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- French and Italian BA (RR13)
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French and Italian at Warwick
This course will not be available for 2022 entry, but you may be interested in our BA Modern Languages degree.
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- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5fkxT-thSs
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- RR13
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- Bachelor of Arts (BA)
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- 4 years full-time, normally including a year abroad
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- 26 September 2022
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- Modern Languages and Cultures
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- University of Warwick
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French and Italian (BA) is a joint degree which allows you to develop your knowledge and understanding of the language, literature, history, culture, society and politics of Italy, France and the Francophone world.
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You will take core modules in French and Italian language every year, combining these with a range of literary, cultural and political options. After your first year, you will choose from a large selection of specialist cultural modules, designed to extend your knowledge and understanding of the literature, culture, society and politics of the French-speaking and the Italian-speaking worlds.
Ideally you will spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.
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Each year you take four modules: one in each of your chosen languages, and one module on a cultural or literary topic from each language department. Core modules that focus on aspects of Francophone and Italian culture, society, literature, film and history in your first year feed into a range of themed options in the following years. Chronological coverage extends from the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the present.
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We employ a variety of teaching styles within the School of Modern Languages including:
- Lectures
- Seminars (consisting of around 15 students and focussing on student participation)
- Written and spoken language classes in small groups
You will spend the rest of your time:
- Studying independently
- Preparing for classes
- Reading
- Analysing materials set for study
- Writing essays
- Working on your language skills
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Seminars generally involve around 15 students.
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12 hours per week (15 hours per week in first year).
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We will track your progress through:
- Language assignments
- Essays
- Presentations
- Portfolio submissions
- Examinations (written and oral)
To help you improve your skills you will receive detailed and personalised feedback throughout your course. Your intermediate- and final-year marks each contribute 50% of your final degree classification.
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Study abroad
We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if they are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you will move to a three-year degree. You will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.
You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:
- Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
- Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
- On a work placement
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AAB to include either French or Italian
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36 to include 5 in Higher Level French or Italian
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We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level French or Italian
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Year One
Modern French Language 1
You will deepen your understanding of French grammar and syntax with the help of tutors experienced in facilitating the transition from A-level to university-level competence. You will learn appropriate technical vocabulary and handle complex structures. You will develop the skills required to produce authentic and accurate translations of journalistic material from French to English. Finally, writing in formal French introduces you to the structures and methods used to debate ideas on contemporary issues. You will increase your reading and comprehension skills and develop your ability to exploit texts for vocabulary, idioms, syntax and grammatical structures. Working with a native speaker in small groups, you will discuss topics on contemporary French culture and society, using audio, video and written resources.
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Modern French Language for Beginners
As a beginner in the acquisition of the French language, you will cover the main linguistic skills in speaking, listening, writing and reading. You will focus on gaining grammatical accuracy as well as communicative fluency and competence. By the end of the year, you will be expected to be able to sustain everyday conversations in French, read authentic texts such as newspaper articles, follow the gist of TV/video extracts and be able to write an intermediate range of texts in French. You will also work on basic translations to and from French as a means of consolidating your knowledge.
Modern Italian Language 1 (at beginners, intermediate or advanced level)
A French cultural module:
The Story of Modern France
Why is modern France so deeply invested in the past? What are the milestones in the creation of modern France? How have notions of France and Frenchness been shaped through the stories told about them? These are some of the questions you will explore through close reading of primary sources from major periods and events in French history. You will explore a range of materials, from the cartoons of May 1968 to prints dating back to the French Revolution, and from stories of Charlemagne to films and texts reflecting France’s ongoing preoccupation with its (often controversial) recent past. Equipped with these foundations, you will be well prepared to study further aspects of French and Francophone culture in the later stages of your degree.
Modern Italian Language 1 (at beginners, intermediate or advanced level)
An Italian cultural module:
The History of Modern Italy
You will chart the course of cultural, political and social change in Italy over the past century, studying key moments in its history, including the rise of fascism, World War II, the economic boom of the late 1950s, and political extremism of the 1970s, through to contemporary issues such as immigration and recent economic and political crises. You will study these events through the lens of literary and cinematic works and gain an understanding of how they have contributed to the nature and identity of contemporary Italy, in order to prepare you for your year abroad and further study of Italian culture. You will also build your competence in textual analysis, independent research and essay-writing.
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Introduction to Italian Culture
How should we ‘read’ a literary or visual text? What are the considerations of form, audience and context that enable us to make sense of a cultural product? In what ways should a performance be understood differently from something fixed on the page? You will address these questions by considering four representative avenues of expression in Italian culture, namely cinema, short stories, lyric poetry and theatre-writing. You will refine your skills of analysis and have the opportunity to sample different periods of Italian culture, from the Renaissance through to intellectuals such as Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, and the poet Giacomo Leopardi, representative of the Romantic tradition. You will end your course equipped with the appropriate technical vocabulary to discuss different art forms fluently and in an informed manner.
Intermediate Year
Modern French Language 2
You will consolidate and develop the productive and receptive language skills you acquired in your first year. By the end of the module, you should have appropriate knowledge of vocabulary and syntactic and grammatical structures to produce written French in two prescribed genres. You will develop your skills in translation to and from French, with a focus on specific translation problems, and increase the accuracy with which you use grammatical structures. In spoken French, you will comprehend and produce structured spoken French on a range of topics of contemporary significance in the context of simulated scenarios.
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Modern French Language 2 (Post-beginners)
You will increase the range of your general and specialised vocabulary in French, improve your speaking, listening and comprehension skills, and develop your ability to translate from French, including through a sound knowledge of grammar, register, semantic nuances and style. There will be opportunities to write in French and to work on materials applicable to real-life situations.
Modern Italian Language 2
This module will extend and refine your competence in Italian. With an emphasis on the key skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing, you will consolidate your proficiency in both new and familiar grammatical and linguistic structures, and expand the range and sophistication of your vocabulary and use of register in spoken and written discourse. In addition to classroom exercises, advanced discursive written work and oral projects, you will also be directed to appropriate activities for self-study.
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Modern Italian Language 3
On this module, you will develop your translation, writing and oral communication skills to advanced level. You will engage in translation as a practical skill, working to produce translations of literary, journalistic and academic texts with a focus on conveying nuances of meaning and culturally specific terms. You will develop greater fluency in different writing styles and genres. Oral sessions will increase your familiarity with more sophisticated registers of spoken Italian and raise your awareness of recent developments in Italian society so that you can discuss aspects of contemporary Italy in relation to your personal experiences.
A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (60 credits)
Final Year
Modern French Language 3
You will consolidate and develop your ability to write and speak confidently and at a level of intellectual sophistication in correct French. By the end of the course, you should be able to produce a structured written argument on a topic related to your intellectual interests or of cultural concern, in French that is grammatically correct, idiomatic, varied in vocabulary and grammatical structure, and in an appropriate register. You should be able to translate from French to English and English to French accurately, using your detailed knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and idiom, and employing an appropriate register. You will strengthen your skills in pronunciation and intonation and demonstrate these through fluent oral presentation and discussion of an intellectually serious topic.
Modern Italian Language 4
Building on Intermediate year language, you will deepen your writing, speaking and translation skills, paying particular attention to register and style and learning some of the underpinning translation theory. We approach translation not just as a linguistic exercise but as a practical skill, so you will work to produce translations of literary, journalistic and academic texts, and explore techniques for conveying semantic nuances, culturally specific terms and more sophisticated registers of spoken Italian. Both the writing and oral components of the course will raise your awareness of recent developments in Italian society and enable you to discuss relevant aspects of contemporary Italy in relation to your personal experience.
A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (60 credits)
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- There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.