Modern Languages
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. Languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the
original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
Intent
We want the pupils to develop a love for learning to speak, read and write in different languages. We want them to understand how to learn a new language, and to feel confident that they can learn to communicate in a language other than English.
We recognise that we have many children who are already bilingual at least, and we want to ensure that the diverse range of languages already spoken by children in the school are celebrated.
We know that having the capability to communicate in a range of languages offers our children significant advantages in their later life, opening the world to a wider range of professional choices.
Implementation
Foreign Languages are taught formally in Key Stage 2, with French used as our chosen foreign language to anchor our learning. We use the Salut! Scheme to support teachers to plan and teach French across Key Stage 2, building upon skills through cycle A and cycle B and then from Lower Key Stage 2 to Upper Key Stage 2, ensuring progression and challenge as they move through the school.
French lessons are taught weekly. This should help the children to acquire a bank of vocabulary organised around topics and have opportunities to apply this knowledge by asking and answering questions, reading, and composing sentences, often using a model, and to learn and practise grammatical structures and phonemic knowledge.
The scheme ensures development is progressive as they build on previous knowledge from units already studied, using short written or oral activities to reinforce and practise the learning from previous lessons.
Impact
We measure the impact of our curriculum through observing children speaking and listening in French and looking at written work, when appropriate.
The MFL subject leader monitors the impact MFL teaching is having on the children’s learning, through book scans, lesson visits and pupil voice, to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught.
Through the Salut! scheme, the knowledge and skills taught are revisited and learners can apply the skills they have been taught.
Impact will also be measured through key speak and listening skills built into lessons.
Modern Language and The National Curriculum
Children in Key Stage Two should be taught:
- Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.
- Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling sound and meaning of words.
- Engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, express opinions and respond to those of others, seek clarification and help.
- Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
- Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they’re reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases.
- Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences.
- Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
- Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language.
- Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material including through using a dictionary
- Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly.
- Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.
- Understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including(where relevant) feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high frequency verbs
- Understand key features and patterns of the language, how to apply these, for instance to build sentences and how these differ from or are similar to English.
Ways To Develop Modern Foreign Language Skills At Home
- If you can speak in a different language, celebrate and share this with your children at home
- Read or listen to story books in different languages
- Ask your child to tell you how many words they know in a different language.
- Encourage your child to count in other languages.
- Ask them if they can say a sentence to you in French based on their lessons or can they ask you a question in a different language?
- Ask children to talk about things they like and then see if you can research and find the words for them in different languages e.g. animals or sports.
- Play educational language games online, for example, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z39d7ty
