French BA (Hons)

This module aims to provide students with skills appropriate to a range of areas in French Studies, introducing them to the historical periods and cultural contexts with which they will engage in future years, and to assist them in developing generic study skills, including research skills, image analysis skills, film analysis skills, literary analysis skills, referencing and bibliographic skills and close reading and commentary writing.

The module is an introduction to linguistics, focusing on issues in theoretical and applied linguistics which are relevant for language learners. It aims to equip students with a better awareness of and explicit knowledge about language and language learning. The meta-awareness thus gained will assist in hypothesis testing and rule formation essential to the learning of language.

This is the second semester foundational module in French Studies, which introduces students to key content and skills. The module focuses specifically on language issues, texts of various types, and film from the French-speaking world. The module covers language awareness alongside issues of literary, visual, and film theory, as well as history, and draws on relevant movements and theoretical paradigms. Thus, the module introduces students to key skills in: reading and analysing primary and secondary sources critically; essay writing; and visual analysis.

The module opens with an introduction to French colonial history, allowing students to explore the ways in which French has become a global language and France a global power. After an overview of this context, the module uses a combination of lectures and guided reading in seminars to provide a comprehensive understanding of the presence of France and French across five continents. A dossier of texts and other material will be read both individually and from a comparative and transhistorical perspective. The module will conclude with a consideration of the organs of French neo-colonialism and soft power, such as La Francophonie, and allow students to explore Global France in the twenty first century.

This French language module is designed for first year undergraduate students . It is for absolute beginners or students with very limited knowledge of the language. No previous knowledge of French is required. Through a variety of methods students will develop a basic competence in reading, writing, listening and speaking French and an understanding of basic French grammar.
At the end of this 12 week- module students will be able to carry out simple everyday tasks in French. Students will be able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. They will be able to introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about personal details. They will be able to interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly. They will have a basic understanding of significant aspects of life and culture of the country and intercultural skills necessary for their language proficiency level. This module is mapped against A1 level in French according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This module is mapped against A2 level in French according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).It is for students who have achieved a GCSE at foundation level or who have reached an A1 proficiency level in the Common European Framework. Through a variety of methods students will continue to develop basic competence in reading, writing, listening and speaking French and an understanding of basic French grammar. At the end of this 12 week- module students will be more confident to carry out all everyday tasks, they will start to be able to express their opinions about current affairs and function in many professional contexts. They will have an increased understanding of life and culture of the country and the intercultural skills necessary for their language proficiency level.

This module is the compulsory language module for all students enrolled in degree programmes aiming for a qualification in French. It is the first stage of a four-year learning curve and is preparation for the following year (FREN207 and FREN208).

This module is mapped against B1+ level in French according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This module is a compulsory language module for all students enrolled in degree programmes aiming for a qualification in French. It is the first stage of a four-year learning curve and is thus preparation for the following year (FREN207 and FREN208).

The aim of the course is to give you grounding in analytical skills, an appreciation of the significance of film as a medium, and an ability to write about film in an accessible and well informed way for different audiences and different purposes.

Furthermore, the course will introduce you to the basic components of the audiovisual ‘language’ which film uses to communicate with its audience, and to the methods that you should use when analysing how any one film uses this language. We will look at a wide variety of films selected for their particularly innovative or influential treatment of different aspects of this ‘language’.

This module explores contemporary issues and debates through considering global relationships in the past and how they have shaped the world in which we live. In light of the tremendous impact that modern imperialism and colonialism have had in shaping our world, the module focuses, in particular, on questions relating to race, empire and their legacies.

By exploring some of the ways in which historical investigation enriches urgent contemporary debates, the module aims to introduce students to a range of new ways of approaching the past, both in terms of subject matter and of approaches to history, and to broaden students’ historical understanding of both western and non-western
history (or what scholars refer to as the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’) and the myriad connections between them.
In addition, therefore, to preparing students for the range of subject matter, geographical areas, and approaches that they will be able to study in the second and third years of their History degree programme, this module also aims to make them better global citizens.

