Information for prospective and current students

The Honours programme in French is coordinated by the subject coordinator, who is in charge of the administration and the continuing assessment of policies relating to the programme. The following notes, provided for all intending honours students, provides information relevant to the programme. Further information is available from the subject coordinator, whom intending students should consult well before enrolling.

Like all other Faculty Honours programmes, the French programme adheres to the Guidelines published by the Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee, and available from the AVCC's website. Full details of Honours course rules (in general) appear in the latest Course and Unit Handbook, which is available on-line, from within the “Current Students” section of the University of Tasmania website.

Application forms for Honours are available from and must be returned to Student Administration for processing.

1. Nature, objectives and benefits of the course

The Honours programme in French provides students with a unique, rewarding and valuable educational opportunity for advanced study and research. The successful completion of a substantial piece of research (referred to as the Honours thesis) will prepare students for research higher degrees in the discipline (MA, PhD), while also giving them an edge in the labour market.

Because it gives students a great degree of control over their work, the Honours thesis is the key to a successful Honours year.

2. Admission

Admission to the BA(Hons) programme in French requires is reserved to those who have

• satisfied all requirements for admission to the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the University of Tasmania or to a degree or other qualification of similar standing at a university or other institution recognised by the Faculty of Arts;

and

• completed coursework in French to the total value of at least 112.5%, with a DN in HEF302 (for students who commenced their study at second year level, HEF201) or an HD in HEF301 (for students who commenced their study at first year level, HEF100), and a grade point average in all attempted 200 and 300 level units in French of 7.0 or higher. Currently, the GPA is calculated on the following basis: HD = 9, DN = 7.5, CR = 6.5, PP / FP = 5.5, TP = 5.0, NN = 4.0.

3. Scholarships and research support

Tasmania Honours scholarships may be awarded to outstanding graduates who come to the University of Tasmania for Honours study, or who wish to embark upon an Honours year after the successful completion of a degree course at the University. The scholarships normally provide for HECS fees, a living allowance, and, if required, a return airfare. More information is available from the Scholarships Office.

In the course of their research, Honours candidates may need to access publications which are not held at the University of Tasmania. Under current rules, the School has a quota for free interlibrary loans and document delivery. To be considered within the set quota, requests for material which is not held at the University must be endorsed by the thesis supervisor.

Provided sufficient funds are available in its research and postgraduate budget, it is normal policy for the School to make a modest financial contribution towards the inevitable costs associated with research activity. Such contributions are normally limited to expenditure incurred for photocopying. However, financial or in-kind assistance may be available for the production (printing and binding) of the Honours thesis. Any such assistance will have to be negotiated with the Head of School through the thesis supervisor.

4. Programme

HEF401/402 represents the final stage in students’ formal training in the language. Apart from further intensive study of the language, students will extend their knowledge and appreciation of other aspects of French, via supervised reading and through independent research carried out for the Honours thesis. More specifically, Honours in French consists of three elements:

• an advanced language unit, worth 25% of the overall assessment;
• two units consisting of supervised reading, worth 12.5% each; and
• a thesis of 12,000 to 15,000 words in French, worth 50%.

Full-time students will complete all three elements in a single year. Part-time students will normally be required to complete the coursework in the first year and to work on their thesis in the second.

Three hours per week will be devoted to advanced oral/aural proficiency as well as advanced writing skills, including translation and techniques appropriate to formal writing.

The content of the reading units will be negotiated on an individual basis with applicants and will take account of prior studies in French and the availability of appropriate supervision. There will normally be a clear link with the subject of the thesis. While topics within French and Francophone literature are common (study of aspects of one or more authors, a period or a genre), non-literary aspects of French studies (including linguistics) are also possible; enquiries are invited.

Under certain circumstances, permission may be given for part of the programme to be taken while on exchange at a university in a French-speaking country.

It is wise to choose a thesis topic at the end of third year French, in consultation with the staff member whom the student wishes to supervise the thesis. The staff member to consult will normally be the one whose teaching sparked the student’s interest in pursuing Honours.

5. Joint Honours

Enquiries and applications are invited from those wishing to enrol in a so-called Joint Honours programme, i.e. an Honours course combining French with another language or subject available at the University of Tasmania. The precise content of the course will depend on the combination selected by the applicant, and be subject to negotiation between the relevant programme coordinators and endorsement by the respective Heads of School. The language the thesis is written in and its length will also be subject to agreement between all parties. Interested students should consult the French subject coordinator as early as possible, and at any rate well before completing the application form.

6. Staff

All full-time staff in the French section of the School of English, Journalism and European Languages are able to supervise Honours students. Staff research areas and suggested honours research topics are as follows:

6.1. Staff research areas

Dr Agnès Hafez-Ergaut:
French 19th and 20th century literature; Maghreb literature; French Canadian women writers.

Dr Bert Peeters:
French linguistics; cross-cultural communication (French-English).

6.2. Suggested honours research topics

Dr Agnès Hafez-Ergaut:
To be advised.

Dr Bert Peeters:
Past participle agreement rules in French; the semantics of particular syntactic mechanisms and/or constructions; study of a French communicative norm, a French cultural value or a French key word; linguistic study of a corpus of newstext.

7. Due dates and assessment

All Honours coursework is assessed by means of either regular assignments or one or more essays, as well as through a series of final examinations (one per unit). Relevant dates and deadlines will be communicated separately in unit outlines. Coursework assignments and essays will be returned with a numerical mark.

The thesis will normally be independently assessed by the candidate’s supervisor as well as by one external examiner. Criteria for assessment include originality, cogency and coherence. Presentation, as well as the quality of the language used in the thesis, will also play a role. Three ring-bound copies of the thesis will have to be submitted by the Monday following the end of S2 classes. This is an exam date and is treated as such by the School. Once a final grade (for the entire Honours course) has been allocated and communicated to the candidate, written reports on the thesis will be made available. These reports will normally include a short statement of reasons for the grade or mark awarded to the thesis component of the course.

In exceptional circumstances, candidates may apply to the subject coordinator for an extended deadline for submission of assessable work. Extensions for the submission of the thesis will normally require the approval of the Faculty.

8. Expectations and responsibilities of supervisors and students

The thesis supervisor should be thought of as an academic advisor as well as a guide to resources. The key role of the supervisor is to provide a mutually agreeable timetable for research and writing, advice on relevant readings as well as oral and written feedback on draft chapters of the thesis. It is expected that there will be regular consultation between the candidate and the supervisor (at least three sessions, and preferably more). The Code of Conduct in Supervision intended for research higher degree students may be used as a guide for staff and students in the Honours supervisory relationship. The Code of Conduct is printed in the Research Higher Degrees Handbook; it is also available on-line. For projects in literature, MLA style conventions will have to be applied throughout. For projects in linguistics, the Harvard or author-date system is mandatory. Further details are available from the library, or through the thesis supervisor.

9. Honours gradings

In line with University-wide practice, there will be four classes of Honours:

• First Class (HF; 80%+);
• Upper Second Class (HU; 70-79%);
• Lower Second Class (HL; 60-69%);
• Third Class (HT; 50-59%).