French

Instructors with diverse backgrounds and top-notch language lab facilities make OU's French program magnifique. Students studying French at OU are immersed in language and culture in order to foster an overall understanding of French and the people who speak it. Starting with a firm base in grammar and composition, students perfect their speaking, listening and writing skills to become masters of the language.

Degrees Offered

A French student graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in French degree. Students have the option to pursue a Master of Arts in French at the graduate level. Many French students continue their education by pursuing graduate-level studies.

Master of Arts in French

Deadlines

Deadlines to apply for:

Fall Admission is February 1
Spring Admission is October 1

To be considered for admission to the MA program in French a student must:

Hold a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in French, or equivalent hours in the major.
Have a 3.0 grade point average in the last 60 hours of undergraduate course work.
Have taken one college-level course in European history.
The MA degree in French is offered in both a thesis and a non-thesis program.

Non-Thesis

Students in the non-thesis program must complete thirty-two hours of acceptable graduate-level course work (including the courses specifically required) and receive a passing grade on a final comprehensive examination that consists of four separate exams.

Thesis

Requirements for the thesis program are thirty hours, which include twenty-four hours of acceptable graduate-level course work (including the courses specifically required) and 6 hours of thesis credits (maximum), a thesis, and a passing grade on a final comprehensive examination that consists of two separate exams.

A total, not to exceed six hours on the 4000-level, is allowed as part of the MA major as long as the courses are preceded by a "G" in the General Course Catalog.

Requirements

The following courses are required for the MA in French

MLLL 5073, Contemporary Literary Criticism

All Graduate Teaching Assistants are required during their first year to enroll in MLLL 5813, Teaching Foreign Languages. GTAs who have already had this course or one similar to it may be exempted.

Before completion of the degree, students must demonstrate reading competency in a second language. In order to do so, they may take the departmental Graduate Reading Exam (pdf) or complete two semesters (ten hours) in another language.

Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to maintain enrollment in a minimum of five credit hours.

A comprehensive examination based on the French MA reading list and coursework is required for the thesis and the non-thesis programs.

Resources

Doctor of Philosophy in French

Deadlines

Deadlines to apply for:

Fall Admission is February 1
Spring Admission is October 1

To be considered for admission to the Ph.D. program in French a student must:

Hold a Master's degree (or equivalent) in French.
Have a 3.50 (on the 4.00 scale) on all graduate course work.
Students entering the program are encouraged to show evidence of residence in a French-speaking country.

The total number of hours required for the Ph.D. is ninety hours beyond the Bachelor's degree, including credit earned for the MA, if applicable to the Ph.D. program. The Ph.D. degree in French requires sixty-one hours of course work in the major and nine hours of concentration in another field as approved by the student's committee.

Only graduate-level courses (4000/5000 level) preceded by a "G" in the General Course Catalog are applicable toward the Ph.D. major and concentration.

Requirements

A concentration consisting of nine hours of coursework as approved by the student's committee.

MLLL 5073, Contemporary Literary Criticism is recommended for students who started the program in the spring of 2014 or earlier; however, it is required for students who will start the program in the fall of 2014 or later.

All Graduate Teaching Assistants are required during their first year to enroll in MLLL 5813, Teaching Foreign Languages. GTAs who have already had this course or one similar to it may be exempted.

Before completion of the degree, students must demonstrate reading competency in a second language if they have not already done so during their MA programs. They may take the departmental Graduate Reading Exam (pdf) or complete two semesters or ten hours in another language.
Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to maintain enrollment in a minimum of five credit hours of graduate-level courses per semester.

A general examination based on coursework and a reading list established in consultation with the student's committee members is required for the Ph.D.

Resources

French at OU

Why Study French at OU?