This module will be compulsory for any student taking the BA in English with World Literature. It will be optional for students on English and English Literature, and for students taking Single Honours French (R120), German (R220), Italian (R300) and Hispanic Studies (RR45).

The module will introduce students to key concepts, theories, critics, and texts in the study of world literature through the lens of national literature(s) and translation, in order to provide a foundation for further study.

Students will gain awareness of basic concepts of world literature from different national literary traditions and will learn how to apply them to a range of short literary works from a range of genres both within and beyond the module.

The aim of this course is to introduce you to key theoretical and conceptual debates within Film Studies. It will develop your ability to apply these concepts to close readings of film texts and, in doing so, enhance your skills of critical analysis and independent thinking.

This module provides students with an introduction to modern continental European history.   It broadens their understanding by first considering factors of a general importance in the development of modern Europe, and then looking at particular events and countries.   In this way, students will be given a grasp both of broad themes in European history – such as demographics, political units, ideologies and social change – and of the specific way history unfolded in certain times and places.

This module will be compulsory for any student taking the BA in English with World Literature. It will be optional for students on English and English Literature, and for students taking Single Honours French, German, Hispanic Studies and Italian.

This module will follow on from Introduction to World Literature 1: From the National to the Global (Semester 1) by deepening students’ understanding of concepts and theories of world literature, and applying these to a range of longer literary texts across all major genres including the novel, poetry, drama, short story both originally in English and in English translation.

It will be delivered via a lecture and tutorial each week and assessed via 80% assessed summative coursework essay of 2500-3000 words and 20% creative-critical project (1000-1500 words).
Formative work will support the assessments.

This compulsory module is designed for students who have successfully completed the beginners’ modules FREN112 and FREN134, or have reached an A2+ proficiency level in the Common European Framework, and who plan to go abroad in their third year. It aims to provide students with an advanced competence in reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar through both lessons and independent work. At the end of this 12 weeks- module students will have reached a B1 proficiency level in the Common European Framework of Reference and will confidently carry out all everyday tasks, they will be able to express their opinions about current affairs and function in many professional contexts. They will have a good understanding of life and culture of the country and the intercultural skills necessary for their language proficiency level.

This compulsory module is designed for students who have successfully completed the beginners courses FREN112 and FREN134, as well as FREN256 in semester one of their second year, and plan to go abroad in their third year. It aims to further provide students with good competence in reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammar through both lessons and independent work.
At the end of this 12 weeks- module students will have reached a B1 proficiency level in the Common European Framework of Reference and will confidently carry out all everyday tasks, they will be able to express their opinions about current affairs and function in many professional contexts. They will have a good understanding of life and culture of the country and the intercultural skills necessary for their language proficiency level. This module is mapped against B2 level in French according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This module is mapped against B2 level in French according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This module aims to develop further the skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking in French, as well as translating. This module will concentrate on fluency and accuracy in written and spoken French, through text analysis and language exercises. The module also provides a cultural preparation for the period of study in a French speaking country, focusing on job application, the world of work, the various registers and accents in French and practical information on accommodation, etc.

This module aims to develop further the skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking in French, as well as translating and interpreting both in and out of French. The module also provides a cultural preparation for the period of study in a French speaking country, focusing on the Education system, aspects of French life, practical information on banks, accommodation, transport, health system.

In this module, we will get you to think critically about the city in which you live and study, and consider how multilingual Liverpool actually is.

We will think about how people who manage the space in Liverpool make it more or less multilingual, and why they might do that. We think about issues of identity, authenticity, and translation. We also go out into Liverpool to undertake fieldtrips to learn about multilingualism on the streets!

