OSAT French cheat sheet

In French, final consonants are usually silent (parler → [paʁle]); liaison links a silent final consonant to a following vowel-initial word (les amis → [lezami]).

Nasal vowels are phonemic: /ɑ̃/ (an, en), /ɛ̃/ (in, ain, ein), /ɔ̃/ (on), /œ̃/ (un). Minimal pairs like pain/pas test discrimination.

Register cues in listening: tu/vous choice, dropped ne (je sais pas), on for nous, and question-by-intonation signal informal speech.

Numbers 70–99 are additive/compounded: 70 soixante-dix, 80 quatre-vingts, 90 quatre-vingt-dix; 71 soixante-et-onze; 91 quatre-vingt-onze.

Time and dates: il est huit heures et quart (8:15), moins le quart (x:45), midi/minuit; dates use cardinal numbers (le deux mai), not ordinals.

Distinguish homophones by context: verre/vers/vert, mer/mère/maire, cent/sans/s'en; listening items rely on collocation and syntax, not spelling.

Discourse markers carry function: donc (conclusion), pourtant (contrast), en fait (correction), d'ailleurs (addition), bref (summary).

Passé composé vs imparfait: completed bounded events take passé composé; background, habits, and ongoing states take imparfait.

Passé simple marks formal written narrative (il fut, elle prit); it is rare in speech but frequent in literature and news prose.

Pronoun placement: object pronouns precede the conjugated verb (je le vois), precede the infinitive (je veux le voir), and stay before the auxiliary in compound tenses (je l'ai vu).

Y and en replace prepositional/locative complements: y = à + thing/place; en = de + noun or a partitive quantity (j'en ai deux).

Logical connectors signal argument structure: cependant/néanmoins (concession), par conséquent (consequence), en revanche (contrast), de plus (addition).

False friends distort reading: actuellement = currently (not actually), éventuellement = possibly, assister à = to attend, demander = to ask.

Relative pronouns: qui = subject, que = direct object, dont = de + antecedent, où = place/time, lequel agrees in gender and number.

Articles: definite le/la/les; indefinite un/une/des; partitive du/de la/des for mass nouns; partitive becomes de after negation (je n'ai pas de pain).

Negation patterns: ne…pas, ne…jamais, ne…plus, ne…rien, ne…personne, ne…aucun; rien and personne can serve as subjects (Personne n'est venu).

Subjunctive triggers: il faut que, bien que, avant que, pour que, douter que, vouloir que; regular endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.

Agreement of past participle: agrees with a preceding direct object (les lettres que j'ai écrites); with être verbs agrees with the subject.

Verb groups: -er (regular, largest), -ir (finir type with -iss- plural), -re (irregular patterns); aller uses être in compound tenses.

Adjective placement: short frequent adjectives (grand, petit, beau, jeune, bon) precede the noun; most others follow; meaning shifts for ancien, propre, cher.

Register vocabulary pairs: travail/boulot, voiture/bagnole, manger/bouffer; formal writing avoids the colloquial member of each pair.

France is a laïque (secular) republic: the 1905 law separated church and state; public schools restrict conspicuous religious symbols.

Francophonie covers over 300 million speakers on five continents; OIF membership includes observers and full members beyond France.

Regional languages of France include Breton, Occitan, Basque, Catalan, Corsican, and Alsatian; they hold no official national status.

Key national symbols: la Marseillaise (anthem), le 14 juillet (Fête nationale, 1789), Marianne (republican figure), devise liberté-égalité-fraternité.

Francophone Africa: Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), West Africa (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali), and Central Africa supply major literary traditions.

Québec's Charter of the French Language (Bill 101, 1977) makes French the official language of the province's public life.

Belgian and Swiss French differ in numbers and vocabulary: septante/nonante (BE/CH) vs soixante-dix/quatre-vingt-dix; déjeuner shifts in meaning by region.

ACTFL proficiency levels ascend Novice → Intermediate → Advanced → Superior → Distinguished; each splits into Low/Mid/High.

Comprehensible input theory (Krashen) holds that acquisition proceeds via input slightly beyond current level, denoted i+1.

Communicative competence (Canale & Swain) comprises grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic components.

The 5 Cs of world-language standards: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities.

Three communication modes: interpretive (listening/reading), interpersonal (negotiated two-way), presentational (one-way production).

Total Physical Response pairs commands with physical action to build listening comprehension before production.

Backward design (Wiggins & McTighe) sequences instruction from desired results to evidence to learning activities.

Formative assessment informs ongoing instruction; summative assessment certifies achievement at the end of a unit or course.

ACTFL proficiency ratings describe unrehearsed performance on a scale; achievement tests measure mastery of taught material.

Reliability = consistency of scores across occasions and raters; validity = the degree a test measures its intended construct.

Interrater agreement in speaking/writing scoring is protected by rubrics and calibration; holistic vs analytic scoring are the two main rubric types.

Integrated performance assessment (IPA) links the three modes: interpretive task, interpersonal task, and presentational task.

Teacher professionalism includes confidentiality of student records, accurate reporting, and adherence to district and state policies.

Feedback research favors specific, timely, criterion-referenced feedback over grades alone; error correction should target the lesson's focus.