FRENCH A LEVEL

Ashbourne’s Modern Languages Department

Ashbourne’s best tutor by common consensus is Odette Hudson, who heads the language department. Her commitment enthusiasm and patience know no bounds. If a student studies French with Odette, it invariably ends up being their best grade. But it is more than just results that mark Odette out. It is her personality and style of tuition that enthuses students. Odette has a Licence d’enseignement des Languages from her native France as well as a DipLanguage obtained in Denmark. Odette is ably assisted in the languages department by Louise Forster who holds a BA hons from Reading and who is fluent in German and Italian. Teaching Spanish is the highly personable Alberto Lado Rey who holds a LIcentiado & Spanish Teachers Training Certificate as well as an MA from Westminster University. Sakae Osakabe holds a Japanese Teacher’s Training Certificate and teaches, naturally, Japanese. Dr. Hussain Al-Shamari teaches Arabic and George Chalzedos teaches Latin.

Examination Board: Ashbourne follows the Edexcel specification for French. This specification has been approved by the QCA for first teaching from September 2008.

Course Structure 1.1 Spoken Expression and Response in French

This unit rewards students for their ability to converse in French on a general topic area that they have chosen in advance. Students will need to demonstrate that they can engage in a discussion in French that relates to a chosen general topic area and allied sub topics. They must choose one of the following general topic areas:

Youth culture and concerns

Lifestyle: health and fitness

The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the French-speaking world Education and employment.

Format The assessment for this unit has two sections that total 50 marks.

Section A

This requires students to respond to four Edexcel-set questions on a stimulus related to the student’s chosen general topic area.

Section B

The second part requires the teacher/examiner* to engage the student in a discussion that, although still relating to the same general topic area and its linked subtopics, moves away from the main focus of the stimulus.

Linked subtopics To inform teaching and learning, the following definitive list of linked subtopics has been produced for this unit.

Youth culture and concerns

Music and fashion

Technology (eg MP3/blogs/mobile phones/internet/games)

Relationships (family/friendships and peer pressure)

Drink, drugs, sex

Lifestyle: health and fitness

Sport and exercise

Food and diet

Health issues (eg smoking, skin cancer, health services)

The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the French-speaking world

Tourist information, travel and transport

Weather (eg natural disasters, climate change)

Pollution and recycling

Education and employment

Education (schooling and higher education)

Education policy and student issues

The world of work (eg the changing work scene, job opportunities and unemployment)

Unit 2 Understanding and Written Response in French

2.1 Unit description

This unit requires students to understand and convey their understanding of French-language texts and recordings. In addition, students will need to produce an essay to demonstrate an ability to manipulate the French language in continuous writing.

The unit draws upon four general topic areas:

Youth culture and concerns

Lifestyle: health and fitness

The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and

the French-speaking world

Education and employment.

Format The paper set for this unit has three sections.

Section A (20 marks)

Students will be required to listen to a range of authentic recorded French language material and to retrieve and convey information given in the recording by responding to a range of French language questions. Students will need to show understanding of both the general sense and specific details conveyed. The questions will elicit non-verbal responses and short answers in French.

Section B (20 marks)

Students will be required to read authentic French-language printed materials and to retrieve and convey information by responding to a range of mainly French-language test types. The questions will elicit non-verbal responses, French-language answers and English answers that require a transfer of meaning from French. Questions are linked to a range of reading comprehension exercises including some that require responses in English to test the student’s ability to transfer meaning from French into English.

Section C (30 marks)

Students will be required to write 200-220 words in the form of a letter, report or article in French based on a short printed French language stimulus. This unit will feature questions drawn from a variety of sources but which all relate to the general topic areas below. However, these should be considered as different contexts in which students can write and understand the French language.

General topic areas

Youth culture and concerns

Lifestyle:health and fitness

The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the

French-speaking world

Education and employment

Unit 3 Understanding and Spoken Response in French

3.1 Unit description

This unit requires students to demonstrate the effectiveness of their French-language skills by presenting and taking a clear stance on any issue of their choice. They will be expected to interact effectively with the teacher/examiner, defend their views and sustain discussion as the teacher/examiner moves the conversation away from their chosen issue.

