Master in Teaching French as a Foreign Language

•    Programme duration: 2 years
•    Delivery language: French
•    Degree awarded: Master in Teaching French as a Foreign Language
•    Accreditation: The curriculum follows the European ECTS system and the degree is awarded by Sorbonne University. This programme is accredited by the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation.
•    Admission deadline: 23 July 2024
•    Interview dates: 30 January 2024 | 27 February 2024 | 19 March 2024 | 23 April 2024 | 28 May 2024 | 4 June 2024 | 30 July 2024

The Master in Teaching French as a Foreign Language, is taught in two years but students with sufficient professional experience in the field of teaching French can join the second year of the programme directly.

This master degree is designed for students who whish to broaden their knowledge and skills to teach French as a Foreign Language (FLE) in Arabic-speaking countries. It is also designed for individuals interested in working in fields that support cultural relationships between France and Arab countries.

The programme combines courses and internships. Focused courses on linguistic, comparative literature, teaching methodologies of French as Foreign Language and new information and communication technologies for teaching. Internships deliver a valuable experience in observing French teaching methods as a foreign language and are validated by an evaluation report.

Career opportunities range from teaching French in Arab countries or educating students in all aspects related to the French language and its development in the Arab world (diplomacy, cultural relationships, tourism, careers in the cultural field).

Typical delivery format of the courses*
M1 and M2

Day Evening
Monday 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Tuesday 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Wednesday 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Thursday 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Friday 5:00pm – 8:00pm

*This is the usual pattern of the courses, changes may sometimes occur.

Year 1

Modules Courses
Linguistics 1
  • French linguistics (1): describing French grammar: verbal morphology, nominal group morphology, simple sentence structure, complex sentence structure, grammatical terminology used in the classroom
  • Contrastive linguistics (1): theoretical questions in contrastive linguistics, French-Arabic contrastive linguistics, sentence structure in French and Arabic, language families, order of words in a sentence, agreement notion (verb-subject ;noun-adjective), voice notion (active, passive and middle), aspect notion
Didactics 1
  • French didactics (1): project – developing a FLE course oriented towards acquiring B1 level morpho-syntactic skills (CECRL)
  • Didactics of specialised French (1): raising awareness on the field of specialised French, at the crossroads of language teaching and discourse analysis
  • Language courses: methods and materials (1): introduction to the skills expected from a FLE teacher; construction of progressions and educational sequences in the spirit of the communicative and action-oriented approaches recommended by the Council of Europe; knowledge of the objectives of the six learning levels defined by the CEFR; learning how to didacticize authentic documents and publish exercises on a self-learning platform; Production of teaching materials subject to evaluation.
Cultural anthropology (1)
  • Comparative literature (1): study of works from French literature and comparison with literature works or non-literary artistic works (painting, music, architecture …) of other countries
  • French civilisation (1): historical and cultural aspects of French civilisation
Language and IT
  • Language: learning a foreign language (other than French)
  • IT: IT tools for linguistic and teaching languages

Year 2


Modules Courses
Linguistics 2
  • French Linguistics (2): In-depth French Linguistics course (1). Analysis of more complex structures (subordination, values of tenses and verbal modes, etc.). The emphasis is on the language knowledge necessary to teach French grammar.
  • Contrastive linguistics (2): theoretical questions in contrastive linguistics, French-Arabic contrastive linguistics (continuation and deepening of contrastive linguistics 1).
Didactics 2
  • Didactics of French (2): command of basic currents and texts in teaching of FLE; ability to rigorously build of a didactic unit adapted to a specific audience, level and specific objectives; the place of assessment in teaching and learning FLE; the notion of French as a second language
  • Language courses: methods and materials (2): Deepening of knowledge and know-how expected from FLE teacher
Cultural anthropology (2)

  • Comparative literature (2): study of works from French literature and comparison with literature works or non-literary artistic works (painting, music, architecture …) of other countries
  • French civilisation (1): historical and cultural aspects of French civilisation, client presentation, media training
Language and IT
  • Language: learning a foreign language (other than French)
  • IT: IT tools for linguistic and teaching languages
Internship and internship report
  • Internship in a francophone structure, writing an internship report
Research thesis (optional)
  • Learning linguistic and FLE didactic research; French linguistic research seminars, writing a research thesis
  • Bachelor in a relevant field with a CGPA of 3 out of 4 or equivalent.
    Candidates with a GPA between 2.5 and 2.99 (or equivalent scores as per the equivalency table) may be conditionally admitted under probation during the first semester. The student will be authorized to continue in the program only if they secure an average of at least 12 out of 20 which is obtained by the end of the first semester. The decision is based on academic performance and will be made official after the completion of the first semester
    or Bachelor with minimum of 2nd class honours
    or Bachelor with an average of 12 out of 20
    • Bachelor students with a GPA below 3 may be admitted on the ground of their professional and/or personal experience, in case they are granted a VAPP by SU’s or UP’s VAPP commission
  • B2 level in French language proficiency certificate (DELF or DALF, SELFEE, TCF with a validity of 2 years, TEF with a validity of 2 years) or Native French speaker who completed at least full 3 years in a French medium institution within a maximum period of 3 years or students with SUAD DU

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend an interview to assess the candidate’s motivation, career expectations and relevant professional experience in the degree area.

Applicants who earned their undergraduate degrees from universities outside the UAE must present a Certificate of Equivalency for their graduation certificates from the UAE Ministry of Education. Applicants, who are holders of undergraduate degrees issued by a licensed higher education institution in the UAE, are required to submit a copy of their degrees attested by the UAE Ministry of Education. For details on requirements, kindly visit the Ministry’s website: Ministry of Education

•    Programme tuition fees (over 2 years):
AED 131,900 (approximately US$ 35,943)
•    Payment of fees:
Click here

Scholarships*

25% academic excellence scholarship

New joiners are eligible to 25% scholarship on tuition starting from the 1st semester. To be eligible, applicants are required to meet one of the below criteria:

  • Bachelor CGPA average of 3.6/4.0 and above, or equivalent
  • Bachelor with Final Average of 15/20 above
  • Bachelor with first class honors
  • Candidates graduating as the top of class, despite the average

A minimum average of 14/20 is required to maintain the scholarship for the following semesters.

For programmes taught in English: an English Proficiency level with a minimum of 7.0 for IELTS or 94 for TOELF IB

Preferential rates

20% Alumni preferential rate

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi alumni are eligible to a 20% waiver on tuition fee.

25% preferential rate upon enrolment on a second master’s degree

Applicants holding a master degree from SUAD and enrolling for a second master degree at SUAD are entitled to a 25% waiver on tuition.

5%-15% corporate rate

Companies and organizations benefit from a special discount, based on the number of employees enrolling in programmes. For more details, please contact +971(0) 2-6569311

10% Family discount

Students who have a first-degree relative currently enrolled in an undergraduate or a postgraduate programmes are eligible for a 10% discount.

*Conditions apply