FRENCH 226 Speaking through Acting

Improvement of French oral skills and public speaking skills through the use of acting techniques. Intensive analysis of short literary texts and excerpts of several plays with emphasis on pronunciation, diction, elocution, acting and staging.

In this course, students will improve their pronunciation of the French language through the study of French phonetics and corrective phonetics. Phonetic exercises will be done in the language laboratory. Students will also work on improving the intonation and the rhythm of their French.

In class, students will work on their diction and elocution. They will learn exercises used by actresses and actors at conservatories to improve their breathing and articulation, and to adjust the pitch of their voice. They will also learn ways to become more confident with their French by using both speech and gestures in improvisation exercises and by performing short texts or excerpts of plays.

Students will read and analyze those classical and modern texts (prose and poetry) from the 17^th to the 21^st century. It will be essential that students first gain a deep understanding of these texts prior to interpreting and performing them.  

Videotaping will be for self-critiques and evaluation.

This course is especially useful to students preparing a teaching certificate or going abroad for their junior year.

Intensive participation in class is expected. Each individual presentation in class will be graded. There will be one mid-term and one final oral exam.

Texts:

Excerpts from classical and modern texts (prose and poetry) from the 17^th to the 21^st century

Methods:

Excerpts from:

D’Accord, La Prononciation du Français International, Acquisition et Perfectionnement,  Carduner & Hagiwara.

Traité pratique de la diction française, Leroy.

Grammaire de diction française, Leroy.

Nouveau solfège de la diction, Martens.

Diction. Expression, Rabault.

La lecture par le jeu dramatique, Grosset-Bureau, Christophe, Isaac.

Complementary Material available at Clapp:

Phonetics exercises.

The Rhythm of French.