French

The course features:

• lively, interesting and motivating materials for learning the French language;

• emphasis on language-learning skills, drawing out similarities between French and English;

• patterns in French,  a systematic and comprehensive approach to grammar progression, with clear explanations and extensive practice;

• material to develop cultural awareness through authentic contexts and activities from France and other French-speaking countries;

• systematic training in language learning, study and thinking skills.

Programme of study Y7

Christmas Term

Unite 1 'Bonjour' (4-5 lessons)

Unite 2 'J’habite ici' (6 lessons)

Cultural project: Research famous French speaker 2-3 lessons.

*French display competition on greetings and 'J’habite ici' at the end of term.

Assessment: speaking questions.

Spring Term

Unite 3 'Chez moi' (10 lessons)

Assessment: Tricolore 1 -  end of unit tests.

**French Language Day 20th March - poster competition.

Summer Term

Ensure that all of units 1-3 is consolidated.

Unite 4 'Les animaux' (10 lessons)

Assessment: Writing piece on 'Les animaux'.

**Cultural project on a French speaking town/city.

Programme of study Y8

Christmas Term

Unite 5 'Des fêtes et des festivals' (10 lessons)
 

Listen and understand - Dates and days of the week.  Greetings. 'Etre' used in sentences. Descriptions of people and events. 'Avoir' used in sentences. Clothes and colours. Presents and descriptions.

Talk about - Dates and birthdays. Give greetings. Use 'etre' and 'avoir'. Clothes, presents and bedroom items using agreements.

Write - Dates and days of week. 'Etre' and 'avoir'in sentences. Descriptions of clothes , presents and bedroom items with agreements.

Read and understand - Dates and days of week. 'Etre' and 'avoir' in sentences. Clothes, presents and bedroom items described.

Cultural project on French Festival

Assessment : end of term unit 5 Tricolore test.

Spring Term

Unite 6 'Qu’est-ce que tu fais?'  (10 lessons)

Listen and understand - Weather conditions. Numbers up to 100. Sports and leisure activities. Preferences. 'On' used in sentences. Classroom vocabulary.

Talk about - Weather conditions. Seasons. Temperature (up to 100 degrees Celsius). Sports & leisure activities. Preferences.

Write about - Weather conditions. Seasons. Sports & leisure activities using 'er' verbs.

Read and understand - Weather conditions. Seasons. Numbers up to 100. Sports & leisure activities. 'On' used in sentences. Classroom vocabulary.

Assessment: speaking questions

French Language Day 20th March - presentations on French festivals to be displayed throughout school.

Summer Term

Consolidate units 5 and 6.

Unite 7 'Une ville en France' (10 lessons)

Listen and understand - Descriptions of town places. Conversations in the Tourist office. Directions and distances to places using 'aller' used in sentences.

Talk about - Places in town  and Tourist office requests. Directions and distances to places. 'Aller' and prepositions.

Write about - Places in town and postcards describing town. Directions and distances to places. Sentences about weekend using 'aller' and prepositions.

Read and understand - Descriptions of town places. Conversations in the Tourist office. Directions & distances to places using 'aller' and prepositions.

Cultural project on a French speaking town/city.

Unit 7 test.

Programme of study Y9

Christmas Term

Unité 8 (10 lessons)

Cultural project on French Festival.

Assessment : end of term Tricolore test.

Spring Term

Unite 9 'Qu’est-ce que tu fais?' (10 lessons)

Assessment: speaking questions.

French Language Day 20th March

Summer Term

Consolidate units 8 and 9.

Unite 10. (10 lessons total)

Cultural project

Assessment

End of term assessments, peer assessment and Year 9 assessment.

Award: GCSE

Awarding Body: AQA 

Specification Code: 8658

Specification Website: AQA GCSE French

This course leads to an A-Level.

The focus of the AQA’s GCSE in Fench is the development of real-life language skills based on authentic-style tasks and situations. This will enable learners to develop their ability and ambition to communicate with native speakers in speech and writing. This approach encourages learners to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries, to broaden their horizons and develop new ways of seeing the world.

3.1.1 Theme 1: People and lifestyle

• • Topic 1 - Identity and relationships with others

  • Topic 2 - Healthy living and lifestyle

  • Topic 3 - Education and work

3.1.2 Theme 2: Popular Culture 

• • Topic 1 - Free-time activities

  • Topic 2 - Customs, festivals and celebrations

  • Topic 3 - Celebrity culture

3.1.3 Theme 3: Communication and the world around us

• • Topic 1 - Travel and tourism, including places of interest

  • Topic 2 - Media and technology

  • Topic 3 - The environment and where people live

Assessments

GCSE French has a Foundation tier (grades 1 to 5) and a Higher tier (grades 4 to 9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series.

Examination Structure

Paper 1: Listening

What is assessed

• Understanding and responding to spoken extracts comprising the defined vocabulary and grammar for each tier

• Dictation of short, spoken extracts.

How is it assessed

• Written exam: 35 minutes (Foundation tier), 45 minutes (Higher tier)

• 40 marks (Foundation tier), 50 marks (Higher tier)

• 25% of GCSE

Recording controlled by the invigilator with built-in repetitions and pauses.

Each exam includes 5 minutes' reading time at the start of the question paper before the listening material is played and 2 minutes at the end of the recording for students to check their work.

Questions

Section A - Listening comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally (32 marks at Foundation tier and 40 marks at Higher tier).

Section B - dictation where students transcribe short sentences, including a small number of words outside the prescribed vocabulary list (8 marks at Foundation tier and 10 marks at Higher tier).

