curiosité. »George Sand

French is a world language with currently about 270 million speakers, which is highly significant not only within the EU, but also worldwide. If you are interested in the French language, literature and culture, from the medieval Chanson de Roland to the digital media, study with us! Become a specialist in the cultures of the francophone countries and regions. Find out, for example, why Albert Camus’ Sisyphos is a happy person, or learn more about the interaction of cultural influences in the Caribbean or in Africa.

Programme:
French
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) (2 subjects/teaching profession profile)
Standard period of study:
6 semesters
Start:
Only the winter semester
Language of the programme:
German
Admission:
open (enrolment without previous application)

Details

In the course of your French studies, you will acquire competencies in numerous different areas:

  • linguistic competence (level C1 GER)
  • intercultural competence
  • ability to conduct scientific work
  • historical perspectives on linguistic, literary and cultural developments
  • regional and country-specific knowledge
  • analytical skills
  • key competencies in communication, investigation methods and information processing
  • knowledge about teaching French as a foreign language

The sections of the Bachelor’s degree programme in French are language practice, literary studies, linguistics, regional and cultural studies and specialised didactics.

In the area of language practice, you will practice and expand the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing on the basis of the European Framework of Reference (from level B1 to C1), to develop your receptive and productive competence in oral and written communication. You will analyse and compare various aspects of German and French grammar. All courses in language practice include some aspects of regional and cultural studies (such as history, culture, politics, etc.) of both France and the francophone countries.

The purpose of linguistics is to examine the structure and usage of contemporary French and its historical development (e.g. the description of phonetic structure, vocabulary and grammar). The basic principles, core areas and methods of French linguistics are taught in the relevant courses. We make a point of offering a wide range of courses from traditional Romance language areas, such as historical linguistics, generative syntax and dialectology, as well as covering modern questions of discourse linguistics and cognitive semantics. The goal here is to enable students to carry out independent work using modern linguistic methods (e.g. computational linguistics).

Literary studies deal with the francophone cultures and literatures and their history from the medieval beginnings to the 21st century. You will be familiarized with various methods of text interpretation and literary theories, whose diversity opens up a great variety of approaches to text analysis and other media forms (e.g. film). In the literary studies courses, some specific eras and works are dealt with in more detail. Some research areas in French literary studies are the French literature of the Renaissance, autobiographic writing in France after the Revolution, history of books, readers and reading, the modern French literature, as well as literary historiography and gender and virility studies.

In regional and cultural studies, basic knowledge is acquired about the history, economics, politics, society and culture of France and the francophone countries, using theories from the social and cultural sciences. The acquisition of regional and cultural knowledge includes the development of intercultural competence to enable you to reflect on both your own and the foreign culture, and to comprehend the two cultures as dynamic, living and multifaceted systems. In the advanced courses, this basic knowledge is expanded using specific examples.

Specialised didactics deals with teaching and learning French as a foreign language. You will acquire basic knowledge about French language didactics, which will be expanded in the subsequent Master of Education degree programme. The introductory courses cover historical aspects of foreign language teaching, theories of foreign language learning, aspects of European language policies and questions of teaching and learning foreign languages in schools and extracurricular contexts (e.g. adult education, bilingual education or technical terminology).

There are so many advantages to studying French in Göttingen:

  • You learn about French and Francophone language and culture in the heart of Germany.
  • You will get personal support in learning groups with small numbers of participants.
  • We have an international teaching staff.
  • A major part of the curriculum is taught in the target language.
  • Your studies are research-oriented thanks to our interdisciplinary cooperation projects.
  • We have a special subject library with more than 100,000 volumes.
  • You can also get into contact with other Romance languages and cultures, if you like.

French can be combined with all other teaching subjects.

The main target labour market for graduates in French lies in secondary schools. This market is expected to remain stable in the foreseeable future, with the normal dual demographic fluctuations (in the numbers of teachers and pupils).

Related and consecutive/graduate programmes


Structure

Regulations and module directory


Combination of subjects for the teaching profession

French can be combined with all teaching profession subjects.

Language requirements

To start the degree programme, French language proficiency is required at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (GER). This level of proficiency can be proved either by relevant documentary evidence or by passing our aptitude and orientation test.

Admission

Start:
Winter semester only
1st subject semester:
open admission (enrolment without previous application)
2nd to 6th subject semester:
open admission (enrolment without previous application)

EU
Non-German citizens without a German educational qualification

Non-EU
Citizen from a non-EU country (or stateless person)


Göttingen City


Our Campus


Your Studies


Contact

Study and examination advice Faculty of Humanities

Tina Seufer and Eva Wolff

Humboldtallee 17
DE-37073 Göttingen

Phone: +49 (0)551 39 21888 (Seufer)
Phone: +49 (0)551 39 26713 (Wolff)

Email: studienberatung@phil.uni-goettingen.de

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Academic Advising

apl. Prof. Dr. Annette Paatz

Department of Romance Philology
Humboldtallee 19
DE-37073 Göttingen

romanistik@uni-goettingen.de

Area of professionalisation and teaching profession

Studiendekanat Lehrer*innenbildung
Waldweg 26
DE-37073 Göttingen

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