ISMLAISMLA N E W S L E T T E RN E W S L E T T E R Independent Schools’ Modern Languages AssociationIndependent Schools’ Modern Languages Association

Autumn 2012

www.ismla.co.ukwww.ismla.co.uk

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Chairman Nick Mair, Dulwich College Tel: 020 8693 3601 mairn@dulwich.org.uk

Vice Chairman and Membership Secretary Geoffrey Plow, University College School Tel: 020 7433 2302 geoffrey.plow@ucs.org.uk

Treasurer Peter Ansell, Stonyhurst College Tel: 01254 826345 p.ansell@stonyhurst.ac.uk

Secretary Jenny Davey, Glenalmond College Jennydavey@glenalmondcollege.co.uk Newsletter Editor Peter Langdale, North London Collegiate School Tel: 020 8952 0912 plangdale@tiscali.co.uk

Reviews and Website Editor Thomas Underwood, University College School Tel: 020 7435 2215 Thomas.Underwood@ucs.org.uk

Awarding Bodies Liaison Officer Alex Frazer, Mill Hill School atwf@millhill.org.uk

Liaison with Prep Schools Gillian Forte, St Christopher’s School, Hove Tel: 01273 735404 gforte@stchristophershove.org.uk

Exhibitions Organiser David Cragg-James david@evecraggjames.plus.com

Jane Byrne, The Manchester Grammar School Tel: 0161 2247201 j.m.byrne@mgs.org

Duncan Byrne, Cheltenham College Tel: 01242 265604 duncan.byrne@sky.com

Jim Houghton, Highgate School Jim.Houghton@highgateschool.org.uk

Liz Hughes lizhug1949@hotmail.co.uk

Astrid McAuliffe, Alleyn’s School (Responsibility for German) Tel: 020 8557 1506 mcauliffeaj@alleyns.org.uk Richard Oates, Sherborne School Tel: 01935 812249 roates@sherborne.org

David Sheppard, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore David.Sheppard@tts.edu.sg

Julia Whyte, St Francis' College Tel: 01462 670511 jwhyte@st-francis.herts.sch.uk Liaison with ALL, ISMLA repre-sentative on Executive Council Kevin Dunne, Ampleforth College Tel: 01439 766000 kjd@ampleforth.org.uk

ISMLA Representative on AQA consultative committee Patrick Thom, The Manchester Grammar School Tel: 0161 2247201 thompat@mgs.org

Contact the Committee

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Contents

From the Chairman 4

Notes from the Editor’s Diary 8

A Chorus of Disapproval Geoffrey Plow 11

Language Trends Survey 2012 Teresa Tinsley 15

Teaching Literature for GCSE Simon Leader 16

The Diary of an Arabic Teacher Haroon Shirwani 20

The Ruta Quetzal 2012 Felix Shipsey 24

Goethe-Institut Updates Karl Pfeifer / Roma Shultz 28

The Teacher-Free School Exchange Nick Mair 32

Reviews 36

The image on the front cover is an engraving (c. 1740) by Etienne Fessard in the National Gallery of Washington - found, as ever, by courtesy of The Web Gallery of Art (www.wga.hu).

ISMLA Spanish Day - Saturday, 17th November 2012

Canning House, London SW1

A few places still left!

Visit www.ismla.co.uk for further details and an application form or contact the organiser, Jim Houghton

(Jim.houghton@highgateschool.org.uk)

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ISMLA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2013

Saturday 2nd February 2013 at St Peter’s School,

York

Amanda Barton: Motivating Pupils To Speak (In The Right Lan-

guage And At The Right Time): Overcoming The Wall Of Silence

Joe Dale : Keeping Your Learners 'Appy! - iPods And iPads In The

Language Classroom

Amanda Smith: Thumbs Up To BSL

Haroon Shirwani: Arabic in Your School: Introducing Arabic Into

The Curriculum

Professor Owen Evans: Teaching Modern German Film

Professor Nick Harrison: The Civilizing Mission reaches the sub-

urbs: reflections on Laurent Cantet's The Class (Entre les murs)

Barnaby Lenon: Trends In Education In The UK

For the full programme and to download an invi-

tation letter and the registration form go to

www.ismla.co.uk

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We continue to live in interesting times: how ironic that it should be the

GCSE English results of 2012 that have highlighted the concerns which we

modern linguists have known about, expressed and documented since 2004.

You may well want to turn immediately to Geoffrey Plow’s summary of the 44

page HMC document England’s ‘examinations industry’: deterioration and decay and the ISMLA synopsis of head of department comments about the

A* issue – you will find this feature on page 11. It is disappointing to have to

report that I am still receiving emails from heads of department who are tus-

sling with unsympathetic Senior Management Teams over severe grading

issues in modern languages. Few of us would claim that all modern lan-

guages teaching is excellent – but neither do linguists so significantly under-

perform other departments as is being currently suggested by exam statis-

tics.

Precisely because HMC have now highlighted the issue of severe and unpre-

dictable grading, can I urge you to participate in the ISMLA results survey? It

is only because of your own testimony that ISMLA has been able to secure

meetings with government ministers and with Ofqual. Are you happy to en-

courage a pupil to study modern languages at A level, even though you know

that this will almost certainly prejudice his or her offers from universities?

After all, these institutions will not necessarily take the rigorous nature of A-

level modern language assessment into account. We owe thanks, on behalf of

our pupils, to those Oxford and Cambridge tutors, both in modern languages

in particular and admissions in general, who are aware of the issues.

As someone who is unlikely to sit an A-level language exam again I was

happy to hear a particularly intriguing recent set of statistics. Having studied

languages I am – apparently – likely on average to have enhanced my earn-

ing potential, to enjoy better sex and to be in a position to stave off the rav-

ages of Alzheimer’s by five years.

Borne on by that – and lest we all be pulled irrevocably into the necessary

but horizon-shrinking world of examinations – can I draw your attention to

many of the wonderful opportunities for our linguists which are on offer?

(1) The UKLO (United Kingdom Linguistics’ Olympiad) is ideal for pupils who

like tussling with the challenges about the ways in which language bolts to-

gether. One of its attractions is that it is as likely to appeal to the non-linguist

mathematician as to a card-carrying A-level linguist – and because it exists

at ‘foundation’ as well as ‘pro’ levels it is suitable for internal as well as na-

tional competitions. There are more details and sample papers at

www.uklo.org.and I would encourage you to read the article on the UKLO by

Dick Hudson in the Summer 2012 edition of the Newsletter.

From the Chairman

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(2) Consider the Steven Spender Poetry Translation Competition. Quite apart

from the intrinsic interest, I can imagine what I might think if I were an ad-

missions tutor reading a UCAS statement that enthused about the challenges

and rewards of translation. The Under-14 section allows a revivifying experi-

ence before GCSE. Details at: www.stephen-spender.org. Winners of the

2012 edition were announced on 3rd November. The deadline for the 2013

prize will be Friday 24 May. Details and entry forms will be available on the

website from 11 January 2013.

(3) Look at the French film competition run by Dr Helen Swift at St Hilda’s

College, Oxford on behalf of the Oxford Medieval and Modern Languages Fac-

ulty and the Sir Robert Taylor Society. This allows an open-ended opportunity

for modern linguists from year 10 upwards to flex their intellectual muscles.

To enter the competition, students in two different age groups are asked to

re-write the ending of a film in no more than 1500 words (in English). More

details at www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/news_archive#ffec2012, with a report on

last year’s competition. The 2013 competition will be launched soon.

