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Modern Foreign Languages

Modern Foreign Languages

Subject Leader - Ms Pascale Simonin 

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. We aim to foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Pupils should be able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speaking and in writing. In addition, pupils should be given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes and learn new ways of thinking and thereby equip them to study and work in other countries. 

By the end of KS3, students should be able to build on the foundations of language learning laid in KS2 to enable them to enjoy competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing, based on a sound foundation of core grammar and vocabulary. They should be able to understand and communicate personal and factual information as well as their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy.

By the end of KS4, students should be able to communicate confidently and coherently with native speakers in speech and writing, having broadened their horizons and having stepped beyond familiar cultural boundaries and having developed new ways of seeing the world.

French and Spanish are studied as Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) in year 7 and 8. Pupils are able to opt to study either French or Spanish (or both) at the end of year 8 as a GCSE subject.

Key Stage 3 Content

Year 7

  • French - Talking about yourself, Life at School, Free-time activities, My family, In town.
  • Spanish - Talking about yourself, Free-time activities, Life at School, My family and friends, What to do in town.

Year 8

  • French - Holidays, French festivals, Leisure time, your local area and daily routine, Sport and health
  • Spanish – Holidays, Leisure time, Food and drink, Preparing to go out, What to wear.

Homework

Students are set homework weekly. Generally, it is to learn the vocabulary from the topic which is currently being studied. In addition, they will do an ILT (independent learning task) in each term of the year on a topic which usually sits beyond the topics covered in the classroom. They are required to carry out independent research at home before submitting their ILT. 

Assessment

Assessment happens routinely, both formally (weekly vocab learning and termly ILTs) and informally (during lessons). Assessment will feature across all four skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Feedback will be provided to the pupils at every turn to allow them to reflect and to enable them to improve their level.

Twice during the academic year, pupils will complete exams in all four skills. This will test their understanding of all the topics covered over the course of the year.

How Parents and Carers Can Support

  • Encourage your child to ask teachers for help if there are any difficulties.
  • Ask your child to explain to you how to use verbs to refer to the past, present or future.
  • Encourage your child to be observant and take an interest in the world around them. This could include reading local and national newspapers and watching news programmes that include themes connected to French / Spanish-speaking countries.
  • Support your child in reviewing the weekly vocab
  • Encourage your child to make use of public libraries and computer resources if they are available at home.

Additional Support Available/Useful Links

Reading List

  • French or Spanish newspapers (available locally or online.)
  • www.yahoo.fr
  • www.yahoo.es
  • Asterix books in French or Spanish

Key Stage 4

Exam Board and syllabus code

  • AQA 8658 (French)
  • AQA 8698 (Spanish)

Content

At Key Stage 4, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) becomes an option subject. Pupils who have made good progress at Key Stage 3 will be encouraged to continue with their studies in years 9, 10 and 11. Furthermore, the school supports the widely held view that pupils who aspire to higher education will need a Modern Foreign Language GCSE qualification as part of their portfolio when the time comes to apply to university. Studying for a GCSE Language can also help enhance presentation & communication skills.

Students study the following themes on which all four GCSE papers are based:

  • Theme 1: Identity and culture
  • Me, my family and friends; technology in everyday life; free-time activities; customs and festivals
  • Theme 2: Local, National, International and Global areas of interest
  • Home, town, neighbourhood and region; social issues; global issues, travel and tourism
  • Theme 3: Current and future study and employment
  • My studies; life at school and college; Education post-16; Jobs, career choices and ambitions

As well as learning key vocabulary for each of the topics within these themes, pupils will also continue developing and applying grammatical structures discovered in Key Stage 3. Pupils will be taught the key rules of grammar so that they can express themselves accurately in both spoken and written work. Pupils will be encouraged to speak as much French and Spanish in lessons as they can.

It is important to remember that although all pupils will be working towards producing a high standard of grammatically accurate work, effective communication is the key to success in many elements of the GCSE exam.

Assessment

There is no coursework or controlled assessment in the GCSE French and Spanish exams. All assessment is by final examination at the end of Year 11.

Assessment happens routinely, both formally (weekly vocab learning and homework) and informally (during lessons). Assessment will feature across all four skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Feedback will be provided to the pupils at every turn to allow them to reflect and to enable them to improve their level.

Twice during the academic year, pupils will complete exams in all four skills. This will test their understanding of all the topics covered over the course of the year.

At Key Stage 4, candidates will be tested in the four skill areas: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. In all four skill areas there are two tiers of examination - Foundation and Higher. The range of grades available is 9-1, with Foundation Tier covering grades 1-5 and Higher Tier 4-9. Students must sit all four exams at the same tier at the end of Year 11. Each of the four skills is worth 25% of the exam.

Homework

In addition to the weekly vocab learning and testing, pupils will complete written exercises which are designed to consolidate grammatical points covered in the lessons to strengthen their all-important grip on well-structured French and Spanish phrases.

They will also build up a portfolio of questions and answers on the topics covered, which will comprise the basis of the GCSE speaking exam taken in Year 11.

How Parents and Carers Can Support

  • Encourage your child to log onto Kerboodle every week to review work covered in class. Here they can access both the Foundation and Higher textbooks as well as a range of other resources connected to each topic and interactive practice.
  • Ask your child to explain to you how they would conjugate a current topic-related verb to refer to the past, present and future.
  • A dictionary is recommended to enable the accurate completion of homework and class work tasks, as well as helping pupils to extend and vary their vocabulary. Please note that pupils, however, will not be allowed to use a dictionary in exams.
  • The CGP group publish revision and practice guides in both languages. These are made available to Year 10 and Year 11 students.

Additional Support Available/Useful Links

Websites