Learn how to read an image, images from advertising (commercial and public service), company logotypes, Asterix and satirical political cartoons (Charlie Hebdo)

The modern city and the cinema developed together, and as they developed they referred to each other: cities have always been a prime space for film, while many urban theorists have found it useful to think of cities as cinematic spaces. The module introduces you to cinematic ways of representing the city, through the study of a number of representative films that deal with some major global metropolis.You will have the opportunity to produce your own short smartphone film of the city of Liverpool as part of a small-scale group project. This will allow you to put your ideas into practice and to reflect on the filmmaking process. No prior knowledge of practical filmmaking is required to enrol in this module but you are expected to be willing to familiarise yourself with the process of shooting and editing of a smartphone film.

An introduction to the practice of the food critic and to the rich history of French food culture. French cuisine is not only a fundamental part of national identity; it is one of the first cuisines to achieve recognition across the world. This module introduces students to the cultural history of food presenting a history of France in menus. As humans have fewer more basic needs, the production and absence of food have also profoundly affected social relations across the ages, thus you will also learn about the feasting and fasting habits of the nobility in the Middle Ages, bread riots in the eighteenth century and twentieth-century wartime food propaganda.

This module introduces you to the history of French cinema, with the emphasis on the `Golden Age’ (âge d’or) of the 1930s, the `New Wave’ (Nouvelle Vague) of the 1950s/60s, and films from the 1980s to the new millennium. While studying the French cinema, you will also be practising skills related to Film Studies, from the critical analysis of film texts or `how to read a film’, to relevant theoretical approaches. The emphasis throughout is on film language, or how film constructs meaning.

From a layman’s view of French as the language spoken by French speakers, this module will introduce students to a critical examination of the French language as a system with numerous dimensions. By the end of the semester, the French language should no longer be considered merely as a tool for communication or a medium of production for literature and poetry, but an entity in itself. Students should develop a ‘linguistic’ view of the language, stimulating an awareness of French, thereby enhancing language-learning.

This module will provide students with an overview of cities in which French is spoken, and allow them to gain an understanding of Francophone culture as a significant global phenomenon. Whilst offering an introduction to key contextual details (for instance Urban Studies and Globalised City Studies) essential to an understanding of the functioning of cities and cityscapes, the module has a core syllabus focussed on a range of Francophone cities from a cultural, topographical, and/or linguistic perspective. Students will understand these spaces both individually and in their comparative and transhistorical context.

Using some of the most controversial films ever made as case studies, this module examines the relationship between film, political authority and public morality. The module examines films from the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, the German Democratic Republic, France, Italy, Spain and China. All films are shown with English subtitles and the modules is suitable for all students in HSS interested in film, propaganda and censorship.

This module introduces you to aspects of life in Britain and Europe between about 1740 and 1815. This period is often seen as the beginning of the modern world, when the ideas about human nature and society that still shape our own lives came into circulation and when the global entanglements generated by trade and colonisation began to have a lasting impact on everyday life in Europe. The module is taught by tutors from French, German and English Studies, and History, as well as staff from the National Museums Liverpool. It gives you an insight into the range of materials and methods that are used in research in eighteenth-century studies. Interactive lectures, seminars and fieldwork encourage a hands-on approach to learning. You start by inventing an 18th-century character and you follow that character through various experiences typical of the period: shopping, reading, travelling, thinking about political issues of the day. Images, artefacts and contemporary texts in English and other languages are made available to support your research. The aim is for you to develop your capacity for asking questions (curiosity) as well as for answering them (research skills).

This second-year optional module will introduce students to the theory and practice of language teaching. Subject specific lectures will provide an overview of the evolution of teaching methodologies and approaches throughout history and up until the latest developments in the field, such as gamification or the flipped classroom approach. They will also guide students on applying these theories to different teaching contexts, taking into account variables such as language level, students’ profile, motivation, or the cognitive implications of second language learning. School placements and/or supervisions will provide the opportunity to apply the theory to an actual teaching context and to develop a teaching project.

