Degree Type:
Master of PhilosophyDepartment:
Department of FrenchProgramme Duration:
2 years (Standard Entry)
Modes of Study:
RegularProgramme Structure
Level 500
First Semester
FRE 801: Research Methods
The course aims at exposing students to new trends in research methodology in the area of Linguistics and Language Science in general. It introduces students to different
types of research methods such as the empirical, participatory, quantitative and qualitative procedures. The course also focuses on data management systems, structured
and semi-structured interviews as well as computer applications and analysis. Finally, it exposes students to skills in writing research proposals and information retrieval.
FRE 822: General Linguistics in French
The course in Linguistics is meant to offer students a sound grounding in various linguistic concepts in structuralism, distributionalism and transformationalism. It exposes them to new theories and methodological analysis developed by different schools of thought. In fact, the main objective here is to help students acquire a general overview of new trends relating to language science. It will also offer students the necessary tools and techniques for critical thinking in semantics, phonetics, structural and transformational linguistics among others.
FRE 823: Methodology of Teaching French as a Foreign Language
This course will examine, among others, the intercultural dimension of teaching and learning of French, especially in the Ghanaian setting, textbooks for teaching French,
curriculum development and nature of speech as opposed to written language. The course, which is diachronic in approach, aims at an overview of the various theories and
their evolution in Didactics. The critical analysis of the general theories will allow for an analysis of the Ghanaian context.
Second Semester
FRE 824: Sociolinguistics
The course is designed to introduce students to contemporary sociolinguistic concepts and their implications vis-à-vis language teaching and learning. The course focuses specifically on the variationist (W. Labov) and interactionist (J. Gumperz) concepts in order to help students understand better language dynamics and their own linguistic context. In this regard, students will be introduced to concepts relating to language policies and planning, linguistic norms, bilingualism, plurilingualism, diglossia and linguistic awareness in a multicultural society with particular reference to Ghana and Francophone West Africa in particular. It will also be necessary to examine/evaluate language policies and social representations of language (e.g. English and African Languages) in some selected West African countries including Ghana.
FRE 825: Discourse Analysis
The course in discourse analysis has a broader outlook than theories in syntax, for there is more to using language and communicating successfully with others, than being able to produce correct sentences. It is therefore designed to help students acquire the necessary skills and techniques relating to the production of coherent discourse. This course therefore introduces students to different theories of discourse, types and characteristics of discourse as well as the concepts of cohesion and coherence in discourse. It also focuses on other issues such as, conversational maxims and implicatures, address terms and interpersonal relations in discourse argumentation and ambiguity and the role of culture in discourse.
FRE 826: Didactics of Nature of French
The course introduces students to an analytic view of language as a tool for communication, and also suggests ways of examining and comparing different methods used in teaching French as a foreign language.It provides an analytic introduction to various aspects bordering on language teaching and learning: the differences between the concepts of language acquisition and learning, inter-language, cognitive theories as they relate to foreign language learning in a multicultural environment and the intercultural dimension of teaching and learning. This course also introduces students to new approaches, that is, the thematic, comparative and contextualization approaches for teaching culture/civilization. Emphasis shall be laid on French culture and African Francophone culture(s).