French
French
French is an official language in 29 countries, and is spoken as a first language in France, Quebec (Canada), Belgium, Switzerland, and Monaco, and as a second language in many north, west and central African countries. There are 500 million speakers of French worldwide, placing it as the fourth most spoken language on earth. French is a sought-after language, which is important in commerce, diplomacy and in the sphere of culture. French is an ideal complement to both Arts and Science subjects. Like other modern languages, when you study French, you are gaining not just an academic qualification but an invaluable life skill and its study expands our world-view, making an important contribution to tolerance and understanding of other cultures and perspectives.
Module 1 - Tu as du temps à perdre ?
Talking about what you do online
Saying what you do to stay active
Talking about what you watch
Making plans to go out
Saying what you did last weekend
Taking part in an interview
Module 2 - Mon clan, ma tribu
Talking about your weekend routine
Discussing friends and friendships
Describing your favourite celebrity
Talking about positive role models
Talking about celebrations and traditions
Module 3 - Ma vie scolaire
Talking about school subjects and school life
Discussing school rules
Talking about making progress at school
Talking about what school used to be like
Talking about learning languages
Module 4 - En pleine forme
Talking about meals and mealtimes
Talking about good mental health
Describing unhealthy lifestyle choices
Saying what you will do to improve your life
Talking about lifestyle changes
Module 5 - Numéro vacances
Talking about your ideal holiday
Discussing what you can see and do on holiday
Talking about festivals
Reviewing and booking holiday accommodation
Talking about staycation activities
Module 6 - Notre planète
Talking about geography and the climate
Talking about environmental problems
Discussing how we can work together to protect the environment
Talking about day to day actions to protect the environment
Discussing new technologies
Module 7 - Mon petit monde à moi
Describing you town or village
Talking about shopping for clothes
Describing your ideal home
Talking about visiting another town or city
Module 8 - Mes projets d'avenir
Future plans and hopes
Reality TV and influencers
Possible future career paths
Discussing different jobs
In Year 10, there will be regular testing using past papers and this will be both electronic and on paper. In Year 11 we will largely use paper for testing, as this is the method currently used by Examination Boards.
The GCSE itself will be assessed by means of four components all worth 25% of the final grade:
Listening - 35 or 45 minute exam responding to slow, native speaker recordings including multiple choice options, and five sentences of dictation.
Speaking - 7-9 or 10-12 minute individual oral, taken in advance just after the Easter holidays in Year 11, consisting of taking part in a role play, reading aloud a paragraph, describing and responding to a photocard and an unscripted general conversation.
Reading - 45 or 50 minute exam responding to written extracts, including multiple choice answers and written answers in French and English. There is also a short translation from French into English.
Writing
For Foundation candidates, a 70 minute exam: writing five sentences in response to a photo, writing a short passage (50 words) in response to five compulsory bullet points, five short grammar tasks, some sentences to translate from English into French, and a structured writing task (90 words) in response to three bullet points.
For Higher candidates, a 75 minute exam: a translation from English into French, a structured writing task (90 words) in response to three bullet points, and a structured writing task (150 words) in response to two bullet points.
There is a choice of questions at both tiers.
The length of each exam will depend on whether you choose the Foundation or Higher tier. Note that all components must be taken at the same tier.
The examination board is AQA and the specification number is 8652. You can see the full specification here.
At least two years of secondary French is a prerequisite for this course, because we build on the language skills and vocabulary learned in Key Stage 3.
Like Key Stage 3, our GCSE is delivered entirely using electronic resources. We use mainly Active Hub and the Language Gym. We also use lots of great video content, including carefully curated YouTube clips.
Interactivity is provided through Linguascope, moving on from the Beginners section to the Intermediate section and through Quizlet.
Your Personal Response Question will be prepared electronically using an eeBook, with the help of an online dictionary and our unique Farlington scaffolding, to cover a variety of opinions and experiences.
If you have any queries about this curriculum, please contact: M Josselin Guédes-Wright, Head of French, on jgw@farlingtonschool.com