Jamb SyllaBus

FRENCH

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in French is to prepare the candidates for the Board's examination. It is designed to test their achievement of the course objectives, which are to:
1.assess written comprehension in French;
2.identify how French sounds work in speech production;
3.examine the culture of Francophone Africa and France in relation (where possible) to home country;
4.appreciate straightforward literary texts in French;
5.apply the principles governing the structure and use of written French.


TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
1.   Written Comprehension in French
-   Topics of general and emergent Interest e.g. love, life death, politics, Marriage, HIV/AIDS, Communication, child trafficking, Cultism, travel, corruption, money laundering etc.

OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
(i) deduce answers to question on the content, Intent and style of proposed texts;
(ii) apply reasoning skills.


TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
2.  Principles Governing the
Structure and Use of Written
French
1.   Identification of basic form
classes:
(a) Nouns - simple/compound, Singular/plural masculine/feminine
(b) Pronouns - personal, impersonal, Demonstrative, possessive and Relative.
(c) Verbs - reflexive and non-reflexive, their moods and tenses.
(d) Adjectives û qualifying possessive, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite (e.g. nul), numeral (e.g. dix) and ordinal (e.g. dixieme)
(e) Adverbs  

OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
i. identify what constitutes the basic structures of written French.
ii. use the principles governing the structure  of written  French   to determine acceptability, e.g. to transform one from one class to another;
iii. apply the structure to conveydiverse messages;

- Common forms
i)  with-ment (e.g. lentenment)
ii)  with preposition + noun(e.g. par avion, a cheval, En voiture, par bateau)
-  Special forms (e.g. bien, vite, mal, mieux, le mieux, pire, le pis, ne... que)
-  Types
-   Manner (e.g. debout, facilement)
-   Purpose (e.g. pour + Infinitive, afin de + infinitive
-   Cause and consequence (e.g. pour + infinitive perfect, a cause de + noun)
-   Concession (e.g. malgre +Noun)
-   Place (e.g. y, en, ici, la - haut, partout)
-   Time (e.g. hier, aujord'hui, Avant hier, hier, apres, demain, la veille, le matin, dans un mois).
(f)   Prepositions
- Simple (e.g. a, de, avec, vant, Sur, dans)
- compound (e.g. a cote de, au milieu de)
(g)  Conjunctions
- of co-ordinatiion (e.g. mais, ou, et, done, car, cependent, ne...ni)
- of subordination (e.g. afin que, quoique, a condition que, pour' que, parce que).
(h)  Articles
- definite, indefinite and partitive
ii     assessment of vocabulary span (words in contemporary contexts
- meaning, use, opposites, synonyms)
iii   Importance of word order in
(a) affirmative sentences
(b) interrogative sentences
(c) imperative sentences
(d). passive voice formation

iv   Identification and application of basic processes in language structure, e.g.
(a)conjugation - in all tenses except Timpartfait du subjonctif le passe\ compose du subjonctif et. ..... le plus - que parfait du subjonctif.

(b)   negation (e.g. ne...pas, ne.. .plus, he.. .rien, nul he, ni.. .ne, ne.. .personne, personne...ne, aucun....ne rien ne....etc)

(c)   agreement (e.g. les beaux arts, il les a vues les photos)

(d)  pluralisation (e.g. as in cheval/chevaux; beau/beaux)

(e)  derivation
-from adj, to adv - e.g. lent-lentement
-from adj. to adj. e.g. un- premier
-from adj. to noun - e.g. bon-bonte, riche-richesse etc
-from one degree of comparison to another (using plus.. .que, mois.. ..que, aussi....que e.g. plus grand que)
NB - special forms - (e.g. bon, meilleur,le meillure la mailleur, mauvais, pire, le pire)

(v) UseofFrenchinset
Expressions such as in proverbs, idioms and conventional structures as provided for in common speech acts:
(a)    proverbs (e.g. tel pere, tel fils, petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid)
(b)   idioms (e.g. avoir une faim de loup; crier su le toit, mourir de peur)
(c)   conventional stretches (e.g. enchante, c'est dommage, formidable, stationnement interdit etc)
(d)   speech acts (e.g. proposer, conseiller, regretter,admirer esperer, interroger, reprocher, s'accorder etc)

OBJECTIVE
v)   apply communicative skills


TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
3.Working of French Sounds via:
(a) Sound discrimination (e.g. tout/tu)
(b)letter-sound correspondence (e.g. ai-/e/, ais-/e/)
(c)syllabification (e.g.con/tente/ment)
(d)liaison (e.g. trios animaux Cas unique)
(e)sense groups in reading (e.g. J'ai mal a la tete)
(f)cognates and faux amis (e.g. president, nation) identification of sounds to determine similarity (e.g. maison/saison, dents/don,fond/ fonde)

OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
(i) discriminate between French sounds
(ii)   deduce meanings out of sound combinations;
(iii)  use  the  above  to enahcne effective communication;
(iv)  assess   sound   groupings   in terms of how they are affected by such features  as   syllabification, liaison, e-caduc;  pause, intonation, etc;


TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
4.Literature
- study of selected texts: Identification of Characteristics features of Creative writing e.g. plot, Charaters, theme, Setting and style (use of Language, imageries etc,

OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
(i)  interpret the contents of selected straight-forward creative writings;
(ii) compare the contents interms of the style  and  form of narration;
(iii) assess    their   relevance   to social life.


TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
5.   Culture and Civilization
Characteristic (Aspects, similarities and differences) of the educational system, socio¬economic life, political organization and culture life of Francophone Africa and France with reference (where possible) to home country i.e. Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
i.    identify the characteristics features of the culture of Francophone Africa and France-greetings, dressing, food, leisure, marriage, festival, art, profession etc;
ii.     compare these features with those of home country (where possible);
iii.    apply reasoning skills.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS
A.   Literature
(i)    Mbuko, I. (2006) Chaque choose en son temps. Aba: Lynnette Publishers
(ii)   Malot, H. (1995) Sans Famille. Editions Francais Facile
B.(i) Written Language
Ajiboye, T. (2006) Companion to French Grammar (Revised Edition):Ilorin: Info-Links.
Ajiboye, T. (1999) Nouvel Horizon, Book 4, Ibadan: Bounty Press Berard, E. et al (1991) Tempo 2
Byrne and Churchill (1980) A Comprehensive French Grammar Hatier (1980) Ler Nouvean Bescherell: L 'Art de Conjuguer, Ibadan: Spectrum
Ojo, S.'A(2000)J4 Comprehensive Revision Handbook of French Grammar, Ibadan: Agoro Publishing Company. Vercollier, A. (2006) Difficultes expliquees du Francais (for English speakers) Spectrum Books Limited. Spectrum House, Ibadan. Gallier, T. (2007) on y va: Senior Secondary School, Spectrum Books Limited Ibadan Nigeria.
Any other relevant materials on French Grammars

B(ii)Oral: Ajiboye, T. (2003) An Introduction to Practice in Oral French,
Ibadan: Bounty Press
Leon, M. (1978) Initiation a la Pronounciation du Francais
Standard.
Any other materials that emphasise oral practice
C.Culture of Froncophone Countries
Girod R and Ground-Clement, F. (1979) Coment vivent les Francois, Paris: Hachette Mbuko, L. (2000) French Essays on Culture and
Civilisation for Schools and College Ibadan: Bounty Press.
Any other relevant materials, e.g. French newspapers, magazines,
journals, and documentation on Froncophone life.
D.Dictionary
Any good French/English or French dictionary