French JAMB Syllable 2024

–    topics of general and emergent                    interest e.g. love, life, death, politics,                   marriage, HIV/AIDS,                    communication, child trafficking,                   cultism, travel, corruption, money-                   laundering, etc.

2.                   Principles Governing the Structure and          Use of Written French:  

I.  Identification of basic form classes:

(a)      Nouns: simple/compound,  singular/plural, masculine/feminine.

(b)      Pronouns: personal, impersonal, demonstrative, possessive and  relative.

(c)      Verbs: reflexive and non-reflexive,                        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.)

Candidates should be able to:

(i)      deduce answers to questions on the content,

intent and style of proposed texts, (ii)     apply reasoning skills.

Candidates should be able to:

i.      identify what constitutes the basic structures          of written French,  ii.     use the principles governing the structure of          written French to determine acceptability,         e.g. to transform one form; one class into          another, iii.    apply the structure to convey diverse          messages.

–     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:

–                   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,                          quoique, à condition que, pour que,                           parce que.)                (h)     Articles:

–                   definite, indefinite and partitive.

II.            Assessment of vocabulary span:

(words in contemporary contexts

–  meaning, use, opposites,

Synonyms)

III.          Importance of word order in:

(a)                       affirmative sentences

(b)                       interrogative sentences

(c)                       imperative sentences

(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 du subjonctif.

(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.)

(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, aussi….que e.g. plus grand que.)

NB – special forms –

(e.g. bon, meilleur, le meilleur, la meilleure, mauvais,

pire, le pire.)

V.    Use of French in set                          expressions such as in proverbs,                          idioms and conventional                         structures as provided for in                          common speech acts:

(a)     proverbs (e.g. tel père  tel fils, petit à petit l’oiseau fait son nid.)

(b)    idioms (e.g. avoir une faim de loup, crier sur  le toit, mourir de peur.)

(c)     conventional stretches                                (e.g. enchanté, c’est                                dommage, c’est                                 formidable,                                stationnement interdit,                                etc.)

(d)    speech acts (e.g.

proposer, conseiller,

regretter, admirer                                espérer, interroger,

reprocher, s’accorder, etc.)

(a) sound discrimination

(e.g. tout/tu), (fais/fée.)

(b)   letter-sound                 correspondence

(e.g. ai-/e/,  eau/o/.)

(c)       syllabification (e.g. con/tente/ment.)

(d)      liaison (e.g. trois animaux, des enfants.)

(e)       sense groups in reading

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    rest, blesser/to bless.)

(g)       identification of sounds to                   determine similarity (e.g.

maison/saison, dents/don, fond/                  fonde.)

4.                Culture and Civilization:

Characteristics , (aspects, similarities and                  differences) of the educational system,             socio-economic life, political organization                 and culture life of Francophone Africa and             France, with reference (where possible) to             home country i.e Nigeria.