(4) Why not avoid GCSE stagnation by teaching Faust or Candide even at pre

-GCSE level via the excellent free resources generated by Jane Breen and her

colleagues at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford? You may recall

Jane speaking at last year’s ISMLA National Conference, and the materials

KEGS offer make their online presence remarkably valuable. You need to

access the KEGS VLE, not the school website: www.kegsnet.org.uk. From the

scroll-down menus choose ‘Curriculum’ then the French or German sections.

Faust is in Year 7 Beginners’ German and Candide in Year 7 Beginners’

French. It's possible for anyone to access this, but you will need to log in as a

guest. Der blonde Eckbert is available there too with sound files. On the

same theme, do have a look at Simon Leader’s article on page 16 describing

the use of literature at GCSE.

(5) Mentoring works well – older pupils are enthused and become better

linguists. After all, you have to understand to teach. Younger pupils can often

ask – and receive – questions that we are unable to deal with in normal

teaching. At Dulwich, we have a link for our Year 10 pupils with a local state

school A level set; this is useful in more ways than one. If pupils show signs

of wanting to take this up, look at the Gold Award for Languages – this is an

excellent way to reward their efforts and enthusiasm: https://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/south/events/01-sep-09.html

(6) Few pupils will not benefit from the Language Leaders scheme – effec-

tively a PGCE course for anyone in year 10 or above. The course is supported

by a well-written booklet which divides teaching skills pupils need to cover

into five distinct units. This is helpful if preparation time is an issue. The for-

mat works well either as a lunchtime club or in a Liberal Studies-style option.

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The final requirement is to teach at least an hour of lessons (often 4 x 15

minutes so that there is the opportunity to reflect and improve). See

www.sportsleaders.org/our-awardsqualifications/foreign-language-leader-award.aspx for details.

(7) It is always worth looking at the Goethe-Institut, Institut Français and

Consejeria websites. They are always keen to support schools – and if they

don’t offer what you want, why not ask them to provide it for you? Anything

you want to do is likely to be of interest to other schools so it’s easy for them

to replicate and pass on. The Goethe-Institut have kindly provided us with an

update on some of their initiatives (see page 28),

I very much hope you will come for the shared interest, information and ca-

maraderie of the Annual ISMLA National Conference kindly hosted this year

by St Peter’s School, York. It is taking place on Saturday 2 February 2013,

and registration details are now available at www.ismla.co.uk.

Nick Mair

Contributions to the Newsletter

We value all articles, letters or reflections in any form which contrib-

ute to enriching the debate about modern language teaching in our

s c ho o l s . Co n t a c t t he e d i t o r , P e t e r L ang d a l e

(plangdale@tiscali.co.uk).

The Reviews Editor, Tom Underwood, would be happy to hear from

anyone wishing to review books, websites and other teaching mate-

rials. Contact him at Thomas.Underwood@ucs.org.uk if you are in-

terested.

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Summer Holidays 2012: Two highlights spring to mind - the Olympic

Games held in London and A level Results Day. For quite different reasons

your editor managed to be out of the country for both these events, thereby

missing out on the excitement of the first and the many disappointments and

frustrations of the latter. Watching the opening ceremony of the games on

French television provided a fascinating insight into cultural incomprehension

as the presenters either ignored or

(wilfully?) misunderstood Our Island Story. But there again, how easily could

I have explained some of the more

‘popular’ references to a class of French

schoolchildren? Instead of following the

games, I participated in an open air per-

formance of Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia

at the Château de Panloy in the Charente

Maritime. Your editor can be spotted in

the centre of the picture.

And as to explaining things to schoolchildren (and to senior managers), how

fortunate for me that the task fell to others when the A Level results

emerged. As is more eloquently and fully covered elsewhere in this Newslet-

ter, the gulf between what we know of our pupils’ abilities and the ability of

examination boards to reflect them accurately has grown ever wider. Fortu-

nately none of my pupils missed her university place as a consequence, but

when I look at the marks awarded when reviewing their scripts, I struggle to

see the relationship between the quality of essays and the marks awarded.

As Nick Mair has said, it is time now to move to complaint rather than re-

mark, but fortunately (I trust) for my pupils, Pre-U is in the pipeline.

Start of the Autumn Term: Miraculous! I had decided to teach (sorry Edex-

cel, encourage my pupils to read and research) two texts , Racine’s Bérénice

and Le silence de la mer by Vercors. My

choice of Bérénice had been in part per-

sonal (it is the one major play besides by

Racine besides Esther and Athalie I have

not yet taught) and in part because there

was to be a production in London in the

Autumn (it runs to 24th November at the

Donmar). But then a colleague points out

to me that the Donmar is also showing a

stage version of the Vercors (10 January to

Notes from the Editor’s Diary

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2 February 2013) to go alongside the wonderful Melville film of 1949. I am

certainly going to enjoy it all and I hope my pupils will too. Maybe I will re-

view them both for the next edition.

Teaching Italian: The term starts well with a comparatively large set of

Lower Sixth Italian students (they start from scratch in the Sixth Form, so it

is good to see the vote of confidence). Yet what can I say about the image

the country now projects? Berlusconi no longer Prime Minister but still casting

his shadow; corruption and embezzlement at every level of political life; eco-

nomic decline. So why choose to study Italian or at University? The Society

for Italian Studies is holding a roundtable dedicated to the question of

'Why Study Italian at University' for the Society's Annual General Meeting in

London on January 12th. It should be interesting.

Dante: Good to see interest

in Dante spreading beyond

the Italian Department. I was

recently invited by the English

Department to deliver a talk

on TS Eliot and the role of

Dante in his life and poetry.

Eliot wrote three essays on

Dante, his poetry contains

many allusions (some refer-

enced, as in the Wasteland,

some unacknowledged) most

famously used passages from

the Divine Comedy as epi-

graphs to the collection of

‘Prufrock and other Observa-tions’ and the ’Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’. The abiding

memory from my research

was is that of Eliot writing that

he would recite “a large part of one canto or another to myself, lying in bed

or on a railway journey”. One wonders what his fellow passengers thought!

You can find my Prezi presentation at http://prezi.com/budmtm5cq5ax/dante-and-ts-eliot (or go to prezi.com and search using my name). And if you

haven’t discovered Prezi yet, may I recommend it as a considerable improve-

ment on, or at least an alternative to PowerPoint.

Peter Langdale

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More than once this Autumn, Nick Mair has expressed the view that re-marks

and even appeals cannot now be regarded as sufficient or effective courses of

action for ISMLA schools dissatisfied with the grades their candidates have

achieved in public examinations in modern languages. We have, he says,

gone beyond the time when the awarding bodies' own systems of redress can

be regarded as the appropriate way to achieve clarity over disputed out-

comes or perceived unfairness.

Nick's suggestion has been that what was until now the culture of appeal

needs to become, in the present climate, one of complaint. This would in-

volve, he says, schools making the boards and Ofqual aware of situations

where – for example – the A* in one modern language subject seemed less

attainable than another; where re-marks had sent candidates' levels of at-

tainment shooting up in such a way as to suggest that the original assess-

ment had been flawed; and where rank orders seem to be inaccurately re-

flected by the grades ultimately awarded (e.g., in an oral exam conducted by

a teacher who knew his or her pupils well).

Such a shift in orientation in regard to the issue of schools' post-exam review

and action is not solely represented by what Nick has said. It is reflected in

two bodies of information that have been made available in the last couple of

months. The first of these is the HMC report, England's 'examinations indus-try': deterioration and decay which focused on endemic problems in marking,

awarding, re-marks and appeals at GCSE and A level between 2007 and 2012

(the report is available online at www.hmc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/HMC-Report-on-English-Exams-9-12-v-13.pdf). It covers

the whole school curriculum, but contains themes which will be especially

familiar to modern languages teachers in the light of the complaints that

have existed over the unreliability and/or inefficiency of the MFL public exam

marking and appeals system. The HMC report shows, for instance, that the

GCSE English controversy of August this year was not unprecedented: 'wild

variations in many schools in the grades awarded in English and English Lit-

erature GCSE across all exam boards' had already been reported to HMC in

2010 and 2011.

Four major causes for concern are identified in the HMC report:

(a) long-standing, year-on-year variations in grades awarded;

(b) unexplained/unsatisfactory boundary changes to a previously stable sub-

ject;

A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL

HMC AND HODS STRIKE THE SAME NOTE ON PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS

12

(c) significant and unexplained variations between awarding bodies in the

percentages of top grades awarded at A level across all subjects;

(d) important and unexplained variations between some key subjects in the

percentages of top grades awarded at A level across all boards.

This last area concerns modem linguists more than the others, of course, and

ISMLA's role in bringing this matter to the attention of Ofqual is acknowl-

edged by HMC. The report is well worth looking at, not least for the individual

school case studies which document problems experienced in individual sub-

jects.

The second body of information which shows that the outlook of schools is

changing comes from closer to (ISMLA) home and is a little more informal.

ISMLA members were invited to comment, after the A level results in August

of this year, on their feelings about MFL assessment in general, the relative

positions of specific languages and any other trends that had emerged as a

consequence of the grades awarded this Summer. The statements in our

survey are more forthright than HMC could afford to be in their account.

However, they cannot – in fairness to participants in the survey – be attrib-

uted to individual schools. So what we have accumulated is ballast rather

than ammunition.

Probably the most common observation modern language departments made

in the survey was that the A* at A level seems unfathomable, and certainly

often unreachable for our students: 'no A* in any language'; 'the only short-

fall [...] was a lack of A* grades'; 'what does one have to do to get an A*?'

Not surprisingly, the knock-on effect at university entrance level was also

commented on, with schools reporting varying experiences. Witness the ex-

ample, on the one hand, of the Cambridge admissions tutor who waived the

requirement that a candidate get the A* in a modern language that had ini-

tially been asked for in the offer (since the tutor knew how hard it was to get

and therefore to insist on); and, on the other, of ISMLA modern language

departments being unsure whether Oxford and Cambridge really did under-

stand the unpredictability and intractability of the A* grade in a modern lan-

guage A level.

It would be wrong to dismiss the ISMLA survey as just so much anonymous

gossip. The answers given serve as an accurate barometer, as far as my per-

sonal experience goes, of the feelings of heads of department not just in the

last few months but over a number of years. Sentiments like 'we are in deep

trouble here – no A* in any language', 'it's really dispiriting and you wonder

what else you can do' and – most worryingly – 'when a pupil asks me if they

will get a good grade and enjoy languages [at A level] the honest answer is

"no" and "yes"' depict not just pupils being badly done by but experienced

professionals running the risk of losing heart.

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But let us end on a constructive note. This survey ought to be looked at by

Ofqual and the examination boards as a body of testimony that offers advice

– from the same 'experienced professionals' I invoked just now. Three par-

ticular areas kept coming up, and it would help for any future dialogue to

start by looking at these:

The A* itself. One closely-argued contribution emphasised the extent to

which 'the introduction of A* was badly handled. It is such a narrow grade

boundary that it often turns on one part of the exam'.

Native speaker candidates and the A*. Other statements talked of the

'native-speaker issue', by which they meant the propensity for such candi-

dates to secure the A* grades in some foreign languages, to the extent that

the impression is given to other students that such grades are necessarily

beyond them. There may be a case for stripping native speakers from exam

results (or at least identifying them as different). This is because modern

languages is a unique subject area – there are no other public exams where

(let’s say) mathematicians, historians or geographers are known to have

been 'competent from early childhood' and thereby scoop top marks with

greater ease.

What are fluency and responsiveness deemed to be in the A level

oral, and are they correctly identified? Still other contributions focused

on the oral examination régime at A level, where 'individual interpretations of

what is spontaneous and pre-learned' seem to prevail among examiners and

where there is a 'prejudice against quiet, reflective speakers who care about

what they say (and are deemed slow and unresponsive)'.

Unless there is a discussion with Ofqual and the boards which proceeds from

such reasoned and reasonable objections as those just listed, an irreparable

disservice will be done to modern languages in school sixth forms and to the

future of modern language teaching in general. When one respondent said

that 'SMT [in the respondent's school] does not want to hear about discrep-

ancies and severe marking. It is all imputable to teaching and learning ac-

cording to them', it is perhaps understandable. After all, a school's manage-

ment team has only a limited amount of time and knowledge at their dis-

posal. They need to make decisive inroads into the issues they perceive in

front of them. But they also need to be armed with the discipline-specific

information that indicates what problems lie behind modern languages as-

sessment in the sixth form.

Better still, those involved in administering, planning, teaching and assessing

for these examinations could be brought together, using ISMLA's survey as a

starting point, to try to solve those problems.

Geoffrey Plow

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The questionnaire for the latest in the Language Trends series of surveys on

languages is now in schools, with responses requested by the end of this

term. ISMLA has been a partner in promoting and analysing the survey for

many years, in order to ensure that the situation for languages in independ-

ent schools is appropriately reflected alongside what is happening in the state

sector. For this reason, if you have received a request to complete the sur-

vey, we would urge you to reply!

Findings from the surveys have been taken very seriously by government

and the reports have been widely cited in academic articles as well as stimu-

lating substantial press coverage and debate.

A prototype Language Trends survey was first carried out in 2002, in con-

junction with the Times Education Supplement. This was at a time when the

languages community in the state sector was reeling from the news that the

payback for the introduction of primary languages was to be the removal of

compulsory status for the subject in KS4. The survey showed an immediate

and rapid fallout from languages as a direct result of the 2002 Green Paper

on the reform of 14-19 education. Many warned government ministers that

this would be the result of downgrading the status of languages in the KS4

curriculum, and successive surveys showed just how far the numbers were to

decline. They showed which schools were most affected and provided insights

into the pressures on both schools and pupils, with direct quotes from teach-

ers in forthright language. Comparisons with the independent sector were

instructive, and helped to make a powerful case where it could be shown that

issues were shared – for example, dissatisfaction with the assessment re-

gime.

The DCSF – as the Education Department was then known – was not at all

happy that the disastrous results of its policies should be presented so

starkly and even went as far as suggesting that the surveys had contributed

to the decline by spreading ‘bad news’. But press debate – even in papers

like The Sun – was uniformly supportive of languages. No newspaper editorial

ever said the decline in numbers studying languages didn’t matter. Later,

after the 2007 Languages Review, the Department was much more suppor-

tive of the survey and frequently made use of the evidence it provided, com-

ing back to us for further detail and analysis.

