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French

The French A Level course aims to foster a love and appreciation not only for the French language but also for film, music and books written in French.  We study French as an international language and through music, books and film, students’ knowledge of the French language is broadened. 

It is an exciting and interesting A Level which complements study in either the9782253029496 001 t Sciences or the Arts as it provides students with opportunities to study abroad later on.  We are also aiming to set up a link for our A Level students with students in France to give that ‘real-life’ practice that develops confidence.  We explore a range of viewpoints on several topics that are current today such as technology, the environment and celebrities as role-models.  Students will become confident communicators who can express themselves and their points of view clearly with guidance from their teachers. Students with Language degrees and skills have some of the highest rates of employment post graduation as these skillsLa haine 391751524 large are highly sought after by employers, French has the 10th highest number of speakers in the world and so skills in French are particularly desirable. 

We follow the AQA course for A Level French and this enables us to study both a book: Un sac de billes by Joseph Joffo and a film: La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz in French both of which are exciting and interesting and will add a cultural element allowing students to learn more about the culture of France. This course will be offered as a hybrid course, with sessions both online and face to face.

Entry Requirements

Grade 6 in GCSE French and Grade 5 in GCSE English.

Future opportunities

Students will become confident communicators who can express themselves and their points of view clearly with guidance from their teachers. Language skills are highly sought after by both universities and employers.

In addition to this languages combine really well with almost any other discipline to add that global dimension to careers.  A survey of employers conducted by the CBI/Pearson concluded that early half of businesses (41%) acknowledged a need for language skills, with the most sought-after languages being French and Spanish.  “With the EU still our largest export market, it’s no surprise to see language skills so highly prized by companies. But with China and Latin America seeing solid growth, ambitious firms want the language skills that can smooth the path into new markets” – Katja Hall, CBI Deputy Director-General  (Source Association for Language Learning, September 2018)

Research for the Department of Business (now dissolved) shows that deficient language skills and the presumption that international business partners will speak English costs the UK economy about 3.5 per cent of GDP. The Born Global study, which asked the views of more than 600 employers, found that UK nationals without language skills lose out because they are limited in their ability to communicate. They also suffer from restricted access to overseas work experience, a lack of international business sense, a failure to appreciate that other cultures have different ways of doing things and a misunderstanding of the global importance of British culture.  Seventy-four percent of 500 business leaders surveyed by Think Global and the British Council worried that young people’s horizons are not broad enough to operate in a globalised economy. Thirty-nine per cent of employers surveyed in the 2017 joint CBI-Pearson Education and Skills Survey were dissatisfied with graduates’ international cultural awareness, up from 30 per cent the previous year. (Source - The British Council website, September 2018)

All of this information leads to the conclusion that employees who can offer competence in another language along with the skill set required for the post they are seeking, will often be recruited above those with the same skill set but without competence in another language.   It’s a really useful addition to your skill set and well worth the effort as this demonstrates determination to succeed and perseverence and excellent communication skills - all highly prized by employers!

Assessment

There is no coursework - all assessment is by written examination at the end of the two year course.

MFL Department

Subject Lead (KS4 & KS5) Ms K Simón ksimon@tringschool.org
Subject Lead (KS3) Mrs J Baker  
  Mrs E Ferris  
  Miss H Spargo  
  Mrs E Thorndyke  
 
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