Language Acquisition

It is a requirement of the programme that students study at least one subject from group 2.

The main emphasis of the modern language courses is on the acquisition and use of language in a range of contexts and for different purposes while, at the same time, promoting an understanding of another culture through the study of its language.

Two subjects are available to accommodate students’ interest in and previous experience of language study. The two subjects are offered in a number of languages.

Modern Languages

• Language ab initio courses are for beginners (that is, students who have little or no previous experience of learning the language they have chosen). These courses are only available at standard level. Availability at SKHS is for select students who have not taken two years of a foreign language or other circumstances. Available for French, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish.
• Language B courses are intended for students who have had some previous experience of learning the language. They may be studied at either higher level or standard level. Courses offered at SKHS are Spanish and French.

Language ab initio (SL)

The language ab initio course is a language acquisition course for students with little or no experience of the language.

The course is organized into three themes: individual and society, leisure and work, and urban and rural environment. Each theme comprises a list of topics that provide students with opportunities to practice and explore the language and to develop intercultural understanding.

Through the development of receptive, productive and interactive skills, students develop the ability to respond and interact appropriately in a defined range of everyday situations.

Key features of the curriculum and assessment models

• Only available at standard level (SL)
• The minimum prescribed number of hours is 150
• Interactive, productive and receptive skills are developed through contextualized study of language, texts and themes
• Intercultural understanding is a key goal of the course
• Students are exposed to a variety of authentic texts and they produce work in a variety of communicative contexts
• Students are assessed both externally and internally
• External assessment consists of exercises to demonstrate understanding of authentic print texts (receptive skills), two short writing exercises (productive skills), and a written assignment (integrating receptive and productive skills)
• Internal assessment tests students’ abilities in listening and speaking in a genuine conversation format (integrating receptive, productive and interactive skills). Internal assessment consists of a presentation and follow-up questions based on a visual stimulus, and a general conversation with the teacher based in part on the written assignment

Language B (SL and HL)

Language B Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) are language acquisition courses for students with some previous experience of learning the language. While studying the language, students also explore the culture(s) connected with it.

Higher and standard levels are differentiated by the recommended teaching hours, the depth of syllabus coverage, the required study of literature at HL, and the level of difficulty and requirements of the assessment tasks and criteria.

The range of purposes and situations for using language in the language B courses extends well beyond those for language ab initio.

The course is organized into themes. Three core themes are required: communication and media, global issues, and social relationships. In addition, at both HL and SL, teachers select two more themes from five options provided. Finally, two works of literature are studied at HL only.

Key features of the curriculum and assessment models

• Available at standard (SL) and higher levels (HL)
• The minimum prescribed number of hours is 150 for SL and 240 for HL
• Interactive, productive and receptive skills are developed through contextualized study of language, texts and themes
• Intercultural understanding and plurilingualism are key goals of the course
• Students are exposed to a variety of authentic texts and they produce work in a variety of communicative contexts
• Students are assessed both externally and internally
• External assessment at SL consists of exercises to demonstrate understanding of authentic print texts based on the core themes (receptive skills), a writing exercise based on the options (productive skills), and a written assignment based on the core themes (integrating receptive and productive skills)
• External assessment at HL consists of exercises to demonstrate understanding of authentic print texts based on the core themes (receptive skills), two writing exercises, one based on the core and the other based on the options (productive skills), and a written assignment based on one of the literary texts (integrating receptive and productive skills)
• Internal assessment at both SL and HL tests students’ abilities in listening and speaking in a genuine conversation format (integrating receptive, productive and interactive skills). Internal assessment consists of an individual oral based on the options (presentation and discussion with the teacher), and an interactive oral based on the core (three classroom activities assessed by the teacher)