The opportunity to analyse the results of the surveys with colleagues

from ALL and ISMLA – who for many years supported CILT in organising the

survey, writing the report and disseminating the results – has for me been a

huge pleasure and benefit. It has stimulated debate and helped us develop a

Language Trends Survey 2012

16

shared vision of what was going wrong in language policy in secondary

schools and the problems teachers are facing. We also owe a huge debt to all

the teachers who over the years contributed to the survey with information

and insights into the position of languages in their schools. I am delighted

that CfBT Education Trust is continuing to support the research.

Key issues for this year’s survey are likely to be once again the nature of

assessments – GCSE and A level and the grading and marking of exams - the

range of languages on offer, the situation for languages post 16 and, of

course, the impact of the English Baccalaureate. We look forward to an ex-

cellent response and hope ISMLA members will contribute enthusiastically.

Teresa Tinsley

Notes:

• The full 2011 Language Trends Survey Report can be found at

www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/home_page.aspx

• Previous survey reports can be found at www.cilt.org.uk/home/research_and_statistics/secondary.aspx

• If for some reason you are concerned that you have not been sent

the 2012 survey link , you should contact Eva Oliver of the CfBT

team - eoliver@cfbt.com

Take one group of able linguists who have been studying French for at least

five years and an exam specification whose topics include Home, School and

Future Plans. Mix well and leave to stew for several months. All too often, in

my experience, the result is boredom, lack of motivation and pedestrian lan-

guage and mundane ideas that no one wants to hear or read.

It was with this in mind last September that I decided to study a French

novel with my Year 11 group. I’d taught plenty of literature with 6th form

groups but, other than extracts, had never really taken the plunge with GCSE

sets. Taking advantage of the Edexcel Centre-devised Option for Writing and

Speaking which effectively allows pupils to write and speak about anything at

all, we read Vendredi ou la Vie Sauvage by Michel Tournier. This short novel

(just under 170 pages), often read in France in cinquième or quatrième, re-

tells the story of Robinson Crusoe. The role of Friday, as the title suggests, is

central and his presence on the island of Speranza has a transformative

power on the life of his companion. As well as being a strongly-plotted “good

Teaching literature for GCSE

17

read”, the work explores themes of racism, our relationship with the natural

world and the West’s colonialist past.

Of course, the first reaction from the

pupils was that it was too hard and

that they spent all their time looking

up words and then losing the thread of

the plot. But once they realised they

didn’t have to understand every word

to see what was going on and then

when they started to answer the

(target-language) questions I had

devised to help them with comprehen-

sion, they relaxed and began to make

headway. All the pupils h ad their own

copy of the text and were able to

make notes in it as we worked

through.

I asked the group to read a chapter

(two or three pages) as homework

and then we worked through the text

and the questions in class together. In

other words, the process was similar

to the one I use in the 6th form but of

course with slightly different expectations in terms of language and literary

analysis. I also provided a vocabulary booklet with key words translated

chapter by chapter. The group responded well in class though it was quickly

apparent there was a gulf between those who liked the idea of the

“adventure” and challenge of reading a novel and those who would have pre-

ferred a more standard topic which would appear in the text book and which

would require less hard work!

Once we had finished reading the novel, we began preparing for the Con-

trolled Assessment. This required plenty of discussion of the key ideas and

themes and characters and it also required plenty of language input from me.

Inevitably, the lessons sometimes drifted into English but I often let this go if

I judged the ideas too difficult to express in French but of interest to the

whole group. What I was interested in doing on the whole, though, was en-

couraging the pupils to use simple language to express difficult ideas and to

operate more spontaneously than they thought possible. On the whole, they

achieved this admirably

For the Controlled Assessment tasks themselves, I devised questions which I

hoped would appeal to their critical faculties but also to their personal re-

18

sponse to the story. Questions like « Que ferais-tu si tu étais sur une île déserte ? » or « A qui est-ce que tu ressembles le plus, à Robinson ou à Vendredi ? Pourquoi ? » worked well but I was surprised to hear and read

answers which dealt so confidently with the themes of the novel. I have

never found reading a set of essays less boring! Articulating their thoughts

was, I think, easier than they anticipated thanks to the language they were

able to recycle from the text, my vocabulary booklet and all the comprehen-

sion questions they had already answered. When it came to writing about

the text the problem was squeezing all their ideas into the word count. As for

the oral exams, they flew by!

And the results? Well, we had nearly twice as many A*s in French this year

compared to last year and the Writing and Speaking marks were considerably

better than previous cohorts of similar ability. This was not all down to the

study of the novel but I think it played an important role.

So would I study a novel again with a GCSE group, and would I recommend

the experience to others? The answer is a definite yes, with the following

caveats. It needs to be an able group who is already “on side” and trusts

you, the teacher, enough to take a risk. They also need a lot of encourage-

ment and praise through the process. The choice of text is absolutely critical,

of course, and you need to know your group well to judge what will work. In

addition, I’m aware some of the above may sound rather utopian. I was lucky

to have a really good set but even with them there were some lessons which

went better than others and not all the pupils responded as well as I would

have liked. But I suppose that would be true of any topic.

The decision to study a text was taken as part of a broader departmental

initiative to offer a wider variety of topics at GCSE. This came about because

we think GCSE pupils are often interested in the language but not in the con-

tent of the tasks we require them to perform. We also believe that the cul-

tural dimension of language-learning is central and that it is not sufficiently

exploited at GCSE or at AS. Writing and speaking about a novel at GCSE will,

I think, help those pupils carrying on with French in the 6th form (about two-

thirds of my “Vendredi” group) to bridge the gap between GCSE and AS. As

well as providing stimulating cultural material, studying a literary text gives

pupils access to vocabulary not usually found on the GCSE word lists. Of

course, it also helps them to improve their reading skills. But most impor-

tantly, in my view, reading a French novel for GCSE can, for some pupils, be

the start of a long and rewarding journey through French literature.

If others out there have studied a book with GCSE groups I would be inter-

ested in hearing from you.

Simon Leader The Leys (snl@theleys.net)

19

20

It’s Tuesday afternoon. Most pupils are returning from sport, and many are

heading off to another commitment: music; drama; more sport; or studying

a major world language. At my school, Arabic is a full part of the curriculum,

mostly taught outside the main timetable. It is available to all students at all

levels – an average of 40 per year. (Chinese is offered in a similar way,

though it has more slots in the main timetable.) Pupils sign up at the start of

the year, most for two lessons per week, at times that fit in with their other

commitments.

They study Modern Standard Arabic and currently work towards a set of

qualifications from the adult education sector (offered by ABC Awards), usu-

ally one level per year. Beginners work towards Entry Level (alphabet; every-

day items; personal introductions; getting around town), Lower Intermedi-

ates to Level 1 (reading and writing short notes; talking about your likes and

dislikes), Intermediates to Level 2 (same standard as GCSE but fairer to non-

natives). After that, they can follow a course of study focusing on literature

or a particular dialect. Arabic speakers work towards AS and A2, which are

designed with them in mind. Each works at his own pace: occasionally, a

pupil will lap up the whole beginners course in the first term; others take two

years over it.

This afternoon, I have two Advanced pupils working on their translation

skills: one speaks Arabic at home and is working on turning classical texts

into clear idiomatic English; the other has come up the hard way, and is now

seeking to master the techniques required to use the Hans Wehr dictionary –

every professional Arabist’s bible. There are three Intermediates, two of

whom are working on oral presentations about home and family, while one

has already done this and so is doing a reading comprehension on travel. It’s

exciting times for the Lower Intermediates, as most are moving on from

working with sentences to short texts, starting with a description of a city.