Paper 2: Speaking

What is assessed

• Speaking using clear and comprehensible language to undertake a Role-play

• Carry out a Reading aloud task

• Talk about visual stimuli

How is it assessed

• Non-exam assessment (NEA)

• 7-9 minutes (Foundation tier) + 15 minutes' supervised preparation time

• 10-12 minutes (Higher tier) + 15 minutes' supervised preparation time

• 50 marks (for each of Foundation and Higher tier)

• 25% of GCSE

Questions

The format is the same at Foundation tier and Higher tier, but with different stimulus materials for the Role-play and Reading aloud tak. For the Photo card task, the same photos are used in both tiers.

• Role-play - 10 marks (recommended to last between 1 and 1.5 minutes at both tiers)

• Reading aloud task and short conversation - 15 marks (recommended to last in total between 2 and 2.5 minutes at Foundation tier and between 3 and 3.5 minutes at Higher tier)

  • Reading aloud task: minimum 35 words of text at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier

  • Short unprepared conversation

• Photo card discussion - 25 marks (recommended to last between 4 an 5 minutes in total at Foundation tier, and between 6 and 7 minutes in total at Higher tier)

  • Response to the content of the photo on the card (recommended to last approximately 1 minute at Foundation tier and approximately 1.5 minutes at Higher tier)

  • Unprepared conversation (recommended to last between 3 and 4 minutes at Foundation tier and between 4.5 and 5.5 minutes at Higher tier)

Paper 3: Reading

What is assessed

• Understanding and responding to written texts which focus predominantly on the vocabulary and grammar at each tier

• Inferring plausible meanings of single words when they are embedded in written sentences

• Translating from French into English

How is it assessed

• Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation tier), 1 hour (Higher tier)

• 50 marks (for each Foundation and Higher tier)

• 25% of GCSE

Questions

Section A - Reading comprehension questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally (40 marks).

Section B - translation from French into English, minimum of 35 words at Foundation tier and 50 words at Higher tier (10 marks)

Paper 4: Writing

What is assessed

• Writing text in the language in a lexically and grammatically accurate way in response to simple and familiar stimuli

• Translating from English into French

How is it assessed

• Written exam: 1 hour 10 minutes (Foundation tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher tier)

• 50 marks (for both Foundation and Higher tier)

• 25% of GCSE

Questions

Foundation tier

• Question 1 - student produces five short sentences in response to a photo (10 marks)

• Question 2 - student produces a short piece of writing in response to five compulsory bullet points, approximately 50 words in total (10 marks)

• Question 3 - student completes five short grammar tasks (5 marks)

• Question 4 - translation of sentences from English into French, minimum 35 words in total (10 marks)

• Question 5 (overlap question) - student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)

Higher tier

• Question 1 - translation of sentences from English into French, minimum 50 words in total (10 marks)

• Question 2 - student produces a piece of writing in response to three compulsory bullet points, approximately 90 words in total. There is a choice from two questions (15 marks)

• Question 3 - open-ended writing task (student responds to two bullets, producing approximately 150 words in total). There is a choice from two questions. (25 marks)

Award: A-Level

Awarding Body: AQA

Specification Code: 7652

Specification Website: AQA A-Level French

Institution: Bayside/Westside

The A Levels will be fully linear so assessment of a student’s knowledge and understanding of the whole course takes place at the end of two years of study.  

It is recommended that learners beginning to study French at A Level should have the knowledge, skills and understanding equivalent to those acquired through a GCSE at a higher tier in the language. Throughout the course of study learners are encouraged to develop critical awareness of the nature of language and of its many roles at the heart of the cultures in which it is spoken.

Subject Content

Students must study the following themes and sub-themes in relation to at least one French-speaking country. Students must study the themes and sub-themes using a range of sources, including material from online media.

Social Issues and trends 

• • The changing nature of family 

  • The 'cyber-society' (La « cyber-société »)

  • The place of voluntary work (Le rôle du bénévolat)

Aspects of French-speaking society: current issues

• • Positive features of a diverse society 

  • Life for the marginalised 

  • How criminals are treated

Artistic culture in the French speaking world

• • A culture proud of its heritage 

  • Contemporary francophone music

  • Cinema: the 7th art form

Aspects of political life in the French-speaking world

• • Teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment

  • Demonstrations, strikes – who holds the power? 

  • Politics and immigration 

The subject matter for the Film and Literature essays is a literary text or a film.

The independent research project in the speaking test is based on a subject of personal interest, relating to the countries and communities where the language is spoken.

Assessments

Paper 1 : Listening, Reading and Writing 

• • Written paper 

  • Total marks: 100 marks 

  • Listening:35 marks

  • Reading: 45 marks 

  • Translation into English; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks)

  • Translation into French; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks)

  • Duration of exam: 1 hour 45 minutes

  • 50% of total A Level

Paper 2: French Writing

• Written Paper

• Total marks: 80 

• Questions

  • Either one question in French on a set text from a choice of two questions and one question in French on a set film from a choice of two questions or two questions in French on set texts from a choice of two questions on each text.

  • All questions will require a critical appreciation of the concepts and issues covered in the work and a critical and analytical response to features such as the form and the technique of presentation, as appropriate to the work studied (e.g. the effect of narrative voice in a prose text or camera work in a film).

• Duration of exam: 2 hours

• 20% of total A Level

Paper 3: French speaking

• Speaking test 

• Total marks: 60 

• Discussion of a sub-theme with the discussion based on a stimulus card (5–6 minutes). The student studies the card for 5 minutes at the start of the test (25 marks).

• Presentation (2 minutes) and discussion (9–10 minutes) of individual research project (35 marks).

• Duration of exam : 21–23 minutes (including 5 minutes preparation time) minutes

• 30% of total A Level