1. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT 2014 – 2015 FRENCH DEPT.

2. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT: introduction Assessment of the Year Abroad is an integral and compulsory part of the Year Abroad (YA). Students who will be undertaking a full year placement should complete one Year Abroad Assessment worth 120 QMUL credits. Students who will be undertaking split year placements should complete two Semester Abroad Assessments, each Semester Abroad Assessment is worth 60 QMUL credits. The different departments in the School operate slightly different assessment modes for the Year Abroad. In order to find out which modes of assessment are available to you, you must consult the section of the YA handbook devoted to the language in which you will be spending your period of residence abroad. Students who plan to split their Year Abroad should consult the relevant sections in the YA handbook. It is vital that you understand the requirements of your assessment BEFORE you leave for your YA.

3. P ROGRESSION INTO THE FINAL YEAR Progression into final year is automatic even if you don’t complete the Year Abroad Assessment or if you don’t pass it. However a fail mark for the Year Abroad Assessment will have a negative impact on your degree classification since the Year Abroad mark counts for 12.5% of your overall degree result (same as your first year results; your second year results count for 25% and your final year results for 50%).

4. R ESITTING THE YAA Students who fail the Year/Semester Abroad Assessment can opt to resit it while in their final year. If they choose to do so, they will be given one or several written assignments to complete; these will be spread out over their final year. Details of the resit assessment are given in the YA handbook at the end of the assessment section for each language. Please be aware that under College Regulations, all re-sit exams are pegged at 40%.

5. N ORMAL SCHOOL RULES APPLY TO THE YAA AND SAA Please note that normal School regulations apply to the YA and SA assignments. This is true in terms of deadlines (if you submit an assignment within 2 weeks after the deadline without having been granted an official extension, your mark for that assignment will be pegged at 40%; if you submit that assignment after 2 weeks of the deadline without having been granted an official extension, you will get 0%), word number (your mark for the assignment could be lowered by a certain percentage if the word number falls short or is over the recommended limit. This percentage is at the discretion of the marker) and plagiarism (you could face disciplinary action in case of suspected plagiarism as it is an examination offence).

6. I NDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS Students on independent study placements who are registered on a course which is not related to their degree programme at QMUL or who are studying in a host institution where the ECTS credit system is not used and/or where classes are taught and assessed in English won't be assessed by their local results but by the Year Abroad Assessment for students on independent study placements (more info on this later). If students are however registered for a course that fits in with their degree programme in a host institution where the ECTS credit system is used and where classes are taught and assessed in French, they will be assessed locally by coursework and/or exams.

7. YAA/SAA for students on Erasmus/ Independent Study Placements The year abroad assessment will be based BOTH on proof of fulfilment of the agreed contract (via presentation of certificate of attendance and transcript of exam results) AND on the accreditation of their studies abroad as approved by the Department of French at QMUL. Number of credits: Students on full year ERASMUS/Independent Study Placements must register for courses amounting to 60 ECTS and sit examinations at the host university (including any resits). Students on one-semester only ERASMUS Study Placements or Independent Study Placements must register for courses amounting to 30 ECTS and sit examinations at the host university (including any resits). Please remember that French students have more weekly contact hours than UK students !

8. Students have a certain amount of freedom on their period of residence abroad regarding the make-up of their course load. In order to get the most out of their period of residence abroad, they are encouraged to take a range of appropriately challenging courses in accordance with the following requirements and to be approved by the Year Abroad Co-ordinator. There are however some rules re. module selection: ● Courses must be taught and assessed in the target language, i.e. French (except for foreign language modules which are likely to be taught and assessed in the target language). ● Courses should be relevant to their degree programme and can be chosen from fields such as: culture, literature, history, linguistics, translation, art history, politics, etc. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS (1)

9.  ● Students whose degree is French AND/WITH another subject (another language, history, business management, etc.) are generally encouraged to take around 50% (or 75% in the case of WITH degrees) of the overall course load on a mix of French language and French Studies modules. The other subject(s) of their QMUL degree programme should make up the other part of their programme of study abroad.  ● Part of the required 60 ECTS per year/30 ECTS per semester must be for French language courses. Students should take around 15 ECTS per year or 7-8 ECTS per semester from appropriate language courses in French (including translation courses, classes on grammar, syntax, written/oral expression, reading/listening comprehension, etc.). These French language courses can be courses offered specifically for ERASMUS or Associate students. Pre-sessional intensive French language modules can count as part of these 15 ECTS per year/7-8 ECTS per semester. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS (2)

10. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS (3) ● Students who are studying another language than French in an Ab Initio pathway and joint language students should take between 6 and 15 ECTS per year or between 3 and 8 ECTS per semester from appropriate language courses in the target language. These language courses can be courses offered specifically for ERASMUS or Associate students. However, students are reminded that courses for foreigners offered in non-academic units within the host university will not count towards their assessment.  ● Courses can be picked at L1 (1 st year), L2 (2 nd year) and L3 (3d and final year) levels. For language modules, you can pick any level, even ab initio. Students cannot pick more than 30 ECTS per year or 15 ECTS per semester at L1.  ● credited pre-sessional intensive French language modules will count.

11. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS (4) Some modules will not count although you can still take them (but you will still need 60/30 ECTS of modules that do count). These are: ● non-academic subjects like sport or most other practical courses ● modules taught and/or assessed in English (though translation modules are permitted) ● modules in languages other than those you are studying for your degree at QMUL ● modules for which no numerical mark is awarded This does not preclude you from taking any of these modules, but you should be aware that they will not count towards your Year or Semester Abroad mark.

12. YAA/SAA for students on study placements a) The programme of studies while in a French-speaking Higher Education Institution needs to be established with the Year Abroad Co-ordinator for French prior to your arrival in France. For ERASMUS study placement students, the Erasmus Learning Agreement (in ECTS) should be completed accordingly and needs to be finalised by 31st May 2014. b) At the end of your Period of Residence Abroad, it is YOUR responsibility to collect a certificate of attendance and a transcript of your results from the host institution and to send these documents back to the Year Abroad Co-ordinator before 1st October 2015.

13. YAA FOR STUDENTS ON INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS ( NO ECTS) If students do an independent study placement for a full academic year and if they’re not being assessed locally, they would be required to complete 4 written assignments for the SLLF (all in French of course): -Assignment 1 DOSSIER DE PRESSE (2000 words, counting for 25%) -Assignment 2 CULTURAL REPORT (3000 words, counting for 50%) -Assignment 4 a questionnaire/interview-based analysis of an Anglo-French topic (1000 words, counting for 12.5%) -Assignment 5 an essay on the experience of living and studying abroad (1000 words, counting for 12.5%) These assignments would be spread throughout the year.  On top of the assignments students do for the SLLF, they still have to complete the local assessment (coursework and/or exams) but it won’t count towards their Year Abroad mark. You’ll be required to send us transcripts of your exam results and arrival and departure certificates from your host institution.

14. SAA FOR STUDENTS ON INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS ( NO ECTS) If students do an independent study placement for one semester only and if they’re not assessed locally, they would be required to complete 3 written assignments for the SLLF (all in French of course): -Assignment 1 DOSSIER DE PRESSE (2000 words, counts for 50%) -Assignment 4 a questionnaire/interview-based analysis of an Anglo-French topic (1000 words, counting for 25%) -Assignment 5 an essay on the experience of living and studying abroad (1000 words, counting for 25%) These assignments would be spread throughout the year.

15. YAA for students on Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements Students completing an Erasmus/Non-Erasmus Work Placement (paid or voluntary) are expected to fulfil their contractual duties (as set and certified by their employers), to submit an employer’s certificate of fulfilment of terms of contract* AND an employer’s report of their work performance* AS WELL AS successfully complete the Year Abroad Assessment. * These documents have to be submitted to the French Language Studies Co-ordinator no longer than 1 month after the end of your work placement. The Year Abroad Assessment for students on full year Work Placements is composed of 3 assignments (students on one-semester Work Placements only have to do Assignments 1 & 3, each counting for 50%): - Assignment 1 DOSSIER DE PRESSE (2000 words) counts for 25% - Assignment 2 CULTURAL REPORT (3000 words) counts for 50% - Assignment 3 WORK PLACEMENT REPORT (2000 words) counts for 25% These assignments are spread out throughout the academic year. Whilst helping set a pattern of communication, support and monitoring throughout, the strict calendar of tasks also helps structure learning preparing the student for the more independent projects’ that are Assignments 2 (Cultural Report) and 3 (Work Placement Report). This approach offers balance and good practice in combining the assessment of work placement and self- directed learning.

16. SAA for students on Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements The Semester Abroad Assessment for students on one- semester only Work Placements is composed of 2 assignments: - Assignment 1 DOSSIER DE PRESSE (2000 words) counts for 50% - Assignment 3 WORK PLACEMENT REPORT (2000 words) counts for 50%

17. SUBMISSION PROCESS OF ASSIGNMENTS Each task should be completed in the target language and should be submitted via Blackboard. The electronic submission will provide you with proof of submission and it also allows us to run coursework through anti- plagiarism software. Only assignments 1, 2 and 3 will be marked but you will receive feedback on all your submissions (even on 2.A, 3.A and 3.B). Feedback will be returned within 4 weeks. Assignment 2 will be moderated by a second marker. The School rules regarding late submission of work apply: if assignments 1, 2, or 3 are submitted late but no later than 2 weeks after the deadline, then the mark will be pegged at 40%. A fail mark (0%) will be returned if these assignments are submitted with more than 2 weeks delay or are not submitted at all unless substantial extenuating circumstances can be demonstrated (e.g. protracted illness) and an extension has been officially granted by the Senior Tutor. Work submitted later than 2 weeks after the deadline without an official extension will not be marked.

18. DEADLINES FOR YAA/SAA All deadlines are included in the Year Abroad handbook at the end of each Assessment section. Please make sure you write these deadlines in your diary and set up reminders on your computer/mobile phone/etc. a week before. All the information on YAA and SAA will be on QM+ by mid September 2014. It is YOUR responsibilty to submit your assignments by the deadline.

19. YA RESIT INFORMATION If students were to fail their Year Abroad, they would be offered a resit option which consists of 2 written assignments in French that they would do in their final year : - un dossier de presse, worth 40% - un 'cultural report‘, worth 60% Like with all resits, their mark will be pegged at 40%.

20. SA RESIT INFORMATION If students were to fail their Semester Abroad, they would be offered a resit option, which consists of 1 written assignment in French that they would do in their final year: - un dossier de presse (2000 words) Like with all resits, their mark will be pegged at 40%.