This team-taught module invites students to an expansive, yet focused investigation of public spaces – real and digital – across Belgium, Germany, Colombia, China, United States, and Italy: we start with an introduction that familiarises the students with key concepts and questions of public space and its embodiments through, for instance, monuments, statues, and museums, drawing from theories of ‘the everyday’ (i.e. Michel de Certeau, David Harvey Edward Soja, Henri Lefebvre, etc.) and Memory Studies (i.e.Michael Rothberg’s multidirectional memory). The Introduction invites students to understand political change and protest movements in public spaces within a global context. Each week then focuses on a different case study, a statue, a museum, their digital representations, a neighbourhood, etc., such as the Berlin Wall Memorial and Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. To ensure coherence across these vastly different geographical and historical contexts, the sessions will be structured around a set of recurring key themes and questions (heritage, memory, justice, everyday use and creative transformation) to draw students’ attention to global connections and local specificities.

The final year language module is a course in communicative French at level C1 or C2, as specified in the Common European Framework of Reference. It introduces students to the principles of debate, reporting and presentation. Students also have the opportunity of developing their interpreting skills. Alongside the consolidation of their oral skills, students will also work on improving their writing skills, practise their grammatical accuracy, translation skills, as well as producing an extended piece of prose , focusing on report writing. Listening and reading skills will be developed during the contact hours and while preparing for assignments.

This is the second module which makes up the final-year programme in communicative French language. Like FREN311, it focuses on improving communication skills in French both orally and in writing. The aim is to increase linguistic confidence and to equip students with skills useful for social and professional life in a French environment.

This module gives students the opportunity to carry out independent research in an area of interest to them. The topic should be related to one of the research specialisms of members of staff in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. Students are expected to take the initiative in planning, researching and writing the dissertation. Supervision and guidance will be provided from a member of staff in the Department.

From haute couture to prêt-a-porter, from textile production to designer training, France has historically been at the forefront of fashion and of clothing technology. This cultural investment in both dress and the visual arts provides the underpinning to this module. Unique in UK French Studies curricula, it brings together the academic study of dress history with literary and visual studies, and provides an introduction to the growing discipline of material culture studies. Taught in a mixture of lectures and seminars, the module looks at a range of cultural productions – medieval manuscript illustration, theatre designs, fashion-plates, lifestyle journalism, bande dessinée – and allows students to consider how dress functions as a tool for self- and group definition, and as a means of shaping and interpreting social and personal identity. Across the centuries, in France as elsewhere, what we wear sends out important messages about who we are and how we want others to see us. Getting dressed in the morning will never seem quite so innocent again.

In this module, we will look at the social situation in France with regards to the use of language and consider how the different aspects of each of us as individuals can play a part in our production of French. We will explore language policy, from the reign of François I to Emmanuel Macron to see how French became the language of France and we’ll consider aspects of variation in language across France (both European and overseas territories).

This module introduces students to the theory and practice of translation at an advanced level. Students will develop an understanding of theoretical issues surrounding translation, applying this knowledge both to their own translations and to existing texts; gain insight into the professional practice of translation; and enhance their advanced language skills in both their target language(s) and English across a range of different text styles.

This module is offered to students of Chinese, French, German and Spanish. Students studying two languages may, subject to the agreement of the relevant tutors, choose to follow seminars in both languages. Please contact the module convenor in advance to make arrangements if you would like to take up this option.

Students wishing to take this module should normally have achieved an average of 60% or above in their second year language modules. MODL311 is a prerequisite for MODL312: students will normally be required to achieve 60% or above in MODL311 in order to progress into MODL312. Students are not required to take both modules in the same language.

In this module we will look at the ways in which the French narrative cinema has portrayed its own society, and the extent to which it has contributed to the general cultural understanding of that society’s history, aspirations and problems.

This module will introduce students to approaches to memory and to a body of textual, visual, material representation of terror that has become a key focus for critical analysis in recent cultural studies. It will provide a context in which students can engage in systematic comparisons between European, Latin American and East Asian experiences and representations of social and political trauma. It will also encourage students to reflect systematically on the political and ethical implications of literary, material, digital and cinematic representations of traumatic histories. You will have the opportunity to study in depth and compare examples of representation through different media and across different national and linguistic boundaries. Lectures provide background both to the main theoretical approaches, and to specific representations. In weekly seminars, you will work on the case studies covered in class, and on related materials. Assessment is on the basis of a poster and an essay.

