Garden City Public Schools
Garden City, New York
Course: French 4 R/H
Overview of Course
This course focuses on strengthening the skills of listening, speaking, reading and
writing. There is a strong emphasis on advanced grammatical structures and usage,
literary and cultural reading selections, vocabulary acquisition, and composition writing.
There is a strong focus on the communicative use of the language, making it primarily an
advanced conversation course. The 4H course provides the groundwork for the
Advanced Placement course. The syllabus for the Advanced Placement Examination will
be followed throughout the year. This course completes half of Checkpoint C of the NYS
syllabus.
Instructional Philosophy
The Department of World Languages believes that the primary goal of second language
learning is the achievement of functional communication in the context of the target
language. Language learning is also an invaluable asset to students who will be taking
their place in the world today. To achieve this goal, the aim of the department is twofold:
To teach students the skills necessary for effective communication in the foreign
language; i.e.: listening, speaking, reading and writing. To provide students with the
insight into and appreciation of the foreign culture in order that they become more
informed and understanding citizens of the world.
Knowledge and Skills Objectives
Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication. Listening
and Speaking are primary communicative goals in modern language learning. These
skills are used for the purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information,
expressing personal feelings and opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of action.
Reading and Writing are used in languages other than English for the purposes of
socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing personal feelings and
opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of action.
Students will develop cross-cultural skills and understandings.
Effective Communication involves meanings that go beyond words and require an
understanding of perceptions, gestures, folklore, and family and community dynamics.
All of these elements can affect whether and how well a message is received.