Our aim is to enable pupils to communicate at their own level in the foreign language, French or German, they are studying.   They will be given experiences of the four skills of language learning – speaking, listening, reading and writing.   We also hope to encourage an interest in the culture of other countries and to motivate pupils to continue with beyond the compulsory stage.   We aim to provide a happy, safe and enjoyable atmosphere where pupils can achieve their full potential.

 

 

 

Mr A MacOnie           Principal of Department

Miss L Nicolson        Principal of Guidance

Mrs E Campbell        Head of Learning and Teaching Secondary

Mr R Ferguson          Depute Head (Secondary)

 

 

 

The Modern Languages department has 3 rooms situated on the ground floor.   We occupy rooms G33, G54 and G56.   All Modern Languages rooms are very well equipped with Listening facilities, interactive whiteboards and access to laptops.

 

 

 

In the course of your Standard Grade study of a modern language you will learn about the people and places where the language is spoken.   As well as dealing with everyday topics like your home, family, school, hobbies, holidays and life in the country whose language you are studying, you will also e learning about issues of concern to young people of your own age.   These issues might include sports; diet health and fitness; smoking, drugs, alcohol; relationships; the environment; Modern Languages; cinema; future plans.   You may well have the opportunity to use the computer to support your language learning.

 

Speaking will be assessed by your teacher in the course of normal classroom activities.   You will be assessed giving a short prepared talk in the foreign language, having a short conversation, and role-playing situations like shopping, job interviews or asking for directions in the foreign language.

 

In Listening you will have to listen to a recording of native speakers of the language talking about some of the things you have studied in the course.   You will hear the recording three times, and questions and answers will be in English.   Some questions will require short written answers and others will be true-false or multiple choice.

 

For Reading, you will have to read some short texts in the foreign language, relating to some of the topics you have studied. You will have to answer a number of questions about what you have read, with both questions and answers being in English.   Some questions will require short written answers, and others will be true/false or multiple choice.   You will be allowed the use of a dictionary in this exam.

 

For the Writing element, you will be writing in the foreign language as part of your normal classroom activities.   From time to time, you will redraft a piece of work and then write a final version in class, under exam conditions.   You will be allowed the use of a dictionary to help you with this.   Towards the end of the course, the final version of your three best pieces of work will be sent to the SQA to be marked.

 

All of the skills assessed (i.e. Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing) will contribute to your final grade. When your overall grade is being worked out, your grades for Reading and Speaking will be double weighted, i.e. they will be multiplied by 2.   Al four grades will then be added together and divided by 6 to obtain your final overall grade.   If, for example, your grades are:

 

Speaking       1

Reading        1

Listening       2

Writing         3

 

Then your overall grade will be 1.

  

 

 

 

A course award at Higher in a foreign language is a benchmark achievement.   It is an indication that the learner has reached a stage in foreign language learning which begins to allow him/her to use the language independently in confident and flexible ways.   The course contributes to the general education of students by widening their horizons to encompass awareness of cultural aspects of the country/countries where the language is spoken.   Significantly, it also contributes to a wider understanding of how language works.

 

The Higher course in both French and German consists of two units: Language and Extended Reading and Viewing.   In the Language Unit three broad themes are covered: Lifestyles; Education and Work; The Wider World.   The Extended Reading and Viewing Unit involves the study of a set film.

 

To gain the award for the course, students must pass internal assessments of both units as well as the external assessment.   The final grade is based on the external assessment.

 

 

Internal Assessment: In the Internal Assessment, there is one text of 400-450 words and students are required to answer questions in English.   There may be multiple choice questions and other tasks such as writing a summary of completing a grid. The pass mark is 60% and the exam lasts 60 minutes.   A dictionary is permitted.

 

External Assessment Reading Comprehension (Paper 1a)   In the External Assessment, there is one passage of 550-650 words on which the pupil is required to answer questions in English.

 

There are twenty marks in total for this section, which represents a weighting for the entire examination of 20%.   A glossary will be provided where appropriate and the use of a dictionary is permitted.   The candidate is also required to translate a short excerpt from the Reading text into English.   There are ten marks available for this, representing a weighting of 10%.   The translation will be broken down into five sense units and a maximum of 2 marks will be awarded for each correct sense unit.   This paper is combined with the Directed Writing paper (Paper 1b), resulting in an examination lasting 1 hour 40 minutes.

 

Internal Assessment Students must demonstrate understanding of the target language in spoken form by recounting the main content and/or by giving specific points of detail.   The text is recorded on tape and lasts 2-3 minutes.   The tape is played three times and answers are in English.   The assessment task is done under examination conditions in class.   The use of a dictionary is not permitted.   Students will listen to views, opinions and accounts of events being expressed within the topic areas of the prescribed themes.

 

External Examination (Paper 2a)   The Listening paper is in two sections.   Section A involves listening to a conversation of 2-3 minutes and answering questions in English.   The recording is played twice and this section of the examination lasts approximately 20 minutes.   This section is worth 20 marks and the use of a dictionary is permitted.   The second part is a writing task roughly based on the content of the listening text (see below).

 

Directed Writing (Paper 1)

This test forms part of Paper 1 and lasts approximately 40 minutes.   A dictionary is permitted.   A scenario is given in English with six bullet points, each of which must be addressed.   Two marks are lost for each bullet point omitted, up to a maximum of two bullet points.   The entire section is worth 15 pegged marks.

 

Personal Response (Paper 2b)

Candidates are required to write an essay in the target language based on a given stimulus.   This is related to the themes covered in the taped conversation.   The response is 120-150 words in length.   The examination lasts approximately 40 minutes.   This paper is worth 10 marks and represents 10% of the total marks for the external examination.   The use of a dictionary is permitted.

 

The Internal Assessment services as both Internal AND External Assessments for the Language Unit.   Speaking falls within the Language Unit.   The test will be recorded and it lasts for 6-8 minutes.   The Language Unit Speaking assessment is graded and the tests in January acts as a practice run for the final test in March on which the overall external mark for Speaking will be based.

 

The Speaking Test consists of a Presentation and a follow-up discussion.

 

For the Oral Presentation section of the test, candidates choose any topic from the official syllabus and prepare for it in advance.   Notes are allowed in the form of five headings, each consisting of no more than eight words.   The presentation last approximately two minutes.   There are 10 pegged marks available for this section.

 

The Discussion the examining teacher initiates this part of the assessment and candidates are expected to go beyond prepared material and show that they can handle language spontaneously.   Candidates are required to cover at least one other theme in addition to the one covered in the oral presentation.   This part of the test lasts 4-6 minutes and it will be recorded.   There are 15 pegged marks available for this section.

 

 

Students study a film or book in French and German and are then required to write 100-150 words in the target language relating to one aspect of the text studied.   The writing is prepared in class and produced under controlled conditions.   Dictionaries are allowed.   Being an internal assessment, it is assessed on a pass/fail basis.

 

The weighting of the different elements is as follows:

 

Speaking      : 25%

Listening      : 20%

Reading        : 30%

Writing         : 25%

 

For those candidates for whom Higher is not likely to be possible in one year, it is likely that Intermediate 2 will be offered.   This examination builds on Standard Grade.   The themes are the same as at Higher and the Optional Unit offered is also Extended Reading and Viewing.

 

The final weighting for the elements is:

 

Speaking       : 30%

Listening       : 20%

Reading         : 30%

Writing          :  20%

 

Completion of the Intermediate 2 course would naturally provide the basis for a Higher course the following year.