(But two miss the lesson – one has a flute recital, the other a football match

– and I will have to make sure they stay on top of things.) Beginners are

learning prepositions and describing the layout of the room, some of them

still relying on transliteration as they get to grips with the alphabet, but a few

appear more comfortable and look set to race ahead.

All set for my favourite night of the year: the Taste of Texts. Pupils have

spent two weeks working on understanding and memorising a poem of their

choice from a collection which ranges from quite simple love lyrics in free

verse by Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998) to famous but very challenging verses

from the classical masters Mutanabbi (d. 965) and Ibn Arabi (d. 1240). On

the night, they are allowed to decide whether to step up and perform it in

Diary of an Arabic Teacher

21

front of their peers, or sit back and watch the others. In the end, nineteen go

for it.

The adjudication is by seven former pupils who have taken the train over

from university or work. (Remarkable some of the ways in which they find a

use for their Arabic – first prize goes to the interfaith translator, closely fol-

lowed by the man setting up construction projects in Jordan.) It’s a fun

event, with trays of Lebanese snacks all round the room (the “taste”) and

some lovely poetry (the “texts”) but the former pupils are tougher judges

than I could be on such a night – every ‘ayn and qaf is scrutinised, the emo-

tional nuance in performances is carefully compared. Just a few years ago,

they were on the other side of the room. They know how seriously the pupils

take this sort of thing, and they know precisely how hard they have worked.

They retire to deliberate, while one of the native speakers – not allowed to

compete – gets up to entertain the crowd with bilingual jokes. Fifteen min-

utes later, they are still deliberating. It’s a close call.

It's half term and I am about to commune with some predecessors. Richard

Busby, Head Master of Westminster for what seems like the whole seven-

teenth century, taught Arabic alongside the usual Latin and Greek authors.

Since I started teaching, I have been hearing of these textbooks used to in-

duct young scholars, many the same age as my own students, into the es-

sentials of the Arabic language three hundred and fifty years ago. Some kind

colleagues there have arranged for me to visit Dr Busby’s library, and here

they are: thirty eight books on Arabic grammar and literature, acquired by Dr

Busby to give his pupils access to as good a grounding in Arabic as that avail-

able in the universities. Here is the meticulously kept vocabulary notebook of

one of Busby’s pupils who later returned to teach – good to see where our

standards come from, though this one has translations from the target lan-

guage into Latin.

Looking through the books, I am able to sketch out some idea of a syllabus

for Arabic in the seventeenth century English schoolroom: the alphabet all in

one go; then a run-through of the main grammatical points; then working

through a bilingual (Arabic-Latin) text, such as a psalter, figuring out the

meanings and workings of the target language from the Latin; after this, on

to literature, starting with passages from canonical works, presented in

chunks of four or five lines at a time, with word-for-word translation into

Latin (running right to left to follow the Arabic), and a whole page of gram-

matical and cultural notes for each line of Arabic. Yes, we have all seen this

approach with one language or another, but it gets me thinking. Maybe there

is something modern linguists can learn from the way literature is taught in

Classics? We tend to go paragraph by paragraph, expecting students to look

22

words up themselves. Is there something to be said for going line by line,

and laying it all out for them?

It is Wednesday morning and we are in full flow with my Upper Sixth group,

whom I see within the main timetable, three lessons per week. These are all

pupils who have not done Arabic outside the timetable and, at the end of the

Lower Sixth, decided to take it up for one of a number of reasons: a couple

would like to apply for Arabic at university; some are applying for European

languages and wish to broaden their linguistic horizons by studying some-

thing different and difficult; others are seeking a gateway into a culture

which they have often seen portrayed on the front pages of their newspaper.

They work towards the Entry Level certificate, but also cover cultural topics.

A lot can be gained from even a short introductory course like this: alterna-

tive perspectives (do Arabic books start from the back?); becoming literate in

a major script, used in over twenty countries and scores of other languages;

the ability to build bridges through greetings and small talk; and the cultural

knowledge which studying such a different language inevitably brings out.

Today, we are doing dialogues, ordering in a restaurant. I’m impressed by

how much more familiar with Arab food they are than I was at their age. On

their way out, they reminisce about the Taste of Texts. My Year 11 French

set are beginning to line up outside, but first a few notes in the planner about

possible development next term. Yes, once they have mastered the alphabet

and are firmer on verbs, we will do some poetry by Mutanabbi. We will sa-

vour it in detail, line by line.

It used to be about this time of year that I would start planning a school trip

to an Arab country. Instability in some countries has meant that I have held

off from running trips to the region, settling for excursions closer to home

and also advising pupils planning their own trips. This hasn’t stopped some

people – John Macfarlane of the European School in Culham continues to run

his study tours of Egypt. Hopefully, it won’t be long before I organise another

one, maybe to Egypt, maybe to Jordan. Morocco’s also an option.

One great thing about a trip is that it allows students to learn a dialect. In

the classroom, we focus on Standard Arabic because it is useful in itself, be-

ing the principal written language, and it also provides a basis for learning

the dialect of whichever country you are visiting. The linguistic situation in

the Arab world is similar to the Roman Empire at one point: a ‘high’ form

used for literature, religion and official functions (Standard Arabic/Latin); and

various ‘low’ forms which are people’s mother tongues and which are used at

home and in the street (the colloquial varieties of Egypt, the Levant, the Gulf,

Morocco etc/the dialects that would later become French, Italian, Spanish

etc). If you have chosen a destination, you can focus on its dialect, allowing

pupils to access the delights of a more informal way of speaking, as well as

23

the joys of Arab pop music.

The end of term approaches, and it’s time for the Arabic teaching confer-

ence*, organised by the British Council. The full spread of teachers and

schools is here, and it’s great to catch up on different approaches and meth-

ods. There are a few colleagues who, like me, teach European languages

alongside Arabic in mainstream schools and colleges. I meet one, a Moroc-

can, who teaches Spanish and Arabic at a sixth form college, and tells me

what it’s like teaching Arabic in the IB diploma, which offers an ab initio pa-

per for non-natives. Community language schools (which mostly run on

weekends and teach children from Arab families) and religious schools are

well represented. They are normally able to assume a much larger back-

ground knowledge among their pupils. Yet some of them say this is less and

less the case and that, with the passage of generations, pupils learning it as

a community language will not have much of a head start over non-natives.

People sometimes ask how many schools in the UK do Arabic. I am not sure

if this is easier or harder than coming up with a number for the schools that

do French. We do have some data. According to the Language Trends survey

(2008-11), Arabic was taught at 5% of maintained schools and 11% of inde-

pendent schools. In terms of public examinations: OCR received 4472 entries

for its Asset Languages exams in Arabic during the period 2006-11; Edexcel

received 4,400 entries for GCSE (approximately 3,100 from UK candidates

and 1,300 overseas) and 3,900 entries for AS and A2 (split between UK and

overseas) in 2011. (It may be of interest to know that, in the US, 93 public

(maintained) schools are registered as offering Arabic.)

So the UK’s Arabic teaching scene, while not always within everyone’s view,

is a busy one. It is also well provided for in terms of teaching materials. An-

other thing we love about the conference is the chance to see new resources

on display. During the nineties, some excellent textbooks were being pro-

duced for teaching beginners and advanced students. Over the last eight

years, there have been growing efforts to fill the gap in between, and now

there are several books for the lower to upper intermediate range which are

user-friendly, well thought through and, often, quite fun.

