Modern Foreign Language

“Language is the road map of a culture, it tells you where its people come from and where they are going” – Rita Mae Brown

Our vision in the MFL Department is that languages will take you further and beyond in life, improve your cognitive abilities and your literacy skills. Therefore, students should explore possibilities beyond frontiers, and this is achievable through breaking language and culture barriers.

Although we can only introduce them to Spanish and French language and culture, we take every opportunity to encourage debate about other languages and cultures in an interactive way as part of an enjoyable learning experience. Knowledge of culture is essential in our conception of language learning. We promote intercultural, inter-linguistic discussion and contrastive analysis at all Key Stages.

In Years 7, 8 and 9 half of students study French and the other half study Spanish. Normally, at the end of Year 9 students opt to do French or Spanish for their GCSE in Years 10 and Y11.

We provide a broad MFL curriculum that is connected to other subject areas with variable routes through the key stages to allow students to maximise their attainment by developing the skills and talents they already hold. We understand the importance of a spiral curriculum; thematic content and the linguistic transition are connected bottom to top and top to bottom.

Our MFL curriculum has been designed to give students the knowledge, understanding and skills to progress onto the next stage of their education, irrespective of their prior attainment, background or ethnicity. Nonetheless, we also take into account the validity of languages in the world and how they are a means of unifying cultures through awareness of common values. We have included explicit mention to each cultural area in our Schemes of Work.

Our Staff

Mrs C Balaita – Head of Department

Mrs I Louis – Teacher of Spanish

Key Stage Three

Students of Spanish or French have two hour-long lessons per week. The department follows the National Curriculum for MFL putting special attention to improving students’ general language skills and developing their enthusiasm to get to know other cultures.

By the end of Year 9 our students can understand, express and develop their ideas in a number of topic areas such as: personal information and local area, home, school, holidays, French and Spanish Speaking countries, the workplace, shopping, free time and leisure pursuits.

We provide KS3 extra support once a week on Tuesday period 6.

Assessment

In addition to the immediate feedback on their language use by our teachers, students are levelled every half term through end of unit tests. These tests assess students across the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Homework

Students are given their own vocabulary and grammar booklet at the beginning of the year for their own personal study. They have access to Active Learn where they are asked to complete reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary tasks once a week, normally on the first lesson. They also receive extended writing tasks and a range of homework books with differentiated material for extra practice. We provide diagnostic comments at least once every three weeks to provide students with guidance towards their targets.

Every half term we set independent cultural enhanced tasks that aim to make them explore cultural similarities and differences with the target language countries and to encourage them to start thinking about taking languages in the future.

Key Stage Four

At KS4, students have two lessons per week and also one hour period 6 revision session per fortnight. We also arrange Saturday and half term revisions near examination times or as intervention for particular students.

According to the current MFL Curriculum students study GCSE French or Spanish from Year 10. The new curriculum emphasises the value of listening and reading authentic material and expects students to speak and write spontaneously. These skills are embedded in our lessons.

The French and Spanish GCSE courses are taught over a period of 2 years starting in Year 10 until Year 11. The 4 skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing are all assessed at the end of the course. The MFL Department also offers students the opportunity of sitting exams in their own native language that counts towards the number of GCSEs at the end of year 11. Students should contact the Head of Department at the start of Year 9, 10 or 11 to arrange this.

Homework

Students are given their own vocabulary and grammar booklet at the beginning of the year for their own personal study. They have access to Active Learn where they are asked to complete reading, listening , grammar and vocabulary tasks once a week, normally in the first lesson. They also receive extended writing tasks and a range of homework books with differentiated material for extra practice. We provide diagnostic comments at least once every three weeks to provide guidance towards their targets.

At Key Stage 4, every half term students will have speaking preparation tasks covering various topics from Year 10 and Year 11.

Exam Board

The Examination Board used is Edexcel. Each examination assesses one of the four skills. Each exam is worth 25% of the overall GCSE. Students must either sit all Foundation tier or all Higher tier examinations.

Assessment

Each half term students are assessed on a combination of the skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. All written assessments follow the exact format of the GCSE examination. In Year 11 students will be assessed on their performance on Edexcel past examination papers through internal mock exams in November, January and March for Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. By the Easter holidays students will have an accurate idea of which area they have to revise to reach their desired grade.

Final examinations are taken in all 4 skill areas, each counting for 25% of the total GCSE.

