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Spanish A Level at Ashbourne College
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 Spanish 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 Spanish. This specification has been approved by the QCA for first teaching from September 2008.
Course Structure 1.1 Spoken Expression and Response in Spanish
This unit rewards students for their ability to converse in Spanish on a general topic area that they have chosen in advance. Students will need to demonstrate that they can engage in a discussion in Spanish 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 Spanish-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 Spanish-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 Spanish
2.1 Unit description
This unit requires students to understand and convey their understanding of Spanish-language texts and recordings. In addition, students will need to produce an essay to demonstrate an ability to manipulate the Spanish 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 Spanish-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 Spanish-language material and to retrieve and convey information given in the recording by responding to a range of Spanish-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 Spanish.
Section B (20 marks)
Students will be required to read authentic Spanish-language printed materials and to retrieve and convey information by responding to a range of mainly Spanish-language test types. The questions will elicit non-verbal responses, Spanish-language answers and English answers that require a transfer of meaning from Spanish. 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 Spanish 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 Spanish based on a short printed Spanish 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 Spanish language.
General topic areas
Youth culture and concerns
Lifestyle: health and fitness
The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the Spanish-speaking world
Education and employment
Unit 3 Understanding and Spoken Response in Spanish
3.1 Unit description
This unit requires students to demonstrate the effectiveness of their Spanish-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 Spanish-language country or community nor to any of the Edexcel general topic areas.
Unit 4 Research, Understanding and Written Response in Spanish
This unit requires students to demonstrate skills in advanced-level Spanish writing (discursive or creative essay) and translation from English into Spanish.
The unit also requires students to demonstrate evidence of independent, advanced-level Spanish-language reading and research of a chosen text, play, film or topic area that links to the culture and/or society of a Spanish-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 Spanish-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 Spanish effectively.
The English language stimulus will be about 80 words long.
Section B (45 marks)
A Spanish-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 Spanish 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 Spanish-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 Spanish (240-270 words) rewards students for Spanish-language research skills linked to an area of interest to the student. This must relate to the culture and/or society of a Spanish-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 Spanish-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.
Spanish: Advanced Subsidiary Level
Nouns gender
singular and plural forms
Articles definite and indefinite (including lo plus adjective)
Adjectives agreement
position
apocopation (buen, mal)
comparative and superlative
demonstrative (este, ese, aquel)
indefinite (alguno, cualquiera, otro)
possessive (short and long forms) (mi, mío) i
nterrogative (cuánto, qué)
relative (cuyo)
exclamatory (qué)
Adverbs comparative and superlative
interrogative (cómo, cuándo, dónde)
Quantifiers/
Intensifiers (muy, bastante, poco, mucho)
Pronouns subject
object: direct and indirect
position and order
reflexive
relative (que, quien, el que, el cual)
disjunctive/emphatic
demonstrative (éste, ése, aquél, esto, eso, aquello)
indefinite (algo, alguien)
possessive (el mío, la mía)
interrogative (cuál, qué, quién)
Verbs regular and irregular forms of verbs, including reflexive verbs
modes of address (tú, usted)
radical-changing verbs
impersonal verbs
verbs followed by an infinitive (with or without a preposition)
perfect infinitive
negative forms
interrogative forms
reflexive constructions (se vende, se nos dice que)
uses of ser and estar
present
preterite
imperfect
future
conditional
perfect
future perfect (R)
conditional perfect (R)
pluperfect
passive voice:
present and preterite tenses
other tenses (R)
continuous tenses
imperative
gerund
past participle
subjunctive mood:
present
perfect
imperfect
pluperfect
uses of subjunctive:
polite commands
negative commands
after verbs of wishing, command, request, emotion
to express purpose (para que)
to express possibility/impossibility
after conjunctions of time (cuando lleguemos)
in conditional sentences after si all other common uses (R)
Prepositions personal a
uses of por and para
Conjunctions common, including y, pero, o, porque, como, cuando
Number, quantity and time constructions with hace and desde hace
Spanish: A2 Level All grammar and structures listed for Advanced Subsidiary, plus:
Verbs future perfect tense
conditional perfect tense
passive voice: all tenses
subjunctive mood: all common uses
The following books have been produced to support advanced language learning but are not directly mapped to this specification.
Connor J, Jiménez H, Mort D and O’Connor N — ¡Sigue! 1, 2, 2nd edition (Hodder Murray, 2000) ISBN 0719585228
Connor J, Jiménez H and Mort D — ¡Sigue! 2, 2nd edition (Hodder Murray, 2001) ISBN 0719585252
De Sudea A and Everett V — Ánimo 1: Spanish AS (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0199125120
De Sudea I A and Everett V — Ánimo 2: Spanish A2 (Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0199125031
Thacker M, Laiz M M and Cos F P — ¡Ponte al dia! (Hodder Murray, 2003) ISBN 0340846690
Useful websites
www.edexcel.org.uk/gce2008
www.ozu.es P
opular culture website
www.red2000.com/spain/1index. html
Todo sobre España
www.SiSpain.org/spanish/index.html
Extensive database
www.yahoo.es
Spanish Grammar
AS and Advanced GCE students will be expected to have studied closely the grammatical system and structures of the Spanish 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.
Possible University Degree Programmes Suited to A-level Spanish
A study of Spanish 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.
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