Nature of the Subject

French is a truly global language, spoken by around 321 million people worldwide across five continents. In Thailand, there are over 300,000 French speakers and more than 50,000 students currently learning the language (Alliance Française Thaïlande, 2023).

Learning a foreign language opens doors to communication and connection with people around the world, building friendships, creating lifelong learning opportunities and offering the chance to explore, work, and travel in new places.

The focus of this course is interaction. From the very first lesson, students will develop confidence and competence in expressing themselves in spoken and written French. They will learn to use the language to ask questions, exchange ideas, and understand others and the world around them.

Students will also gain independence as language learners, developing strategies for reading and listening that allow them to take charge of their own progress as they move through the world.

Syllabus & Content

The subject content is organised in five broad topic areas (A–E below). These provide contexts for the learning of vocabulary and the study of grammar and structures. The study of these topic areas enables students to gain an insight into the cultures, countries and communities where Chinese is spoken. 

A Everyday activities

B Personal and social life

C The world around us

D The world of work

E The international world

A course provides learners with opportunities to develop and apply a wide range of foreign language skills.

Learners will read and understand a variety of written and spoken texts on familiar topics. They will demonstrate understanding of ideas, opinions and attitudes, as well as select and extract relevant details and deduce the meaning of occasional unknown words from context.

They will also have opportunities to write in Chinese on familiar, everyday topics and to speak the language by taking part in everyday conversations.

Assessment

The IGCSE French examination consists of four independent components: 

Listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 

Each component accounts for 25% of the total score.

Specifically, the listening exam lasts 40 minutes and is worth 30 marks. 

The speaking exam lasts 10 minutes and is worth 40 marks. 

The reading exam lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes and is worth 40 marks. 

The writing exam lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes and is worth 45 marks.

Teacher Introduction

The IGCSE French course develops learners’ ability to:

• Communicate confidently and effectively in French in a range of everyday situations.
  
  

• Understand and respond to spoken and written language.
  
  

• Gain an insight into French-speaking cultures and global Francophone communities.
  
  

• Build a foundation for further study or practical language use in education, travel, or work.

The course combines the four main language skills:

Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing.