French

FRENCH

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in French is to
prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination. It is designed to test candidates’ general
ability to:

1. assess written comprehension in French;

2. apply the principles governing the structure and use of written French;
3. identify how French sounds work in speech production;
4. examine the culture of Francophone West Africa and France in relation (where possible) to
home country.

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DETAILED SYLLABUS

TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES

1. Written Comprehension in French:

- topics of general and emergent t.c
Candidates should be able to:
in
interest e.g. love, life, death, politics, (i) deduce answers to questions on the content,
marriage, HIV/AIDS, intent and style of proposed texts,
communication, child trafficking, (ii) apply reasoning skills.
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cultism, travel, corruption, money-
laundering, etc.
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2. Principles Governing the Structure and

Use of Written French: Candidates should be able to:
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I. Identification of basic form classes: i. identify what constitutes the basic structures
(a) Nouns: simple/compound, of written French,
Singular/plural, masculine/feminine. ii. use the principles governing the structure of
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(b) Pronouns: personal, impersonal, written French to determine acceptability,

demonstrative, possessive and e.g. to transform one form; one class into
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relative. another,
(c) Verbs: reflexive and non-reflexive, iii. apply the structure to convey diverse messages.
their moods and tenses.
(d) Adjectives: qualifying, possessive,
interrogative,
demonstrative, indefinite (e.g.
nul), numeral (e.g. dix) and
ordinal (e.g. dixième.)
(e) Adverbs:
- common forms
i) with-ment (e.g. lentement)
ii) with préposition + noun
(e.g. par avion, à cheval,
en voiture, par bateau.)
- special forms (e.g. bien, vite,
mal, mieux, le mieux, pire, le pis,
ne…que.)

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TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES

- types
- manner (e.g. debout,
facilement.)
- purpose (e.g. pour +
Infinitive, afin de + infinitive.)
- cause and consequence (e.g. pour+
infinitive perfect, à cause de +
noun.)
- concession (e.g. malgré +noun.)
- place (e.g. y, en, ici, là, là-haut,
partout.)
- time (e.g. hier, aujourd’hui,
avant-hier, après, demain, la
veille, le matin, dans un mois.)
(f) Prépositions:

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- simple (e.g. à, de, avec, avant,
sur, dans.)
- compound (e.g. à côté de, au
milieu de.)
(g) Conjunctions:
- of co-ordination (e.g. mais, ou,
et, donc, car, cependant, ne…ni.)
-of subordination (e.g. afin que, t.c
in
quoique, à condition que, pour
que, parce que.)
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(h) Articles:
- definite, indefinite and partitive.
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II. Assessment of vocabulary span:

(words in contemporary contexts
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- meaning, use, opposites,

Synonyms)
III. Importance of word order in:
(a) affirmative sentences
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(b) interrogative sentences

(c) imperative sentences
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(d) passive voice formation

IV. Identification and application
of basic processes in language
structure, e.g.
(a) conjugation - in all tenses
except l’imparfait du
subjonctif, le passé composé du
subjonctif, et…le plus-que-parfait
dusubjonctif.
(b) negation (e.g. ne…pas,
ne…plus, ne…rien, nul ne,
ne…ni..ni, ne…personne,
personne…ne,
aucun….ne,
rien ne….etc.)
(c) agreement (e.g. les beaux arts, il
les a vues les photos.)

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 French

TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES

(d) pluralisation (e.g. as in

cheval/chevaux,
beau/beaux.)
(e) derivation:
-from adj, to adv –
e.g. lent-lentement,
-from adj. to adj. e.g.
un – premier,
-from adj. to noun – e.g.
bon-bonté,
riche-richesse etc
-from one degree of
comparison to another
(using plus…que,
moins….que,

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aussi….que e.g. plus
grand que.) iv) apply communicative skills
NB –special forms-
(e.g. bon, meilleur, le meilleur,
la meilleure, mauvais,

V.
pire, le pire.)

Use of French in set t.c

in
expressions such as in proverbs,
idioms and conventional
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structures as provided for in
common speech acts:
(a) proverbs (e.g. tel père
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tel fils, petit à petit

l’oiseau fait son nid.)
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(b) idioms (e.g. avoir une

faim de loup, crier sur
le toit, mourir de peur.)
(c) conventional stretches
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(e.g. enchanté, c’est

dommage, c’est
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formidable,
stationnement interdit,
etc.)
(d) speech acts (e.g.
proposer, conseiller,
regretter, admirer,
espérer, interroger,
reprocher, s’accorder, etc.)

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 French

TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES

3. Workings of French sounds Candidates should be able to:

via: (i) discriminate between French sounds,
(a) sound discrimination (ii) deduce meanings out of sound
(e.g. tout/tu), (fais/fée.) combinations,
(b) letter-sound (iii) use the above to enhance effective
correspondence communication,
(e.g. ai-/e/, eau/o/.) (iv) assess sound groupings in terms of
(c) syllabification (e.g. con/tente/ment.) how they are affected by such
(d) liaison (e.g. trois animaux, des enfants.) features as syllabification, liaison,
(e) sense groups in reading e-caduc; pause, intonation, etc.
e.g. J’ai mal à la tête. J’ai mal/pas à la
tête / mais au dos/.
Comment vas-tu, Carol?// Comment vas-
tu demain?
(f) faux amis(e.g.librairie/library, rester/to

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rest, blesser/to bless.)
(g) identification of sounds to
determine similarity (e.g.
maison/saison, dents/don,fond/
fonde.)

4. Culture and Civilization: t.c

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Characteristics , (aspects, similarities and Candidates should be able to:
differences) of the educational system, i. identify the specific features of the
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socio-economic life, political organization culture of Francophone Africa and
and cultural life of Francophone Africa and France greetings, dressing, food,
France, with reference (where possible) to leisure, marriage, festival, art,
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home country i.e. Nigeria. profession etc.

ii. compare these features with those of
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home country ( where possible),

iii. apply reasoning skill.
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RECOMMENDED TEXTS

A (i) Written Language

Ajiboye, T. (2014) Companion to French Grammar (4thEdition): Ibadan: Cleavoketa books

Ajiboye, T. (2012) Nouvel Horizon, Book 4, New Revised Edition, Ibadan: Bounty Press
Hatier (1980) Le Nouveau Bescherelle: L’Art de Conjuguer, Ibadan: Spectrum Book Ltd.
Maice, G et Merlo, G., (1998), Grammaire progressive du français ( Niveauintermediaire), Paris:
Clé international.
Mazauric,. C, et Sirejols, E. (2006) On y va! Book 3,Ibadan : Spectrun Books Ltd.
Ojo, S. A.(2000) A Comprehensive Revision Handbook of French Grammar, Ibadan:
Agoro Publishing Company.

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Any other relevant materials on French Grammar.

(ii) Oral

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Ajiboye, T. (2010) An Introduction to Practice in Oral French, Ibadan: Bounty Press.

Any other materials that emphasise oral practice.

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B. Culture of Francophone Countries
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Girod R and Grand-Clement, F. (1979) Comment vivent les Français, Paris: Hachette
Mbuko, L. (2000) French Essays on Culture and Civilisation for Schools and
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Colleges,Ibadan: Bounty Press.

Any other relevant materials, e.g. French newspapers, magazines, journals, and
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documents on Francophone life.

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C. Dictionary
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Any good French/English or French dictionary.

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