MODL321 gives students the option of completing a 15-credit independent Research Project module in either in Semester 1 or Semester 2.

This module gives students the opportunity to carry out independent research in an area of interest to them. The topic should be related to one of the research specialisms of members of staff in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. Students are expected to take the initiative in planning, researching and completing the dissertation. Supervision and guidance will be provided from a member of staff in the Department.

The module will typically provide an introduction to the history of slavery in the Francophone and Hispanic Worlds, situating the phenomenon of modern slavery within an understanding of historical slavery. Students will then study a range of representations of slavery that have arisen in response to historical slavery. These will typically range from first person slave accounts from the early modern period which provide an individual perspective on the history of slavery; literary and filmic representations of slavery and cultural responses to slavery, particularly in the heritage industries through the practice of Dark Tourism. The module will typically include a visit to the International Slavery Museum in the Albert Dock, Liverpool.

The concept of transnational cinema is an important and exciting framework through which the interconnections between film cultures and filmmakers can be explored. While the nation was the dominant model through which film was viewed for many decades, recent criticism has acknowledged that in a globalized world, looking at how film crosses geographical, linguistic, industrial and cultural borders is more important than ever. Transnational cinema also addresses a particular set of themes, centered around pressing global concerns: climate change, terrorism, migration and border crossing, diasporic identities, postcolonialism, memory and loss, and changing models of gender and sexuality in an interconnected world. This module invites students to consider these themes in films from multiple geographical locations, encompassing Mexico/Spain, US/Pakistan, UK/India, Korea/UK, and Iran/France, among other.
In class, we will always pay attention to how these films cross borders: in terms of cast and crew, themes, production, distribution and aesthetics.

This module gives students the opportunity to produce an extended translation of a previously untranslated text. Students will also formulate a translation brief/pitch, which their translation will seek to fulfil. This is an independent project in which student take the initiative in planning, researching and writing. Expert supervision and guidance is provided by members of staff in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. As well as translating their text, students also produce a self-reflective commentary explaining and justifying the overall translation strategy. If you enjoy the challenge of translation and the creative possibilities offered by language, and if you are particularly suited to independent research, then this is the module for you.

MODL311 is a pre-requisite for MODL312: students will normally be required to achieve 60% or above in MODL311 in order to progress into MODL312. Students are not required to take both modules in the same language.

This module explores the relationship between comics, memory and history. Some of the most engaging comics of our times represent marginalised histories of individuals and communities, and whole genres of comics today are committed to drawing attention and striving against historical and contemporary systems of oppression. Over the last decades, comics have started documenting forgotten histories, conveying testimonies and enabling forms of self representation and transcultural belonging. Yet this medium has a long and complex history of depicting race and ethnicity, reinforcing discrimination and marginalisation and popularising colonial stereotypes. This module engages with such history, and with authors who are redrawing it.
This module develops a language-sensitive approach to comics and graphic novels beyond the Anglosphere; the syllabus introduces the students to a series of linguistic and cultural contexts in which comics have been developed and translated since the 20th century.

A large proportion of films are based on written texts and this module will introduce you to a range of cinematic adaptations of literary works from across Modern Languages. Using adaptation theory to inform your analysis, you will have the opportunity to study excerpts from texts and consider the issues that arise from their adaptation as films. How does cinema convey a sense of the past or modify literary works from a different time period? How does it represent the gender roles which can be a central preoccupation of literature? How does film transcend language boundaries to bring modern-language texts to new audiences? On this module you will have the opportunity to explore these areas whilst also developing skills in film analysis, journalistic writing and academic writing.

MODL322 gives students the option of completing a 15-credit independent Research Project module in either in Semester 1 or Semester 2.

This module gives students the opportunity to carry out independent research in an area of interest to them. The topic should be related to one of the research specialisms of members of staff in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. Students are expected to take the initiative in planning, researching and completing the dissertation. Supervision and guidance will be provided from a member of staff in the Department.