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Modern Foreign Languages

 

Mr P E Howard - HoD

Mr S G Fletcher

Mr D A Blower

Mrs S A Dunning

Miss C Bailey

Sr F J Rubia Castro

Miss A X Nielsen

 

YOUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS!

Which modern languages are studied at MTBS?

 

We offer Spanish, French and German as curriculum subjects to be studied at GCSE and A Level. There is also the option to follow a short, non-examined introductory course in Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Russian or Hindi as part of the GTX slot.

Is there a choice?

As from September 2009, boys in Year 7 will be allocated a foreign language to study depending upon which form group they are in; this will be either Spanish or French. In Year 9 boys are able to opt to study a second foreign language should they so wish; this could be Spanish, French or German.

Does my son have to study a modern foreign language at GCSE?

At MTBS a modern foreign language is a compulsory and valued core subject at GCSE, even though this is no longer the case in many State schools. All boys therefore study at least one foreign language at GCSE although many choose to study two.

How big are the class sizes?

In Years 7, 8 and 9 FL1 (Spanish or French) is taught in form groups, and in Year 9 FL2 (Spanish, French or German) is taught in option groups. The size of each of these pre-GCSE groups is about twenty-three boys on average.

At GCSE boys are taught in option groups averaging around twenty pupils per group. AS Level classes are not generally more than ten to twelve boys and at A2 boys have the luxury of individual attention in groups of fewer than ten.

Do you organise trips abroad?

There are several annual residential trips to Spain, France and Germany: we are a very busy Department!

Towards the end of the Autumn Term Mr Ashcroft leads a German trip to the Christmas markets of Aachen. At Easter Mrs Dunning takes the Year 7 French pupils to a château in Normandy for an ‘action adventure' holiday and in June Mr Howard organises a Year 8 language, culture and water sports trip to Murcia for pupils of Spanish.

In the 6th Form the Hispanics spend at week studying at a language school in Granada to complement their study of the works of Federico García Lorca, while Mr Fletcher takes his French students to Paris to enrich their own 6th Form studies. We can also arrange for work experience placements for our Upper 6th boys during the summer holidays.

Naturally, the History, Geography, Classics and Sports departments also run European trips and the annual ski trip to France is popular with staff and boys alike. We work in close partnership with these departments too.

What about extra-curricular activities?

We seize every opportunity to take learning out of the classroom and this includes visits to Spanish restaurants (very popular with hungry boys!), trips to the German market in Manchester at Christmas and hosting French theatre workshops (jointly with the Girls' School).

There is also the opportunity for boys to taste a really ‘foreign' language (Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Hindi!) as part of the school's GTX provision.

Do you have setting or banding for languages?

No. Boys are taught in mixed ability form groups pre-GCSE and mixed ability option groups at GCSE.

What teaching methods do you employ?

As an independent school we are not restrained or constrained by the National Curriculum, as such we are able to offer an exciting package for our boys. The aim is to equip our boys with the life skill of being able to operate independently and spontaneously in a language other than English. In Years 7, 8 and 9 the Michel Thomas range of courses (authored by our very own Mr Howard!) is the centre piece of our Schemes of Work. Boys are rapidly accelerated to an advanced standard, so much so that by the end of Year 9 boys are being co-taught modules of Geography and History completely in the foreign language.

The Key Stage 3 MFL curriculum is further enriched by employing a wide range of engaging materials such as music, film, poetry and interactive vocabulary acquisition software. There is a pen pal scheme, an easy reader series, theatre productions and we even read foreign language translations of Harry Potter!

What are the demands of the GCSE course?

The four assessment objectives now have different weightings: Understand spoken language (20%); Communicate in speech (30%); Understand written language (20%); Communicate in writing (30%). The written coursework element has been removed in favour of two controlled assessment tasks which are sent away for marking and the Listening and Reading papers are much more user-friendly with questions and answers in English. It is the Speaking test that has come in for most change. The old three-piece role-play / presentation / general conversation format has been replaced with two much less stressful controlled assessment tasks. Effectively these are recorded conversations between you and your teacher which don't even have to be recorded on the same day!

Increased modularity means that boys are able to re-sit each module once with the better result counting towards the final qualification.

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