Modern Foreign Languages

Subject Overview

“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith.

Languages are hugely important in our modern world, and in our global community we believe that the ability to speak a second language is a key skill. We deliver languages in an engaging, varied and practical way to enthuse Oriel students in their use and to allow them to enjoy demonstrating their achievement in a foreign language.

The Modern Foreign Languages department at Oriel delivers lessons in French, German and Spanish, and all 3 languages are offered to GCSE and A-level. We also support students for whom English is an additional language (EAL). EAL students are encouraged to sit qualifications for their native language with the support of West Sussex County Council.

The Modern Languages Department has 7 full time specialised staff, all of whom have experience of living and working abroad. The department is situated in 6 specialist classrooms, all of which have interactive whiteboards.

Curriculum Intent

Our vision in the Modern Foreign Languages department is that all language learners develop the skills and confidence to consider themselves as ‘World Citizens’ who belong in a multicultural and respectful world. We aim to support students to understand other countries and cultures so that they can be more open and adaptable to new experiences and career or life opportunities.

We ensure that our teaching enables pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

We aim for pupils to sequentially develop language competency that is both broad and deep in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing based on a sound foundation of core grammar, vocabulary and phonics. They should also be able to understand and communicate personal and factual information that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy.

We aim to ensure that:

our pupils understand and are able to respond to language from a variety of authentic sources,
they speak with increasing self-esteem and spontaneity
they use the variety of grammatical structures they have learnt when communicating.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

All students study two languages from Y7 to Y9. They have 3h a fortnight of each language (French and/or German and/or Spanish). In Year 7, all classes are mixed-ability. In Year 8 and Year 9, classes are streamed into one set 1 and two mixed-ability classes.

We practise and teach each language across all four skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing with a special emphasis on communication, target language and culture. The students are provided with a booklet that has all of the required grammar and vocabulary to support them in their work at home. Homework is set every week and includes learning homework as well as creative, research-based and written homework.

Students are assessed throughout the year with specific focus at the end of each unit in at least 2 of the 4 key skills. Students are also tested regularly on vocabulary and translation skills.

	SPANISH	FRENCH	GERMAN
Year 7	Introducing oneself Free time My school Family and friends	Myself School Leisure Where I live	My World and I Family and pets Free time School
Year 8	Holiday Music Food Clothes and parties	Media A visit to Paris My passions	Town and travel Holidays The media Healthy living
Year 9	Myself and my interests Work and daily routine Healthy living	A teenager’s social life Sport and fitness Jobs and the future Holiday plans	Music Ambitions Clothes and style Social issues and the wider world

Key Stage 4 Curriculum – GCSE (AQA)

All GCSE students study the brand new 9-1 specification from AQA:

	Value	Exam type	Tier (same tier will apply to all four skills)
Unit 1: Listening	25%	End of Y11	Foundation OR Higher
Unit 2: Reading	25%	End of Y11	Foundation OR Higher
Unit 3: Speaking	25%	End of Y11	Foundation OR Higher
Unit 4: Writing	25%	End of Y11	Foundation OR Higher

The Tier of entry will be decided with the class teacher’s guidance and a combination of Higher/Foundation is not possible anymore. All exams take place at the end of Y11 with the Speaking exam starting earlier; usually around April/May.

Through the 2 year course, the students are taught to:

Engage in the culture of the target language
Speak confidently and accurately in the foreign language.
Understand a range of texts.
Write accurately for a range of purposes in the foreign language and from memory.
Understand the foreign language when it is spoken.

The main topics taught are as listed below:

	SPANISH	FRENCH	GERMAN
Year 10	Personal Information and relationships with others. Local area Leisure Holiday Healthy Living Environmental issues	Personal relationship School Free time Part-time job Town and environment Holiday	Healthy Living Relationships and future plans Life at school The Environment Free time
Year 11	School Work The media and shopping Choices and social issues Revision program	Technology and the media Money and shopping Healthy Living Revision program	Holidays The world of work Where I live Exam preparation

Key Stage 5 Curriculum – A-Level (AQA)

A-level Languages gives students an opportunity to learn a great deal more about the culture of the foreign country, as well as increasing their ability and competence in the foreign language itself.

A-level languages are taught by experienced specialist teachers in small classes which allows us to offer excellent support to pupils. The teachers make use of authentic resources alongside the set text book to deliver the lessons on topics like the following:

A-Level 1	A-Level 2
Cyber-society	Homelessness
Family	Crime
Charity Work	Multiculturalism
Heritage (architecture/customs/religion)	Young People and Politic
Culture (music/cinema)	Immigration
A French/Spanish/German film	A French/Spanish/German book

The films studied in Year 1 are:

French = Au Revoir Les Enfants
German = Almanya
Spanish = Volver

The books studied in Year 2 are:

French = Un sac de billes
German = Der Besuch der alten Dame
Spanish = El Coronel No tiene Quien le Escriba

For AS and A-level, students study the new AQA specification which divides the assessments as follows:

	A-Level Year 1	A-Level Year 2
Unit 1: Listening/Reading/Writing 2h30 50%	X	Listening and responding to spoken passages from a range of contexts and sources covering different registers and adapted as necessary. Reading and responding to a variety of texts written for different purposes, drawn from a range of authentic sources and adapted as necessary. Translation into English. Translation into French.
Unit 2: Writing 2h 20%	X	Essay writing Two essays to write in 2h: one on the film (choice of 2 titles) and one on the book (choice of 2 titles).
Unit 3: Speaking 21-23mn 30%	X	Discussion of a sub-theme with the discussion based on a stimulus card (5–6 minutes). Presentation (2 minutes) and discussion (9–10 minutes) of individual research project.

Resources

	French	Spanish	German
Year 7	Studio 1	Viva! 1	Stimmt! 1
Year 8	Studio 2	Viva! 2	Stimmt! 2/3
Year 9	Studio 3	Viva! 3	Stimmt! 2/3
GCSE	Studio GCSE (Foundation and Higher)	Viva GCSE (Foundation and Higher)	Stimmt! GCSE (Foundation and Higher)
A-Level	AQA Kerboodle	AQA Kerboodle	AQA Kerboodle