The Language Department at King Edward’s aims to offer an exciting and challenging course that will train minds and prepare for living in Europe. The principle languages taught are French, German and Spanish. The aim of the course in Modern Languages is to develop the linguistic skills of comprehension and expression, both written and spoken, in order to be able to use the foreign language; and to extend further pupils’ knowledge of the country, its way of life, its literature and general civilisation.

Years 7, 8 and 9

All pupils take two foreign languages in Years 7 and 8, from Spanish, German and French. In Year 9 pupils choose whether to continue one or two languages or not for a further year.

In Year 8 pupils may go to Santander in Cantabria as part of the School’s activities week programme or to Aix-en-Provence, our twin town in France as part of our Exchange programme. From Year 9, pupils may opt to take part in German and Spanish Exchanges to Braunschweig and Pamplona respectively.

	Board	GCSE
French	OCR	1925
German	OCR	1926
Spanish	AQA	3691

All pupils have to take one modern language to GCSE and some take the option of two, an advantageous position we wish to maintain.

The features of Key Stage 4 in Modern Languages are as follows:-

1.    Equal ‘weighting’ at each level of the four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing) i.e. each skill counts as 25% of the total.

2.    Heavy emphasis on authentic material in the foreign language. Candidates will be expected to cope with ‘real’ French, German and Spanish and much of the listening comprehension, for example, will be based on unscripted recordings of native speakers.

3.    The tasks set in the examination are intended to be, as far as possible, authentic and valuable outside the classroom - hence the increased stress on practical skills such as letter writing, note-taking, role playing etc.

4.    As with most other subjects, differentiated papers will be set at two levels. Candidates are entered at either Foundation or Higher. Foundation will give grades C-G and Higher A*-D. Close consultation between colleagues and individual pupils will take place so that the right level is chosen. We anticipate that the vast majority of pupils will be entered at Higher Level.

All pupils are strongly advised to take part in an Exchange with France, Germany or Spain during Year 10. The main exchanges are offered through the links between Bath with Braunschweig, Aix-en-Provence and Pamplona. These involve two to three weeks at each end of the exchange and are invaluable for building confidence.

Pupils should consider, in the light of the growing importance of languages in employment and as a good base for language study at A Level, choosing two modern languages at GCSE. The transferable skills involved facilitate learning, and studying two languages keeps options open for the wide range of higher education courses involving either joint honours in languages or combining languages with other subjects.

Year 12 or 13

	Board	AS	A2
French	OCR	3861	7861
German	OCR	3862	7862
Spanish	OCR	3863	7863

The A Level examination contains a variety of linguistic exercises, including essays, comprehensions, translations, an oral test, demanding an ability to sustain discussion and argument, and a course of literary study, with examination answers written in the target language.

This is a flexible course designed to develop to a high level all the skills started at GCSE and to offer the opportunity for some self-study (particularly in regard to topic work for the oral examination). It is a modular course, but with AS exams in Year 12 and A Level in Year 13. It also encourages visits abroad and allows you to study some literature primarily, though not exclusively, for its linguistic merit.

Number, Length & Title of Exam papers

AS (200 marks, 3 exams 3 Hrs 45 total)

Oral (60 marks)

Role Play 15 mins. + 20 preparation.

Presentation 2 – 3 mins.

Discussion 7 – 8 mins.

Listening, Reading and Writing 1 (90 marks)

Mixed skill paper (listening, reading, writing) 90 mins.

Reading & Writing  (60 marks)

Mixed skill paper (reading and writing) 90 mins.

A2 (200 marks, 3 exams 3 Hrs 45 total)

Oral (60 marks).

Discussion of article 5 minutes + 20 preparation.

General conversation 10 mins.

Reading, Listening and Writing 2 (90 marks.)

Mixed skill paper (reading, listening, writing) 2H45

Culture and Society (60 marks)

2 topics (cinema/literature/theme)

2 essays (250 words) or Coursework  

Course Description

During the course, students will be using ‘Au Point’, ‘Zeitgeist’ and ‘Sigue 1 & 2’ for the respective languages, all of which are the latest coursebooks, supplemented by source material (e.g. ‘Authentik’ and ‘Thématique’) including radio broadcasts and access to a PC language laboratory and satellite facilities. We are also lucky enough to have native speakers in all three languages and supplementary oral lessons are built into the course. There are extensive stocks of extra materials for reading and listening in the School Library. Dictionaries, costing between £20-£30, will be needed for study at home and use in lessons. These should be bi-lingual. In the first term students will be given a thorough revision programme of the grammar points covered in GCSE and opportunities to develop intensive reading and listening skills. AS exams will be sat by AS and A-Level pupils at the end of Year 12.We aim to give students confidence in all aspects of the course while being taught much of topical interest related to the country. To this end, they will be expected to participate in an exchange or language course abroad where financial and other constraints allow, as this underpins so much of what language learning is all about. Exchanges cost between £250 and £420

Students have the chance to take up Spanish from scratch in Year 12 and sit GCSE at the end of the year. A good level of proficiency in another language is expected.

Each language has its own exchange, French with Aix-en-Provence, German with Braunsweig and Spanish with Pamplona. These are popular with pupils and well established. The library is well resourced with foreign language newspapers, magazines, novels and audio cassettes and films. Popular social activities include foreign language cinema and theatre trips.  In addition, Year 11 pupils receive extra conversation practice at lunchtimes with native speakers.