Theme 1: Identity & Culture

Topics:

Who am I?: relationships; when I was younger; what my friends and family are like; what makes a good friend; interests; socialising with friends and family; role models
Daily life: customs and everyday life; food and drink; shopping; social media and technology (use of, advantages and disadvantages)
Cultural life: celebrations and festivals; reading; music; sport; film and television

Theme 2: Local area, holiday & travel

Topics:

Holidays: preferences; experiences; destinations
Travel and tourist transactions: travel and accommodation; asking for help and dealing with problems; directions; eating out; shopping
Town, region and country: weather; places to see; things to do

Theme 3: School

Topics:

What school is like: school types; school day; subjects; rules and pressures; celebrating success
School activities: school trips; events and exchanges

Theme 4: Future aspirations, study & work

Topics:

Using languages beyond the classroom: forming relationships; travel; employment
Ambitions: further study; volunteering; training
Work: jobs; careers and professions

Theme 5: International & global dimension

Topics:

Bringing the world together: sports events; music events; campaigns and good causes
Environmental issues: being ‘green’; access to natural resource

How parents can support students:

Check Show My homework and ensure that all tasks are completed
Assist students with vocabulary learning by testing them
Help test students on their speaking booklet questions
Purchase the CPG revision guides and workbooks

Key Stage Five

At Key Stage 5 MFL classes have 5 hours’ weekly contact.

Homework

At Key Stage 5 we set homework tasks that require higher independence. The main core of the A Level courses relies on cultural contents We also set guided tasks to model language and higher-level evaluation and critical analysis of cultural content. However, at this high-level real learning takes place through individual and independent research. We provide links to enhance students’ language and cultural skills.

Students must read and analyse a literary text and a film on their own time.

Every half term we set independent cultural research tasks that aim to make them explore cultural similarities and differences with the target language countries and to encourage them to pursue languages in the future.

A Level

The main content areas are as follows:

General A-level French/Spanish themes and sub-themes:

Aspects of Francophone / Spanish society

· Modern and traditional values

· Cyberspace

· Equal rights

Artistic culture in the Francophone world

· Modern day idols

· French/Spanish / Spanish regional identity

· Cultural heritage

Multiculturalism in Francophone/ Spanish society

· Immigration

· Racism

· Integration

Aspects of political life in the Francophone/ Spanish world

· Today’s youth, tomorrow’s citizens

· Monarchies and dictatorships

· Popular movements

Exams

A Level – Second Year:

Paper 1 – Listening, Reading and Writing. 2 hours and 30 minutes. 50% of total A level marks (100 marks).

Summarising information from spoken and written sources, reporting key points and subject matter in speech and writing

· translating an unseen passage from French/Spanish into English.

· translating an unseen passage from English into French/Spanish.

Paper 2 – Writing. 2 hours. 20% of A level (80 marks).

Either ONE/TWO questions in French/Spanish on a set text from a choice of two questions AND/OR one question in French/Spanish on a set film from a choice of two questions. 300 words (40 marks each).

Paper 3 – Speaking. 21-23 minutes (16-18 plus 5 minutes preparation time). 30% of A level marks (60 marks).

16-18 minutes plus 5 minutes preparation. The 5 minutes’ preparation time will take place in the examination room in the presence of the examiner. Students may make notes during the preparation period.

· One Stimulus Card: 5-6 minutes.

· Presentation of Individual Research Project: 2 minutes.

· Discussion based on Individual Research Project: 9-10 minutes.

Set Texts for French

· Molière Le Tartuffe

· Voltaire Candide

· Guy de Maupassant Boule de Suif et autres contes de la guerre

· Albert Camus L’étranger

· Françoise Sagan Bonjour tristesse

· Claire Etcherelli Elise ou la vraie vie · Joseph Joffo Un sac de billes · Faïza Guène Kiffe kiffe demain · Philippe Grimbert Un secret · Delphine de Vigan No et moi.

Set Films for French

· Les 400 coups François Truffaut (1959)

· Au revoir les enfants Louis Malle (1987)

· La Haine Mathieu Kassovitz (1995)

· L’auberge espagnole Cédric Klapisch (2002)

· Un long dimanche de fiançailles Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2004)

· Entre les murs Laurent Cantet (2008)

Set Texts for Spanish

· Federico García Lorca La casa de Bernarda Alba

· Gabriel García Márquez Crónica de una muerte anunciada

· Laura Esquivel Como agua para chocolate

· Ramón J. Sender Réquiem por un campesino español

· Carlos Ruiz Zafón La sombra del viento

· Isabel Allende La casa de los espíritus

· Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Rimas

· Fernando Fernán-Gómez Las bicicletas son para el verano

· Luis de Castresana El otro árbol de Guernica

· Gabriel García Márquez El coronel no tiene quien le escriba

Set Films for Spanish

· El laberinto del fauno Guillermo del Toro (2006)

· Ocho apellidos vascos Emilio Martínez-Lázaro (2014)

· María, llena eres de gracia Joshua Marston (2004)

· Volver Pedro Almodóvar (2006)

· Abel Diego Luna (2010)

· Las 13 rosas Emilio Martínez-Lázaro (2007)

Links to Future Pathways

With globalisation, language skills have become a useful adjunct to almost any combination of A level subjects. Students whose main interest is language should continue to study languages at A level and beyond. Employers say they value the key skills developed by language learners – these include: communication skills, team working skills, interpersonal skills, presentation skills, problem solving skills, organisational skills, good learning strategies, and independence. Languages can be continued as single or combined studies at University. It is possible to study a language in combination with almost any other subject, but particularly useful are Business Studies, Travel and Tourism, Accountancy and Law.