Haroon Shirwani is Head of Arabic at Eton College. He would be happy to hear from other schools that offer Arabic or are interested in doing so, and can also be contacted for queries about teaching resources, cultural activities and university study.(H.Shirwani@etoncollege.org.uk)

* All are welcome to register for this year's Arabic Teaching Conference on

14th December at Dulwich College (www.all-languages.org.uk/events-list/details/read/arabic_language_and_culture_in_schools)

24

A crashing of drums shocked me out

of my sleep. Within minutes the

drums had been joined by a cacoph-

ony of voices, informing me that at

5:25 in the morning I was already

running late. I pulled my boots on to

my blistered feet and stepped out of

my hot, claustrophobic tent (the

mosquito net was broken so my tent

remained sealed up at a toasty 30

degrees). I was immediately met by

an unforgettable sight; directly before me the sun was rising out of the Carib-

bean Sea, turning the bright white sand a light red, whilst palm trees rose all

around me (a sign reassuringly warned that a falling coconut could at any

time fatally injure an unsuspecting camper below). To my left and right, the

sand stretched as smoothly and untouched as far as the eye could see. After

a hot chocolate and a strange Colombian biscuit, we set off. A tired voice was

heard to ask how far we would walk. The answer came that we would walk to

the horizon, and then we would keep walking.

Why was I forming more blisters on the desolate Caribbean coast at a time

when probably no other sane soul on the continent was awake? How had I

managed to swap the lazy days of post-AS summer holidays for sweat and

pain in Colombia? Frankly, the morning I left London Heathrow three weeks

previously in order to embark upon this journey, I still had very little idea. In

the spring term, my Spanish teacher had first suggested that I might try to

get a place on some bizarre, Spanish-speaking trip called the Ruta Quetzal.

The Ruta was run by the Spanish government and brought together more

than two hundred seventeen year olds from fifty three countries every year.

When he mentioned that it involved a free five week holiday around Colombia

and Spain, my interest unsurprisingly rocketed. So, a few weeks later I went

down to London and, with a lot of luck and help from the Spanish Depart-

Ruta Quetzal BBVA - 2012

The Ruta Quetzal BBVA is, to quote the advertising, ‘an “enlightening" and “scientific” journey of initiation in which culture and adventure come to-gether’ and last year involved 255 young people from around the world. Felix Shipsey from Ampleforth College was selected to represent the UK last year and we are pleased to print his report of his experience. The application proc-ess for the 2013 edition starts soon with applications due in by 21st Novem-ber. Full details and the application form can be found at www.educacion.gob.es/reinounido/en_GB/convocatorias-programas/

convocatorias-reinounido/Ruta-Quetzal.

25

ment, was selected to be the representative of the United Kingdom on the

trip. The summer term quickly came and went, and suddenly I was bound on

a flight to Madrid where I would meet my companions for the next five

weeks.

I soon discovered that the Ruta Quetzal was a

trip like no other. True, it became apparent that

the word “holiday” had been lost in translation,

but the places were nonetheless worthy of a

travel magazine. From the Pacific to the Carib-

bean, the mountainous Andes to the deserts of

Aracataca, from bivouacking in Malaga to sleep-

ing on a Spanish battleship, the Ruta showed me

cultures and sights I had never imagined existed.

I even met the King of Spain and the President of

Colombia (who earnestly reassured me he sup-

ported Chelsea).

However, better than all this were the people I lived with on the journey, and

the lessons I learnt from them. The most surprising thing was the fact that I

got on with them! I shared my tent with a boy from Argentina and another

from El Salvador. Despite the huge

distances between our homes and

the enormous culture gap that di-

vided us, they became some of the

closest friends I have ever had.

Inevitably we occasionally had our

differences, notably on the subject

of the Falkland Islands (or Las

Malvinas as the Argentinean in-

sisted on calling them), but these

were always overcome (the islands

would be donated to El Salvador).

The greatest impression the Ruta made on me arrived not in the Amazon or

the desert, but in the unpromising location of a Bogota toilet. Here, I spent

half an hour attempting to wash one of my four Tshirts with cold water and

soap. Never before had I considered the huge amount of time, and frustra-

tion, saved just by a washing machine. Meanwhile my Bolivian friend had

already finished off his pile of dirty laundry. When I asked how he did it so

quickly, he gave me a puzzled look and said that he did not have a washing

machine and so was used to doing all his laundry by hand. That moment

really summed up what the Ruta meant for me; it was a realisation that back

at home I lived in comparative wealth whilst so many others lacked simple

things that I took for granted. Living without these comforts only for a few

26

weeks has given me a glimpse of what it must be like to live like my Bolivian

friend always has.

This experience was compounded

by a visit to San Basilio de Palen-

que in Colombia. San Basilio was

not a typical tourist attraction; in

fact we were the first group to be

admitted to this secluded town in

many years. It was formed almost

half a millennium ago by escaped

slaves from the Spanish planta-

tions in Colombia. Since then the

town has been shunned and ne-

glected by the state to the extent

that it still lacks reliable electricity

and water. Living for a couple of

days with the locals confronted

me with true poverty for the first

time. The joy that our stay, and

thus our recognition of their culture, brought to those people was incredibly

moving.

I also learned a great deal about myself through the hard, tiring days of the

Ruta. I realised that I could push myself much further than I had ever

thought possible. Despite the lack of food, showers and sleep, we all some-

how found the motivation to keep going. Not only did we walk on that day to

the horizon of the Caribbean shore and further, we also walked back!

Felix Shipsey

At San Basilio de Palenque

The statue in the background is of Benkos Bioho, a slave originally from West Africa who escaped from a plantation in Colombia and founded the town.

27

28

As there is a perceived lack of authentic language materials currently on offer

for younger language learners we were pleased to see the positive feedback

on our existing A-level website in our survey among German teachers con-

ducted in 2011. It gave us a strong incentive to get going on a website that

would include all the latest features for all levels of learning German from

ages 11 to 16 and specifically preparing students for GCSE.

We were very much aware that we had to look closely at the balance be-

tween authenticity and accessibility for the young learners. Trips had to be

made to Berlin, video footage as much as audio material had to be recorded,

and blogs had to be written. The students should find the learning and revis-

ing process a stimulating experience without the usual drawbacks of prepar-

ing for an exam. We also thought the material should be of interest to those

for whom an exam is still a couple of years ahead and there should be joy in

seeing the German sites, listening to the material and reading about relevant

issues.

Now we are very happy to announce that “Auf Deutsch” is going live this Oc-

tober. The topics treated here are familiar “Musik, Film, Kultur, Lebenstil,

Reisen, Mode, Sport” but the sources are very original. The Goethe-Institut

specifically commissioned authors who live in Germany, many of them in

Berlin to write about these topics from the point of view of young people, be

it on the latest electronic gadgets, underground music or travelling through

the world on a tight budget.

All the texts have both vocabulary and grammatical support. You just click on

an underlined word and you will find the help you need. We also wrote a dif-

ferentiated text version for each of the articles. These differentiated texts

only use main clauses, no imperfect tense or passive constructions and use a

vocabulary more appropriate for learners who only have a year or so of Ger-

man.

We already have a video on the topic of young people who live without their

parents and a music blog on the latest bands. Both features are supported by

the transcripts of the interviews. The search function enables a repeated re-

turn to a particular part of the transcript. The video additionally features Eng-

lish subtitles with a facility to choose between subtitles or no subtitles.

