Languages are part of the cultural richness of our society and the world in which we live and work. Learning languages contributes to mutual understanding, a sense of global citizenship and personal fulfilment. Pupils learn to appreciate different countries, cultures, communities and people. By making comparisons, they gain insight into their own culture and society. The ability to understand and communicate in another language is a lifelong skill for education, employment and leisure in this country and throughout the world.

Learning languages gives pupils opportunities to develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and to express themselves with increasing confidence, independence and creativity. They explore the similarities and differences between other languages and English and learn how language can be manipulated and applied in different ways. The development of communication skills, together with understanding of the structure of language, lay the foundations for future study of other languages and support the development of literacy skills in a pupil’s own language.

The Department

The MFL department at Trent Valley consists of two full time experienced members of staff with some lessons being taught by another member of staff who is also a trained linguist.

The department is well resourced with text books and dictionaries and the value of ICT as a tool for teaching, reinforcing and developing a new language is recognised and actively encouraged by the members of the department. Each classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard, a visualiser, a set of interactive response handsets, CD/cassette player and five computers (two with webcams) with multiple audio facilities and the department has its own set of portable laptops (to enable a whole class to be using computers at any given time) as well as further CD/cassette machines for group listening work. The department also has a video camera and a set of portable microphones for recording speaking tasks prior to uploading them onto the computer.

Curriculum

Pupils coming into Year 7 will study French and will continue that language throughout Key Stage 3. They will follow the course book Expo 1 and will learn  the names of classroom objects, to ask and answer simple questions about themselves, to talk about themselves and their family and about where they live. They will be introduced to some basic rules for pronunciation and spelling and will begin to use connectives and opinions as they discover how sentences are constructed in the target language.

Year 7 students are allocated 1 lesson of 75 minutes of MFL teaching each week and will be taught in six mixed ability groups.

In Year 8 the year group will continue to study French following the Expo 1 course book as in Year 7. On completion of Expo 1 students in the top sets will continue the Expo course using the Rouge book while the remaining students will use the Vert book. Y8 pupils will learn to tell the time to ask about places in town, say where they are going, understand simple directions, express opinions, order drinks and snacks, talk about their school and describe a typical school day. They will become familiar with more polite forms of address. They will also learn to talk about sports, leisure activities and future holidays. They will be introduced to the past tense as well as developing their ability to express their opinions and justifying them.

Year 8 students are allocated 2 lessons of 75 minutes of MFL teaching each week and are taught in a top set and three mixed ability groups in each band.

In Year 9 half of the year group will continue to study French and the other half Spanish.

In French we continue to follow the Expo course books. Pupils will learn to talk about families, about jobs people do, where people live, to describe the weather, to talk about their eating habits (including healthy lifestyles) and about illness. They will also develop their ability to talk about past and future events and to justify their opinions.

In Spanish we continue to follow the Listos course, using the Rojo book with the top group and the Verde book with the three mixed ability groups. Pupils will learn about food and culture, healthy eating and keeping fit, festivals, holidays and leisure activities. They will also develop their ability to use the simple future and will learn how to communicate in the past tense.

Year 9 students are allocated 1 lesson of 75 minutes of MFL teaching each week apart from the two top groups who will have 2 lessons. Each half year block is put into four groups – a top set and three mixed ability groups. Towards the end of the year students will have the opportunity to sit external assessments in Asset Languages (a formal nationally accredited qualification) which assesses the four different skills independently of each other ensuring that pupils are not held back by weakness in one particular skill.

Homework

At KS3 all students have 1 homework per week of approximately 15-30 minutes. Learning homeworks (when students must learn to recognise and, in many cases, spell and say new vocabulary) are set regularly as regular learning of vocabulary and structures is considered to be essential in language learning.

At KS4, homework which is appropriate to the work they are doing is set every week ensuring that learning and testing of new vocabulary is a regular feature of both home and class work. Students should be working for between one and two hours on their weekly homework.

As a department we subscribe to the website Linguascope and each pupil is given the user name and password to enable them to use this site for further practice using interactive games.

French pupils work on collaborative projects with schools in France and our link school in another francophone country, Senegal. Pupils have the opportunity to develop a pen pal relationship to enhance their linguistic experience and build their cultural knowledge.

Spanish pupils work on collaborative projects during the year with our link school in Spain, Institut Castellbisbal. Along with the History Department a 2 day visit to the First World War Battlefields is planned for March 2012. Outside the timetabled lessons there will be the opportunity for those who wish to try out the language that they are not timetabled for and there are informal opportunities for those pupils who wish to improve their skills through the use of ICT.

Links to help students and parents:

www.linguascope.com

www.wordreferrence.com

Year 8 Thinking Skills Blog

GCSE French 2010 Cohort