French A Level - Bales College

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French A Level

French

Board: Edexcel

Introduction

This is a topic based course. Work in class involves mainly listening and reading activities leading to oral discussion and role play.

Students are expected to take an active part in the lessons whether in pairs, group work or whole-class work. Students must be prepared to undertake additional reading and research in their own time.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• understand authentic written and spoken French

• discuss a wide variety of issues in French

• speak and write French with a high level of accuracy

• research and present important aspects of French society

Course structure

Unit	Assessment	Time	Contribution
Unit	Assessment	Time	AS	Advanced
Spoken Expression and Response in French	8-10 minute assessment in two sections: Section A requires students to respond to four set questions related to the students chosen topic area Section B requires the student to be engaged in a discussion in the topic area	8-10 minutes	30%	15%
Understanding and Written Response in French	Exam: Written responses to text and recording, and short essay	2.5 hours	70%	35%

Unit	Assessment	Time	Contribution
Unit	Assessment	Time	A2	Advanced
Understanding and spoken response	Presentation and discussion of a issue of the candidate's choice	11-13 minutes	35%	17.5%
Research, Understanding and Written Response	Translation, response essay and research-based essay	2.5 hours	65%	32.5%

Course Content

1. Youth Culture and Concerns

• Music and fashion

• Technology (eg mp3/blgs/mobile phones/internet/games)

• Relationships (family/friends and peer pressure)

• Drink, drugs,sex

2. Lifestyle: Health and Fitness

• Sport and exercise

• Food and diet

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

3. 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

4. Education and employment

• Education (schooling and higher education)

• Education policy and student issues

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

5. The International Context

• customs, traditions, beliefs and religions

• the European Union

• world-wide problems

Listening element

Recordings will relate to French speaking countries or communities and exploit contemporary sources. These may include telephone messages, announcements, advertisements, interviews, radio talks, reviews, conversations, discussions, broadcasts and the internet. The listening material will not total more that 450-600 words and the recording will have a duration of approximately five minutes.

Reading Element

Printed materials may relate to both the contemporary society and cultural heritage of French-speaking countries or communities. Sources used will be contemporary, such as magazines, newspapers, the internet, reports and books. It is anticipated that printed materials will total 550-700 words.

Am I suited?

You will be suited if you:

• enjoyed, and had a strong grasp of languages at GCSE

• are interested in France and French-speaking cultures and societies

• are willing to develop your opinions on personal, national and international issues

• are committed to thorough learning of grammatical structures and a new vocabulary

Subject complements

French has a wide range of subject links as you will study about life experiences in France and other French-speaking countries, including political, social and economic issues. Other languages will also complement French, as many linguistic skills are transferable.

Where does it lead?

In today's business environment, dominated by multinational companies, languages are very valuable for many areas of employment.

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