Goethe-Institut Updates

1) Auf Deutsch: Having fun with German while

preparing for GCSE

29

As we are developing the site further, particularly on a wide range of topics

and other aspects with relevance to GCSE, we would very much welcome

your input, too. This might be in the form of feedback or by suggesting mate-

rials or specific forms of exercises and much more. Of course we would be

particularly pleased if you recommended the site to your students and

started using it in your work with German on a permanent basis.

Karl Pfeiffer

30

Date: Early June 2013 (date to be confirmed)

For one day, the Goethe-Institut London will offer a series of activities to

learn German digitally. Tasks and competitions in different categories will be

offered between 9 am and 4 pm. Teachers will register with their field of in-

terest for a certain time slot; we will prepare the technology to make things

work.

Possible Categories:

• Interviews (interesting interview partner will be online to answer ques-

tions live)

• News Reading Competition (students can take part in this competition by

reading the news online via skype, the best readers will receive prizes,

texts will be provided beforehand, students can prepare for it)

• Podcasts (a limited number of podcasts will be on the GI website, com-

ments welcome, quiz will be provided)

• Apps (e.g. "GerMan", "Hallo Deutsch", "Lernabenteuer Deutsch" can be

accessed via the website for the day)

• Videos (a limited number of clips can be found on the GI website for the

day, tasks / worksheets will be prepared)

• Audio Calendar (students are asked to record a German text, the texts

will be filled into an online calendar so that opening a new virtual window

every day in December, they will get a new explanation, greeting or mini

story)

• Flipbook (students can produce an online flipbook and are asked to pro-

duce some German texts/speech bubbles with it)

• Lyrics online (a website collection of lyrics in German will be developed

by students; best lyrics produced that day win prizes)

• Online-Comics in German with "Bitstrips" can be produced, comics enter

a competition; the best ones will win prizes

• Second Life activity

Roma Schultz

2) Digital Day for German (Years 7 - 9)

31

French language immersion in beautiful Burgundy

At Maison Claire Fontaine we are completely focussed on providing amazing French immersion trips for school groups of 8 – 18 year olds in a safe and intimate environment. We offer use of one of our two centres for your visit with all lessons led by bilingual native French speakers. We are a small, enthusia-stic, professional and experienced team that pride ourselves on the relationships we develop with our visiting teachers and pupils. Our uniquely individual and tailored service is recommended by many leading independent schools.

We specialise in :

• Preparation for common entrance and scholarship papers.

• Cultural, language and activity trips for gifted and talented or whole year groups.

• French immersion for small 6th form groups (accompanied or unaccompanied).

• GCSE intensive revision courses.

Now taking bookings for 2014

For more information please contact

Alex at info@maisonclairefontaine.com

or visit our website at www.maisonclairefontaine.com

32

Few would disagree that the broad thrust to ensure school trips are run to

ensure the safety of our pupils has been a sensible and also unavoidable de-

velopment. That is not to say that we have relished the filling in of health and

safety documentation but experts such as Duncan Byrne (you may remember

his talk at the ISMLA National Conference in 2011) would probably agree that

the extreme swings of the H&S pendulum are thankfully a thing of the past

and that few of us now start a document from scratch.

In one sense there is absolutely nothing new in the concept of this exchange

– many schools used to (and still?) send their pupils to attend classes in a

(normal) school abroad during term time. We used to send Year 9 boys for

half a term to Phuket – certainly culturally invigorating but probably of less

linguistic benefit than for the significant but small number of pupils who

spent half a term in a French-, German- or Spanish-speaking school.

The revamping of the old format thankfully has many advantages if France is

your most obvious destination: French schools are desperate to set up this

sort of exchange; they are very likely to have the full support of their superi-

ors – both in the school and at an Académie level; they will be keen to en-

courage you to exchange with their school; your preparation time can be

hugely reduced by using the starting pack which contains many necessary

documents for SMT, parents, H&S, form tutors – these can be tweaked to

suit your school. In case you think H&S has been forgotten – you use the

documents at your own risk!

We ran this scheme at Dulwich College this summer under the title of the

Shackleton Exchange Programme. Was it worth it for our pupils? They, their

parents, their teachers and their tutors (remember the personal develop-

ment) would emphatically say yes. My observation after this initial year was

that pupils came back better linguists, more enthused and more grown up. À refaire.

What is it?

English pupils spend a period of time in French schools and lodge with French

families ‘in loco parentis’. They in turn host the return visit. Accompanying

teachers are required only for travel and to settle pupils in.

The Teacher-Free School Exchange

1500 pupils Can’t Be Wrong

In this article Nick Mair describes an ‘exchange kit’ that might make it easier for you to allow your pupils to spend three weeks in a school abroad during term time.

33

In the last weeks of the summer term (conveniently after internal exams),

nine Year 9 Dulwich pupils spent 3 weeks in the Lycée Hoche on such a

scheme. Their French counterparts then attended 3 weeks of Year 10 classes

in London at the start of this academic year.

The exchange can be organised with any year group – though SMT will prefer

you to minimise disruption. We have decided to extend this to year 12. The

format is well established between France and Spain and France and Ger-

many: to date some 1500 pupils have participated.

Why bother?

Pupils, parents and teachers say that the linguistic, cultural and personal

benefits are huge. Because pupils are in class, they are exposed to a maxi-

mum of language. Some teachers might even claim that this requires effort

and at the end of a fulfilling day pupils are inclined to prepare and rest rather

than seek ‘entertainment’ elsewhere (code for trouble!). The exchange re-

quires minimal teacher input, is cheap and develops a whole school cultural

awareness. All the required documentation (including school contracts, letters

to parents, etc) now exists and can be replicated or modified. This format

existed in the UK twenty years ago but has been overtaken by ‘Health and

Safety’.

Why not?

A phenomenal success (well documented over some 200+ pages by the

French) if the pupils fit the profile. They need to be independent, want to

take part (rather than be propelled into it by pushy parents), and need to

have sufficient savvy both to integrate and to read social situations. If you

don’t have pupils who fit these criteria, probably best to abstain. A number of

Academies are exploring the format.

What next?

The Académie de Versailles (Paris) - www.ac-versailles.fr/europe-international - is the largest local educational authority in France in terms of

number of students and teachers: 800 schools (Primary and Secondary),

over a million students and around 76,000 teachers and it is extremely keen

to expand the scheme with London schools. English is the most valued lan-

guage but surveys confirm that French pupils speak little English when they

visit England. If you are interested in the programme, contact Patricia Janis-

sin at the Department for European and International Affairs of the Académie (DAREIC) in Versailles: patricia.janissin@education.gouv.fr, +33-1-30 83 44

18.

Nick Mair

34

ICT and Languages Conference #ililc3 2013

‘Jail breaking the Languages Classroom’

Date: Saturday, 09 February, 2013 - 08:30 - Sunday, 10 Fe-

bruary, 2013 - 16:30

Location: University of Southampton - Avenue Campus

Whether you want to find out how to use blogs and wikis to trying

out digital voice recorders, you’ll be inspired to try something new!

A range of speakers will demonstrate tried and tested models for

different skill levels with plenty of opportunity to get to grips with

new ideas in workshops. You don’t have to be an expert in ICT to

attend!

Keynote Speakers: Joe Dale & Isabelle Jones

Sessions include: Mobile learning, social media tools for learning

and assessment, App design, using the ‘global’ classroom, supporting

SEN through technology, developing speaking at all Key Stages, ani-

mation, subtitling, Web 2.0 tools.

