University of Virginia Library

Greater Flexibility

French Dep't Abolishes Comps

By Donn Kessler
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The French Department, in order to
allow greater flexibility in accordance
with the new College Curriculum, has
abolished undergraduate comprehensive
examinations, added pass-fail elective
courses, and has reformed the basic
foreign language requirement in French.

In reforms approved by the Faculty of
Arts and Sciences March 25 the comprehensive
examination has been replaced
with a required paper to be written in
French. The paper would be the result of
a seminar taken during the fourth year
and would be directed by the instructor
of the seminar.

New Courses

The department faculty also created new
courses that could be taken after the basic
French requirement was met.

In previous years, undergraduate students, if
they wished to take courses after finishing
French 6, were allowed to take course in the
20-30 level.

Included among these courses are studies in
the medieval French hero, the spirit of dissent
in the 18th Century, French theater in the 18th
Century, 20th Century French Political literature,
and the psychological French novel of the
early twentieth century.

Undergrads Only

All of the five new courses will be open only
to non-major undergraduate students and will
be replacing 100-level courses in the same or
related areas.

Students will also be able to take pass-fail
elective courses in the department. Students
who wish to continue in French once they
finish French 6 can take courses on this basis in
the 20-60 course level.

Also students who finish the University
foreign language requirement in another language
and wish to take basic French courses can
do so on a pass-fail basis.

Students who are finishing their basic
foreign language requirement in French, however,
will not be able to take those required
courses on a pass-fail basis.

The third basic reform in the French
Department concerns required courses. According
to one assistant professor in the
department, the hallmark of the reforms
involves flexibility in courses to allow students
to take courses according to their individual
ability and preference.

Basic Requirement

The basic requirement will still be that
students must finish French 6. But there will
now be six ways of doing this.

In the first way, students can take French 1,
2, 5, and 6. In this sequence, French 5s has
been combined with French 4 and French 5.
This sequence will be for students who have
had no French in high school.

A second sequence is to take French 1A,
2A, and 6. These courses are accelerated and
can be taken by students who have a limited
amount of French in high school or who believe
that they can handle the intensive course work.

A third alternative in finishing the French
requirement is a sequence of French 3s, 4, and
6. French 3s is an intermediate French course
designed for students who have taken French
before coming to the University and are so
ineligible to enroll in French 1, but who are
inadequately prepared for a normal French 3
course.

Fourth Sequence

The fourth sequence of courses consists of
French 3, 5, and 6. French 3 will differ from
French 3s in that it will be for students more
adequately prepared for college level French.

The final two alternatives are sequences of
French 5 and 6 or just French 6. Basic reforms
have also occurred in these programs.

Both French 5 and French 6 will now
consist of three tracks, A, B, and C. Track A
will consist of a comprehensive course with
emphasis on the spoken language. All reading,
class discussion, papers and tests will be in
French.

In Track B, reading and classroom discussion
will be in French while written work will be
either in French or in English.

In Track C courses, reading will be In French
and all other work will be done in English.