Modern Languages

Bienvenue,  bienvenido, to the Modern Foreign Languages Department (MFL).

Whilst the initial excitement for youngsters in learning a foreign language derives from the excitement of playing with new sounds, parents’ pride and joy in their child’s early achievement is moreover supported by the conviction that knowledge of a foreign language will, ultimately, contribute towards career prospects and consequently long-term well-being.

However, although pupil enjoyment, parental satisfaction and long-term goals all contribute towards our aims and therefore approach in teaching MFL here at Godstowe, its inclusion within the curriculum from Lodge to year 8 is based upon a wider perspective of ideals that views Languages as part of the cultural richness of our society and the world in which we live and work.

“Through the study of a foreign language, pupils understand and appreciate different countries, cultures, people and communities and as they do so, begin to think of themselves as citizens of the world as well as of the United Kingdom. Pupils also learn about the basic structures of language. They explore the similarities and differences between the foreign language they are learning and English or another language, and learn how language can be manipulated and applied in different ways. Their listening, reading and memory skills improve, and their speaking and writing become more accurate. The development of these skills, together with pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the structure of language, lays the foundations for future study of other languages.”
(National Curriculum document for MFL at Key Stages 3 & 4)

MFL learning within Godstowe is experienced within a multi-national environment, where many of our pupils are already bilingual, or even trilingual, in languages often including French and Spanish. Our pupils are offered the opportunity to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, to develop knowledge about language and language-learning skills, and to express themselves with increasing confidence, independence and creativity.

Through structured language-learning, promoting literacy and language-learning skills, we encourage language awareness and directly support work within other language-related subjects. Curiosity, enquiry, tolerance and understanding, which are encouraged through foreign language learning, and are relevant and valuable for all of our pupils, reflect moral, spiritual and pastoral values embraced by the School.

Firmly embedding language-learning within its wider cultural context, the MFL curriculum is supported by a wide variety of opportunities for pupils to apply and extend their experience in authentic situations. These include subscriptions to Language Magazines, annual whole school cross-curricular celebrations of languages and La Fête des Rois (El día des Reyes), performances of Christmas carols, after-school activities in French, Spanish and Mandarin, performances by visiting theatre companies and a range of foreign visits. These activities firmly underline our belief that 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.

  •   Lower Division
    • Course books within the French Skoldo scheme, with an accompanying CD for each individual, are used in Lodge and Forms 1 & 2 to allow different entry points into the language for new pupils, whilst affording progression and extension according to the experience and ability of learners. New material is introduced gradually, by means of visual aids and language with which pupils are already familiar and through listening and speaking skills initially. All lessons include rhymes, songs and games and pupils are exposed to reading and writing activities once they are thoroughly familiar with the oral form. In addition to a lower division French club, there is an opportunity to participate in a poetry competition each year and to mutually showcase class activities towards the end of the year. Workshops based upon ordering a French breakfast and buying an ice-cream, plus boules competitions, are also enjoyed during the Summer Terms.
  •   Middle Division

    • Based upon the course book Encore Tricolore Nouvelle Edition 1, French is developed communicatively, by means of visual cues and the target language; and is thoroughly practised on an aural/oral level before reading and writing are introduced. All grammar is therefore familiar to the pupil before it is explained, with pupils being encouraged to work out the rule for themselves based upon their experience. Thus empowered, within each topic studied, pupils are gradually able to move towards increased independence of expression and creativity. Throughout the year, the French calendar is exploited to support the development of pupil’s cultural awareness and role-play, drama, pair and group oral work, games, song and ICT feature strongly in lessons. There is an opportunity to participate in a poetry competition each year, whilst LIII also enjoy taster sessions in Spanish, German and Mandarin, and MIII pupils produce a project during a day visit to Boulogne. Pupils also participate in activities as part of our established link with L’Ecole de Pérassay in the upper regions of the Loire Valley.

       

  •   Upper Division French
    • Pupils will a) be working towards the ISEB Common Entrance examination (CE) in French, or b) preparing to take a Scholarship or other Entrance examination to a Senior School. With teaching and learning based upon the course book Encore Tricolore Nouvelle Edition 2, an environment is maintained where pupils are accustomed to hearing French around them and to communicating within the target language. Much new language continues to be introduced communicatively, although pupils’ developing skills in reading and writing allow for increased assimilation of new language in the written form. Based upon their experience of the language, pupils are encouraged to work out grammar rules for themselves prior to discussion and written practice of grammatical forms and to create four word-processed oral/written presentations, based upon topics covered. Enrichment classes for potential Scholarship and CE candidates are offered in the final year, and all pupils have an opportunity to participate in a residential French/cross-curricular visit to Normandy.
  •   Upper Division Spanish
    • In addition, girls who opt to learn Spanish from UIII follow a course based upon Así 1 and 2, as they move towards a variety of potential goals, including offering Spanish at CE or Scholarship. Harnessing language-learning skills already developed in French, the pace of lessons is varied and active, with a wide range of language material being exploited within any one lesson through a variety of different techniques. Pupils are encouraged to manipulate language to produce individual creative expression, with the aim of producing four word-processed oral/written presentations, based upon topics covered. Throughout each year, the Hispanic calendar is exploited to support the development of cultural awareness, and all girls studying Spanish, together with their Spanish native peers, are exclusively invited to our own annual Godstowe fiesta at a local Spanish restaurant.