For full programme details and to book go to the Languages South East website: www.languagessoutheast.ac.uk/events/

ict-and-languages-conference-ililc-2012

For more information please contact Languages South East on

languagessoutheast@soton.ac.uk or call 023 8059 9135.

35

An alternative to controlled assessment for Languages

Designed to foster a more creative approach to learning, the AQA Level 1/2 Certificate (iGCSE) is available for French, German and Spanish.

Other benefits:

• a firm foundation for progression to A-level

• is entirely externally assessed

• similar content and resources to the AQA GCSE Languages specification.

For more information:

• visit our website aqa.org.uk/igcselanguages for free resources and support materials

• contact the subject team on T: 01423 534 381 or E: mfl@aqa.org.uk

Alternatively you can sign up at aqa.org.uk/signupigcse to register your interest and stay up to date with the latest developments.

AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England

and Wales (number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX.

36

ments as well) are crisp, clear and

clever and place particular emphasis

on pronunciation. The danger with

many language music CDs is that

they feel dated and that pupils would

not respond terribly well; this is not

the case with Lernen durch Lachen und Lied. The catchy first song Be-fehle im Klassenzimmer would be

ideal for a beginners class and intro-

duces a number of key classroom

commands. Throughout the CD there

is a great deal of subject specific

vocabulary and a number of gram-

matical aspects, such as modal

verbs, separable verbs and adverbial

phrases. One could imagine a range

of exercises using this resource,

including lesson starters, gap fill

tasks and revision of topics, not for-

getting practice of pronunciation.

The range of adjectives in Die lustige Witwe is appealing for high achiev-

ing pupils and I particularly liked the

jazzy feel to Schulfächer, as well as

the subtle influence of The Can-Can

in Kann Kann! The last few tracks on

the first CD are simply instrumental

versions of the above songs. This is

certainly a very good idea and pupils

would enjoy then performing their

own versions of the songs.

The second CD contains ten different

pronunciation exercises to practise

the key sounds in German and to

revise sounds that pupils may have

already encountered. Again, these

are wide-ranging and interesting and

contain lots of vocabulary and clever

lyrics that pupils will enjoy; Zigeuner

Lernen durch Lachen und Lied

Linda Inniss with Mat Fox

www.splendoursoundsandlanguageresources.co.uk

Lernen durch Lachen und Lied is

double CD package written by Linda

Inniss with a range of appealing and

varied songs focusing mostly on

areas of language for GCSE pupils.

There are fourteen songs in total,

covering the majority of topics for

study at KS4. All the lyrics are origi-

nal and suitable for a wide ability

range and the variety in music (from

rap to melodies to jazz) is very im-

pressive and will maintain the inter-

est of most classes. A look at the

titles reveals a number of songs to

suit almost any class and topic:

1. Befehle im Klassenzimmer

2. Einkaufsliste

3. Wäsche auf der Leine

4. Schulfächer

5. Rate mal !

6. Partyeinladung

7. Kann Kann!

8. Freizeit

9. Die lustige Witwe

10. Ferienfreude

11. Schuleschwänzen

12. Die vier Jahreszeiten

13. Die olympischen Spiele

14. Die Monate

The lyrics in all of the songs

(available as PDF and Word docu-

Reviews

37

(IB) French B programme. It com-

prises, over a series of sixteen units,

authentic texts designed to train in

the areas of comprehension, oral

work and the production of written

French. It is comprehensive and

looks easy to use. The major threads

of the exam – Relations sociales, Communications et médias, Ques-tions mondiales, Coutumes et tradi-tions, Loisirs, Santé, Diversité cul-turelle, Sciences et technologie – are

all accommodated.

At a time when many schools are

finding the pathway offered by iG-

CSE attractive, it is interesting to

note that the book provides material

– especially in Communications et médias, Questions mondiales and

Coutumes et traditions – for those

tricky borderline iGCSE topics where

monolingual teaching and testing

activities are lacking.

Therefore, this could be a very use-

ful book for a school to acquire, even

if they do not teach IB. In the ab-

sence of a really comprehensive,

appropriate iGCSE course book (any

publishers reading, please note),

there is much that is well thought-

out and, not least, interesting that

could find its way into year 11

classes.

Geoffrey Plow

zelten ziemlich oft auf dem Zeltplatz in Zürich or Schnitzel und Schnecken schmecken Frau Schmidt, for exam-

ple.

Lernen durch Lachen und Lied is

very reasonably priced and very

professionally presented and pack-

aged. Languages, music and pronun-

ciation are clearly a labour of love

for Linda Inniss and all in all this is

an extremely useful resource to

have available. There is certainly a

gap in the market for such CDs and

indeed this is the first in a range of

five (French, Italian, Spanish and

English for non-natives) to follow. It

could very well lend itself to some

memorable moments for pupils, just

as the songs in Hallo aus Berlin have

over the years.

Thomas Underwood

NB: Similar resources are also avail-

able for French and EAL (in full and

mini’ versions) with Italian due early

2013 and Spanish later in the year.

Le monde en français: pour une

utilisation dans le cadre du Fran-

çais B pour le Baccalauréat In-

ternational

Ann Abrioux, Pascale Chrétien,

Nathalie Fayaud

Advance Materials 2011

This is a tailor-made set of resources

for the International Baccalaureate

38

the breadth of resources can, at

times, be almost overwhelming. As

with any teaching resource, it is up

to the teacher to pick and choose

what is relevant to his or her stu-

dents. The gap fill exercises in the

chapter by chapter summary, put-

ting the verbs into the correct for-

mat, are useful but it is difficult to

envisage any student having the

time, or persistence, to complete all

of them. The sample essays are well

structured but may lack a little of

the depth of analysis required at A

level.

Overall, the main niggles would be

an over-emphasis on breadth of ma-

terial leading to a loss of depth of

analysis. The vocabulary lists could

be a little tidier and some of the

language does jar a little (eg to

‘bottom’ the present tense?, the sub

-title ’ThemesRus’ for the section on

themes).

However, these are mere niggles.

The translation exercises are excel-

lent, the ideas are stimulating, the

summaries extremely useful as are

the suggested extended reading

resources. Students and teachers

will definitely enjoy using the site

and will gain a far more comprehen-

sive understanding of the text. Steve

Glover has produced an important

contribution to the study of A level

French literature.

Simon Button University College School

Un sac de billes - Teaching materi-

als

Steven Glover

www.alevelfrench.com / A*ttitudes

Given the general popularity of

Joffo’s ‘Un sac de billes, it is some-

what surprising that there is such a

relative paucity of critical writing

relating to the book. I was therefore

very pleased to find that Steve

Glover had included a substantial

section on the book in his online

resource ‘A level French.com’, along

with a wealth of other literary and

non-literary material. Would the new

material take the student beyond

enjoying the book as ‘a good read’

and tell us something about the

meaning of the book?

The website is certainly ambitious;

the sheer breadth of material cov-

ered is impressive. Focusing on the

section referring to ‘Un sac de billes’, material relating to each aspect of

the book is carefully presented. For

a mere £25, we are taken through

relevant vocabulary lists, questions

on each chapter, summaries of all

the events, practice grammar sen-

tences relating to language used in

the text, sample essays and several

other practice exercises. One of the

great advantages of using Alevel-

french.com is that teachers and stu-

dents will find nearly all the material

accessible and extremely useful.

Furthermore, for the teacher, there

are suggested schemes of work,

suggestions for further teaching re-

sources.

As may be gathered from the above,

39

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