LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
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The acquisition of a second language is a core part of the AISJ High School curriculum. There are three languages offered at AISJ: English, French and Spanish.
Each student will follow their own language acquisition pathway with all students being required to complete a minimum of 2 years consecutive study of a second language in order to meet AISJ’s graduation requirements. All students following the IBDP pathway should take either a second language (Language B or Ab Initio - see the diagram below) OR complete a bilingual diploma via a second Language A as outlined in the AISJ High School Language Philosophy and Procedures.
F R E N C H ( B E G I N N E R )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Perspective, Culture
Overview:
This course is an introduction to French, it is designed to provide students with a basic grounding in their new language. They will start to develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the target language. They will also be introduced to some cultural aspects of interest.
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: None
F R E N C H ( P R E - I N T E R M E D I A T E )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) This course can be repeated for credit upon teacher recommendation.
Concepts Include: Identity, Connection, Change, Perspective, Culture, Communication
Overview:
The purpose of pre-intermediate French is to continue the development of the four skills in a variety of social, private, and public situations. Students will have the opportunity to manipulate the language and they will learn new structures and vocabulary.
Course prerequisites: Beginner French or the equivalent
Course requisites: None
F R E N C H ( I N T E R M E D I A T E )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) This course can be repeated for credit upon teacher recommendation.
Concepts Include: Identity, Connection, Change, Perspective, Community, Culture.
Overview:
The main objective of this course is to prepare students for a more advanced study of the language. Students will continue exercising the four skills and will investigate more complex texts, including some mass media in the target language. They will also learn about new aspects of the corresponding culture.
Course prerequisites: Pre-Intermediate French or the equivalent
Course requisites: None
F R E N C H ( A D V A N C E D )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) or 2 (two-year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Connection, Change, Perspective, Culture, Community
Overview:
The purpose of this level is to offer students the option of further language study before they enter the IB program. Students will continue to develop all skills in the target language and will have the opportunity to examine cultural aspects more in depth, i.e. the geography, history and literature of the people that speak the target language.
Course prerequisites: Intermediate French or the equivalent
Course requisites: None
I B D P F R E N C H B H L & S L
Offered at: Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 2 (two year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Social organization, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Sharing the planet.
Overview:
This is an advanced foreign language course that is designed to allow students to progress to the Advanced level of proficiency in their world language. In this course, students practice using the target language flexibly and effectively for a wide range of social, academic and professional purposes. Emphasis is placed on producing clear, well-structured, detailed texts on a variety of complex subjects, fluently and precisely. Students are introduced to a demanding selection of literature, reading at least two literary texts over the two years when selecting our HL option. There is an external exam as well as an internal oral exam, which are moderated externally. This course fulfills the Group 2 requirement of the IB Diploma.
Course prerequisites: Students’ level should correspond to upper intermediate/advanced
Course requisites: None
S P A N I S H ( B E G I N N E R )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Social organization.
Overview:
This course is an introduction to Spanish, it is designed to provide students with a basic grounding in their new language. They will start to develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the target language. They will also be introduced to some cultural aspects of interest.
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: None
S P A N I S H ( P R E - I N T E R M E D I A T E )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) This course can be repeated for credit upon teacher recommendation.
Concepts Include: Identity, Social organization.
Overview:
The purpose of pre-intermediate Spanish is to continue the development of the four skills in a variety of social, private, and public situations. Students will have the opportunity to manipulate the language and they will learn new structures and vocabulary.
Course prerequisites: Beginner Spanish or the equivalent
Course Requisites: None
S P A N I S H ( I N T E R M E D I A T E )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) This course can be repeated for credit upon teacher recommendation.
Concepts Include: Identity, Connection, Change, Perspective, Culture, Community
Overview:
The main objective of this course is to prepare students for a more advanced study of the language. Students will continue exercising the four skills and will investigate more complex texts, including some literary texts of the target language. They will also learn about new aspects of the corresponding culture.
Course prerequisites: Pre-Intermediate Spanish or the equivalent
Course Requisites: None
S P A N I S H ( A D V A N C E D )
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 1 (one year course) This course can be repeated for credit upon teacher recommendation.
Concepts Include: Identity, Connection, Change, Perspective, Culture, Community
Overview:
The purpose of this level is to offer students the option of further language study before they enter the IB program. Students will continue to develop all skills in the target language and will have the opportunity to examine cultural aspects more in depth, i.e. the geography, history and literature of the people that speak the target language.
