Modern Foreign Languages

In a multilingual world a modern language has enormous benefit to offer all students. They can learn to interact with people who speak other languages and can gain enormous enjoyment as a result.
CILT, the National Centre for Languages initiated a report which found 700 reasons for studying languages and it is worth taking a look at the findings.

Here in the MFL department we try to promote the enjoyment of languages from the First Year right through to the Sixth Form. Every year we are fortunate to have a Language Assistant in the department. He/she works on a one to one basis with our Sixth Form students but also works with small groups or in the classroom with pupils lower down the School. In addition, every classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard or a projector and the necessary sound systems.

KS3

Pupils entering the School in Year 7 study French.  They will find themselves in set classes. They will study French for three periods over a two week cycle and will use a variety of resources including expo 1.
In Year 8, the top 60 pupils will be encouraged to learn German in addition to their French. They will be provided with two periods a fortnight per language.  The other pupils will carry on their study of French with four lessons over two weeks. They will follow the Expo 2 and Echo 1 course.
It is our aim that all pupils will arrive at the end of Year 9 feeling that they have made a good start in a language. At this stage, they may choose to continue with French and/or German. This system will allow pupils the chance to continue with the language that they enjoy most or to continue with two languages feeling confident about their studies.
Year 9 pupils are given the opportunity of being paired with a pen friend using the “ Nord Pas de Calais ” project.

KS4

At present the pupils in Year 10 and 11 use Expo for French and Echo for German as their course books. They can usually expect to have the same teacher throughout the two year GCSE course.  In addition, they will have an opportunity to work with our assistant on a regular basis.
We follow the AQA GCSE specifications. The language content is made up of four broad topic areas:
•    Lifestyle
•    Leisure
•    Home and Environment
•    Work and Education

Students also study grammatical structures and develop a range of communication strategies.
We expect that our top linguists will carry on studying a language in the Sixth Form.
Assessment
Students complete a number of controlled written assessments.  The best two pieces make up 30% of the final grade.

During the course, students also complete a number of controlled speaking assessments. The best two pieces also make up 30% of their final grade.

At the end of the course there are listening and reading examinations. Each of these is worth a further 20% of the final grade.

Recommended reading:
http://zut.languageskills.co.uk/index.html (before 7.00 and after 16.00 free)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/
Suffolk languages  (various resources)

KS5 -

AS Outline

The AS course covers:

  1. Media: TV, advertising and communication technology

  2. Popular culture: cinema, music and fashion/trends

  3. Healthy living/lifestyle: sport/exercise, health and well-being and holidays

  4. Family/relationships: relationships within the family, friendships and marriage/partnerships.

The AS specification has 2 units:

  1. Unit 1: Listening, Reading and Writing

  2. Unit 2: Speaking Test.

A2 Outline

The A2 course covers:

  1. Environment: pollution, energy and protecting the planet

  2. The multi-cultural society: immigration, integration and racism

  3. Contemporary social issues: wealth and poverty, law and order and the impact of scientific and technological progress

  4. Cultural topic:

  5. The study of a period of 20th century history

  6. The study of a region in France or Germany

  7. The study of a novelist/dramatist/poet.

  8. The study of a director/architect/musician/painter.

The A2 specification has 2 units:

  1. Unit 3: Listening, Reading and Writing

  2. Unit 4: Speaking Test

We will possibly be able to arrange a European work experience placement in France.

All our linguists will have the opportunity to be involved in the Language Leaders Award in order to teach in Primary schools.