Instructors with diverse backgrounds and top-notch language lab facilities make OU's French program magnifique.
Students studying French at OU are immersed in language and culture to foster an overall understanding of French and the people who speak it.
Starting with a firm base in grammar and composition, students perfect their speaking, listening and writing skills to become masters of the language.
The Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics encourages its students to study abroad to give them an hands-on-experience, and OU has exchange programs with a number of French universities.
Language lab equipped with access to tutoring in addition to cultural and educational visual and audio materials

Career Opportunities

International businesses
United Nations
U.S. Department of State
Secondary schools
Government agencies
Colleges and universities
Freelance translator
Associate professor
French teacher, secondary schools around the world

Courses Offered

FR 1115 Beginning French
- An elementary course in understanding, speaking, reading and writing French. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. (F, Sp, Su) [I-FL].
FR 1225 Beginning French Continued
- An elementary course in understanding, speaking, reading and writing French. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. (F, Sp, Su) [I-FL]. Prerequisite: 1115.
FR 2113 Intermediate French
- The systematic cultivation of increased depth and control in the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing French. Laboratory (F, Sp, Su). Prerequisite: 1225.
FR 2223 Intermediate French Continued
- The systematic cultivation of increased depth and control in the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing French. Laboratory (F, Sp, Su). Prerequisite: 2113.
FR 2243 French Conversation and Literature
- Conversation practice based on modern literary texts, with the objective of improving reading speed, vocabulary and comprehension, and increased oral fluency, while obtaining an expanded appreciation of French literary texts. (F, Sp, Su). Prerequisite: 2113 or 2133.
FR 2253 Health, Medicine, and the Environment in French Culture
- This second-year French class teaches about key issues in health, medicine, and the environment, so that students develop functional cultural and linguistic fluency about French-speaking populations in relation to the topics under study. Issues of global and personal health, medicine, and the human relationship with nature, ecology and the environment are essential topics for our era. (F, Sp). Prerequisite: FR 2223 or concurrent enrollment, or FR 2243.
FR 3423 Advanced French Composition
- The inculcation of proper writing habits, at an advanced level, toward the achievement of idiomatic French. (Sp, Su). Prerequisite: FR 2133 or FR 2243 or FR 2263.
FR 3623 Business French
- Focuses on terms and expressions used in business settings. Designed to impart an awareness of the differences between French and American business cultures. (F). Prerequisite: two years of college French or equivalent.
FR 3723 French for the Professions
- Introduces students to vocabulary in sectors such as advertising, marketing, transportation, medicine, and law. French professional and business cultures are studied. Communication skills for professional and business settings will be practiced in this course. (Sp). Prerequisite: two years of college French or equivalent.
FR 3753 French Culture Through Film
- This course deals with contemporary French culture through the medium of cinema. Topics examined include family, education, religion and societal issues, and ethnicity. As a course taught in French, it will also focus on regional accents and generational and ethnic speech. (F). Prerequisite: 2243 or concurrent enrollment.
FR 3853 Introduction to Literary Analysis.
- Designed to introduce students to the language and technique of literary analysis. Also serves to improve reading skills generally, as well as oral/aural and written skills. Representative works from the various literary genres will be studied. (Sp, Su). Prerequisite: 2223.
FR G4153 Survey of French Literature to 1800.
- Reading and discussion of major French works and their background from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. (F, Su)
FR G4163 Survey of French Literature Continued
- Reading and discussion of major French works and their background from 1800 to the present day. (Sp, Su). Prerequisite: 4153 or permission.
FR 4313 From Lascaux to la Terreur
- The political and social background of French literature from its beginning to the French revolution. (F, Su). Prerequisite: FR 3423; HIST 1223 or 1233.
FR 4323 The Making of Modern French Culture
- The political and social background of French literature from the French revolution to the present day. (Sp). Prerequisite: FR 3423; HIST 1223 or HIST 1233.
FR 4993 Senior Capstone in French
- Requires undergraduate French majors to synthesize their knowledge of French contributions to world civilization. They will be required, as part of this enterprise, to demonstrate their mastery of the four basic skills involved in learning a foreign language: reading, writing, speaking, and understanding. (Sp) [V]. Prerequisite: graduating majors in French.