About Bow School › Departments
Modern Foreign Languages
Aims
- To develop the ability to use a foreign language for the purposes of practical communication.
- To form a base of skills, languages and attitudes required for further studies, work and leisure.
- To offer insights into the cultural and civilization of foreign countries, and to encourage positive attitudes to foreign languages and speakers of foreign languages.
Why study languages?
- In today’s global economy, it is increasingly important for you to have language skills (it puts you ahead of the employment competition). Your skills are attractive commercially in global economy.
- Language skills are needed for the forth coming Olympic Games in London (2012)
- Contributes to the cultural and linguistic richness of our society. Opportunity to work, reside and further your education in the European Community makes language skills extremely important for employment and holidays.
- Employers want people who have studied a language to at least GCSE. Those who can offer two languages are paid more. In Europe most businessmen and women speak at least two languages.
- You must make sure that you can compete on equal terms in the global economy. Most students in other European countries study more than two languages including English.
- Are seen as an asset by prospective employers- many jobs provide opportunities to use Modern Foreign Languages – Broadcasting Companies, Airlines, Banks, Disneyland, Euro star.
- At university, you can combine French with practically any other subject such as Law, Business Studies, Engineering, Marketing, Humanities, Arts and many others.
Key Stage 3
We use the Métro course. Métro 1 in year 7, Métro 2 in year 8 and Métro3 in year 9. Textbooks include optional extension units at the end of each module, as well as self-access work in the form of word lists and differentiated reading and writing tasks.
The revised National Curriculum places a greater emphasis on grammar. Grammar reference and practice sections in the textbooks cater for this. There are also “Grammaire” worksheets in the Resources and Assessment file.
The department has carefully examined Métro 1, Métro 2 and Métro 3 and has devised Schemes of Work for each course book, which we consider to be sufficiently challenging for our wide variety of learners. it is envisaged that one chapter per half term will be completed to ensure adequate pace.
At the end of each chapter, learners are assessed using material from the Resource and Assessment file, possibly incorporating extra tasks if required.
Module Description
Year 7
The aim of the year 7 course is to introduce learners to the relevance of learning a Modern Foreign Language. The course is design to develop all their Language skills. We put equal emphasis on the four skills, which are: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
- Module 1: Bienvenue
- Module 2: Toi et Moi
- Module 3: Au College
- Module 4: Mes Loisirs
- Module 5: Chez Moi
- Module 6: Les Vacances
Year 8
The aim of the year 8 course is to consolidate what the learners have learnt during their first year. The learners will be introduced to more challenging tasks which will include grammar and new vocabulary. At the end of their second year the learners’ confidence in using the target language should have improved.
- Module 1: Salut
- Module 2: Ma Vie
- Module 3: Famille et Copains
- Module 4: A Table
- Module 5: Une Semaine A Paris
- Module 6: A Nous La France
Year 9
The aim of the year 9 course is to reinforce what the learners have learnt during the last two years. At this stage they will work on improving their listening, Speaking, reading and Writing. They will also work on developing their of grammatical skills.
New topics will be covered in more depth to prepare the learners for their GCSE examination.
- Module 1: L’Hexagone
- Module 2: J’Arrive
- Module 3: Programme De La Visite
- Module 4: La Forme
- Module 5: La Mode!
- Module 6: En Plein Dans L’Actualité
Key Stage 4
Course Content:
Examination Board: AQA
French 3651-Bengali 3636
The learner will embark on a two year GCSE course (year 10 and 11) that caters for a wider range of abilities. It is a lively, challenging and active course with emphasis on developing the skills in listening, reading, speaking and writing. The topics will include: Personal and Social life, The International World, The World of Work and The World Around Us. They will help the learner to cope with situations in which he may find himself and also prepare him for further education or employment.
Module Description
Year 10
- Module 1: Etudes
- Module 2: Chez Moi
- Module 3: Temps Libre
- Module 4: Au Boulot
- Module 5: Ma Ville
- Module 6: Aux Magasins
Year 11
- Module 1: En Vacances
- Module 2: Bienvenu En France
- Module 3: En Bonne Forme
- Module 4: Le Transport
- Module 5: Revision (Past Exam Paper)
How will I be assessed?
The learner will follow the AQA specification. The skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing are equally weighted. A final examination in listening, reading and speaking skills provides 75% of the final marks. A further 25% is provided by three pieces of written coursework of approximately 200 words each. (Two in Year 10 and one in Year 11).
There is no coursework element in Bengali or in any other Languages.
Other languages:
We enter learners for GCSE exam in other Languages: Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Turkish and others, provided the Learners have a good level of understanding, speaking, reading and writing of the language.