Preparation

To prepare for this assessment, students should undertake research into their chosen issue. Students have a completely free choice of issue; it does not need to relate to the culture and/or society of a French-language country or community nor to any of the Edexcel general topic areas.

Unit 4 Research, Understanding and Written Response in French

This unit requires students to demonstrate skills in advanced-level French writing (discursive or creative essay) and translation from English into French. The unit also requires students to demonstrate evidence of independent, advanced-level French-language reading and research of a chosen text, play, film or topic area that links to the culture and/or society of a French-speaking country, countries or community. The content of this unit will be linked to the following general topic areas:

Youth culture and concerns

Lifestyle: health and fitness

The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the French-speaking world

Education and employment Customs, traditions, beliefs and religions

National and international events: past, present and future Literature and the arts.

4.2 Assessment information

Format The paper set for this unit has three sections.

Section A (10 marks)

A short written translation exercise to test students’ ability to transfer meaning from English into French effectively. The English language stimulus will be about 80 words long.

Section B (45 marks)

A French-language essay in response to one from a choice of seven questions that invite either discursive or creative writing. The discursive essay requires students to write 240-270 words in French to reveal their ability to organise arguments and ideas and give a structured consideration of a general issue. The creative essay requires a different type of response based on an imaginative French-language text or a combination of text and visual(s). Both discursive and creative questions will link to the prescribed seven topic areas.

Section C (45 marks)

A research-based essay in French (240-270 words) rewards students for French-language research skills linked to an area of interest to the student. This must relate to the culture and/or society of a French-language country, countries or community.

a Geographical area

b Historical study

c Aspects of modern society

d Literature and the arts (eg text, play or film).

A question will be set for each of these four areas of research.

Geographical area (eg region or city)

Students would be expected to undertake wide research, become aware of and demonstrate understanding of the following: key people, events and issues (eg demographic, environmental, economic, social, political) that have impacted or are having an impact on the area customs, traditions, beliefs and religions.

Historical study

Students would be expected to undertake wide research, consider and demonstrate understanding of the following: a specific period of history of particular relevance to the chosen country key people, events and issues from the above period. Students would be expected to undertake wide research, consider and demonstrate understanding of the following: key current and recent (21st century/late 20th century) events and issues (eg social, cultural and political) and their impact on society.

Literature and the arts

Students would be expected to undertake in-depth study of a substantial French-language text, play or film. They would need to consider and demonstrate understanding of the following: different characters key themes/issues social and cultural setting styles/techniques employed.

French Grammar

AS and Advanced GCE students will be expected to have studied closely the grammatical system and structures of the French language during their course. In the examination they will be required to use actively and accurately grammar and structures appropriate to the tasks set, drawn from the following list. The grammar listed here is that which is prescribed by the QCA subject criteria for Modern Foreign Languages.

AS level

Nouns: gender singular and plural forms

Articles: definite, indefinite and partitive

Adjectives: agreement position comparative and superlative demonstrative (ce, cet, cette, ces) indefinite (chaque, quelque) possessive interrogative (quel, quelle)

Adverbs: comparative and superlative interrogative (comment, quand)

Quantifiers/intensifiers (très, assez, beaucoup)

Pronouns: personal reflexive relative disjunctive/emphatic demonstrative (celui) indefinite (quelqu’un) possessive (le mien) interrogative (qui, que) use of y, en

Verbs: regular and irregular forms of verbs, including reflexive verbs modes of address (tu, vous) impersonal forms verbs followed by an infinitive (with or without a preposition) dependent infinitives (faire réparer) perfect infinitive negative forms interrogative forms

Tenses: present perfect (including agreement of past participle) imperfect future conditional future perfect (R) conditional perfect (R) pluperfect past historic (R)

Passive voice: present tense other tenses (R) imperative present participle

Subjunctive mood present perfect

Indirect speech Inversion after speech Prepositions Conjunctions

Number, quantity and time (including use of depuis, venir de)

Advanced GCE

All the above, plus:

Verbs: future perfect tense conditional perfect tense passive voice: all tenses subjunctive mood: imperfect (R)

Inversion after adverbs

Possible University Degree Programmes Suited to A-level French

A study of French at A level opens the door to many possibilities for undergraduate study including Journalism, Modern European Languages, Languages, Economics and Politics, European Business Studies, History Business Administration and International Studies.