Course prerequisites: Intermediate Spanish or the equivalent
Course requisites: None
I B D P S P A N I S H A B I N I T I O S L
Offered at: Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 2 (two year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Experiences, Social organization, Sharing the planet, Human ingenuity.
Overview:
The IB course for beginners is a two-year course that is an intensive, accelerated version of the normal three-year high school sequence, allowing highly motivated students to work towards the intermediate level of proficiency in the selected language during their junior and senior years of high school. There is an external exam as well as an internal oral exam, which are moderated externally. This course fulfills the Group 2 requirement of the IB Diploma.
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: None
I B D P S P A N I S H B H L & S L
Offered at: Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 2 (two year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Social organization, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Sharing the planet.
Overview:
This is an advanced foreign language course that is designed to allow students to progress to the Advanced level of proficiency in their world language. In this course, students practice using the target language flexibly and effectively for a wide range of social, academic and professional purposes. Emphasis is placed on producing clear, well structured, detailed texts on a variety of complex subjects, fluently and precisely. Students are introduced to a demanding selection of literature, reading at least two literary texts over the two years when selecting our HL option. There is an external exam as well as an internal oral exam, which are moderated externally. This course fulfills the Group 2 requirement of the IB
Diploma.
Course prerequisites: Students’ level should correspond to upper intermediate/advanced
Course requisites: None
E N G L I S H A C Q U I S I T I O N 9
Offered at: Grade 9
Credits: 1 (one year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, culture, belonging, bilingualism/multilingualism, health, well-being
Overview:
This course is designed to allow students entering AISJ without a background in the English language to gain the fluency needed to access the curriculum. This course would be taken concurrently with English Language Learners (ELL) Support
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: ELL Support
E N G L I S H A C Q U I S I T I O N 1 0
Offered at: Grade 10
Credits: 1 (one year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, culture, belonging, bilingualism/multilingualism, change, perspective, global interactions, communication
Overview:
This course is designed to allow students entering AISJ without a background in the English language to gain the fluency needed to access the curriculum. This course would likely be taken concurrently with English Language Learners (ELL) Support
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: Possibly ELL Support
E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E L E A R N E R ( E L L ) S U P P O R T
Offered at: Grade 9, Grade 10
Credits: 1 (one year course)
Overview:
The ELL program in grades 9 and 10 is designed to support non-native English speaking students who require extra focus on academic vocabulary in content area classes and developing successful academic comprehension and expression in an English learning environment. Students enrolled in this program participate during designated periods as part of their schedule. Student enrollment is determined through standardized assessment of English reading, writing, speaking and listening proficiency, using teacher referral, student observation/interviews, and course transcripts from previous schools. The principal ELL goal is ultimately achieving a near-native English level in order to function productively in the AISJ mainstream English curriculum. Additionally, students explore developing proficient levels of bilingual learning; their mother language is developed and used in the learning process. Lastly, students are encouraged to learn how to develop independent editing skills to not only improve their English but also to enjoy more academic success in all their disciplines at AISJ.
Skills Focus: Self-advocacy, time management, translanguaging, testing skills, ownership of learning, community building, stress management, and critical thinking skills.
Course prerequisites: None
Course requisites: None
I B D P E N G L I S H B H L & S L
Offered at: Grade 11, Grade 12
Credits: 2 (two year course)
Concepts Include: Identity, Social organization, Experiences, Sharing the planet, Human ingenuity.
Overview:
This is an advanced foreign language course that is designed to allow students to progress to the Pre-advanced or Advanced level of proficiency in their world language. In this course, students practice using the target language flexibly and effectively for a wide range of social, academic and professional purposes. Emphasis is placed on producing clear, well structured, detailed texts on a variety of complex subjects, fluently and precisely. Students are introduced to a demanding selection of literature, reading at least two literary texts over the two years when selecting our HL option. There is an external written exam as well as an internal oral exam and a written assignment, which are moderated externally. This course fulfills the Group 2 requirement of the IB Diploma.
Course prerequisites: Students need to be taking their native language as Language A if they wish to fulfill the Group 1 requirement of the IB diploma. This course will be offered as a School Supported Self Taught language (SSST).
Course requisites: None
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