The Department of French Language

The Alumni  Network of the Department of French Language

On the 10^th of April, 2012, the council of the department of French language approved the establishment of the department’s alumni association under the chairmanship of prof. MahaAbd Al-LatifAlsegeny, Head of the department of French language, and with the participation of all the department’s staff members and their assistants.

A Synopsis about the Department and its Objectives:

The Faculty of Arts was the first building brick in the edifice of Mansoura University, and since then the department of French has been eager to keep the staff members and the scientific research at a high level of competence and scientific ability, while on the same time continuing to develop the courses and subjectsthat are taught in the department.

• Courses were designed in a systematic manner in order to lead the students to a high level of language proficiency and academic achievement.
• Serious training on independent thinking and expressing one’s self fully and precisely both verbally and orally was taken care of while preparing the bachelor’s degree courses.
• The courses were basically designed to prepare students to work in the fields of teaching, translation and literary criticism.

The Vision:

The Department of French language Looks forward to achieving excellence in the fields of teaching and scientific research in the linguistics and literature of the French language locally and regionally.

The Mission:

The Department of French seeks to provide integrated education and training on the French Language, its literature, and theoretical and applied linguistics. The department also aims at developing the student’s linguistic and intellectual skill in order to meet the needs of the labor market.It also takes care of scientific research, community service and encourages communication and understanding between different cultures.

The Objectives

1. Providing students with comprehensive knowledge of the French language, its literature, and its linguistics.
2. Developing students' linguistic and communication skills through the use of theoretical and technical means in teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing.
3. Studying the French literature with its different majorsduring different historical phases.
4. Developing students’ creativity and preparing them to criticize and analyze literary texts.
5. Improving students’ critical thinking skills and developing their research skills in the field of specialization.
6. Conducting theoretical and comparative researches in the field of French literature and linguistics.
7. 7. Enriching the community through the participation of thedepartment’sstaff members in various activities such as teaching, writing, translation and lecturing.
8. Encouraging critical understanding of the French-speaking world’s thought and culture, andpromoting cultural communication with French-speaking nations and people.

In order to Achieve these objectives, the department focuses on two main aspects: the first one is the practical training in the language labs, which aims at helping the students to acquire the essential linguistic skills. The second one is the theoretical training that deals with linguistics and literature.

Curriculums for all the divisions

Bachelor’s Degree in French Language program:

The department of French provides a university study program that leads to acquiring the Bachelor’s Degree in French Language, and this degree allows the students to:

• Teaching French Language in secondary schools or any equivalent levels in French language learning centers after receiving appropriate educational training.
• Continuing their post-graduate studies in literature, linguistics, or civilization.
• Continuing their study in the professional diploma of simultaneous and written translation.
• Working in fields that require French language skills such as: translation, tourism, teaching, foreign relations, or French institutions.

The Department’s Strategy for developing performance and raising students’ levels:

The Department of French Language seeks to develop the performance of the educational processand to create opportunities in order to raise the level of the students and the assistant staff members. Therefore, the department has activated the following international agreements:

Mansoura University / Lyon 2University Agreement

• This agreement between Mansoura University, Lyon 2 University, and the French Embassy’s French Cultural Centergives first year students, who are promoted to second year, the chance of receiving summer training during July and August for five days a week (25 hours weekly training in the basic French language skills). The training is offered to two groups of students, and each group of 25 students is trained by a French instructor who is a graduate of Lyon 2 university and specialize in the field of teaching non-native speakers. The scientific content which is taught to the students during this training is supervised and designed by a professor from Lyon 2 University.This agreement has been held and activated since 2008 and up till now.
• The department also organizes supplementary courses for these students during the following academic year so that the benefit continues and the students’ language skills continue to develop.

Mansoura University / Francophone University Association Agreement

After Mansoura University has become a member of the Francophone University Association, cooperation protocols were held between the university and the Association in the field of raising students’ levels by holding a training course for the first, second, and third year students throughout the academic year. This training course is usually supervised by a French Trainer.

Developing the skills of the Assistant Staff members’ Committee that includes Demonstrators and Associate Lecturers:

• Through the cooperation protocol between Mansoura University and the Francophone University Association, the department of French Language has organized a training course“Applications on the French language used in the medical field” for the demonstrators and the associate lecturers in the departments of French language in Mansoura University (faculty of Arts- Faculty of Education – Faculty of Arts, Damietta), during which the French expert AnokPolikan trained from 13 to 20 December 2009.
• The department also monitors the capacity development programs of thedemonstrators and the assistant lecturers in the trainer training courses organized by the French Embassy’s French Cultural Center, which was of a great benefit to them especially that the training is conducted by French teachers who are specialized in the modern techniques of teaching foreign languages.

To make sure that the students of the bachelor’s degree are fully aware of their field of specialty, the program seeks to achieve its scientific objectives through two stages:

• The first stage: developing the students’’ linguistic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing so that the program’s graduates can use these skills in different situations.
• The second stage : Providing students with basic knowledge of:
  • The linguistic theories that provide a description of the different aspects of language such as : Phonetics, syntax, and composition
  • The most important theories of language acquisition, including the theories of reading and writing in the French language as a second language and its applications in learning French Language as a foreign language.
  • The main issues of translation, its principles, and approaches.
  • The most important literary works including the most prominent poets, novels, plays, short stories, and selections of the 20^th century literature.

The Teaching Staff Members and their Assistants :