MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES PRESENTATION JANUARY 2013

The Common Entrance exam Listening (25%) Speaking (25%) Reading (25%) Writing (25%)

The examination will test candidates’ ability to: Listen: show an understanding of the spoken language dealing with a range of familiar topics, and identify and note main points and specific details, including opinions; Speak take part in short conversations, giving and obtaining information and opinions; Read show an understanding of a number of printed items, ranging from short, simple phrases to longer, more complex texts and identify and note main points and specific details, including opinions; Write produce pieces of writing, ranging from short phrases to longer passages in which they seek and convey information and opinions.

What do we have to learn? Language of the classroom, including basic ICT House, home, daily routine and chores Life and work at school Time, dates, numbers and prices Personal description Family, friends and pets Meeting people Free-time activities Holiday activities Visiting a café or restaurant Simple health problems * Description of a town or region Finding the way and using transport Understanding tourist information* Shopping (e.g. for food, clothes, presents) Pocket money * Weather

Verbs and tenses All students Where appropriate to candidate’s ability/senior school requirements present tense: (i) regular and common irregular common reflexive in the singular future tense with aller conditional: Only je voudrais, j'aimerais - imperative forms - infinitive after aller, aimer, détester, préférer, vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, il faut - interrogative forms + est-ce que passé composé with avoir/être - common reflexive verbs in the plural. - imperfect tense: all verbs at least for recognition

Regular verb endings -er verbs -ir verbs -re verbs Je -e -is -s tu -es Il/elle -it on nous -ons -issez vous -ez issez Ils/elles -ent -issent

Some common irregular verbs Avoir – to have Etre – to be Faire – to do/make J’ai - I have Je suis – I am Je fais – I do Tu as – you have Tu es – you are Tu fais – you do Il/elle a – he/she has Il/elle est – he/she is Il/elle fait – he she does On a – we have On est – we are On fait – we do Nous avons – we have Nous sommes – we are Nous faisons – we do Vous avez – you have Vous êtes – you are Vous faites – You do Ils/elles ont – they have Ils/elles sont – they are Ils/elles font – they do Aller – to go Je vais – I go Tu vas – you go Il/elle va – he/she goes Nous allons – we go Vous allez – You go Ils/elles vont – they go

Reflexive verbs Je me lave Tu te laves Il/elle se Nous nous lavons Vous vous lavez Ils/elles lavent Se reveiller To wake up Se lever To get up Se laver To wash S’habiller To get dressed Se doucher To shower Se baigner To bathe Se bronzer To sun tan Se brosser les dents To brush your teeth Se coucher To go to bed

Listening paper This will be based on recorded material. There will be 25 questions true/false, table/grid completion putting symbols on a map/plan,box-ticking choosing correct answers answering questions in English completing sentences correcting a passage with mistakes highlighted, multiple choice

Speaking paper The teacher-examiner will assess the candidate’s performance and will submit recordings of all candidates for moderation. Instructions will be printed in English. For French, and Level 2 Spanish, the examination will consist of three elements: a role-play situation and discussion on two prepared topics For Level 1 Spanish there will be two elements: discussion on two prepared topics.

speaking Role-play one situation. carry out six tasks Past tenses will not be required in this exercise. A bilingual dictionary may be used by the candidate during the allowed preparation time for the speaking component only. One of the tasks will be unpredictable Topic A The candidate will choose any topic covered by the syllabus (p.8) The candidate should introduce his/her topic, Teacher intervenes after about 30 seconds to ask at least four questions during the course of the two minutes. Topic B The teacher will choose one of the following topics house, home, daily routine and chores free-time and holiday activities life and work at school personal description, family, friends and pets

How to produce a really good speaking test Practice your answers. Read them out. Record them (onto Itunes and download onto Ipod). Get parents to test you (listen to their accents and pronunciation). Learn key question words (for role-play). Where? When? How? Can I? Do you have? I would like etc. Practise using a dictionary to look up key phrases. Make sure you know what you are saying – put expression into your voice. Time yourself. Use really good expressions, tenses and opinions. Try to keep hesitation to a minimum. Show the examiner what you can say.

Mark scheme for role-play

Mark scheme Mark Descriptors 8 Excellent: a lot of information communicated; good pronunciation and at least a reasonable attempt at intonation; a high level of accuracy; a range of tenses attempted; opinions and justification offered. 7 Very good communication: ready responses, mainly accurate; a wide range of vocabulary; good pronunciation. 6 Good communication: generally ready responses, though with some hesitation and a number of errors; a good range of vocabulary; a reasonable attempt at pronunciation. 4-5 Satisfactory communication: adequate responses; some hesitation; some significant errors. 3 Limited communication: hesitant and probably with serious errors; prompting required. 2 Very limited communication: very hesitant, with prompting needed; relatively little accurate usage. 0–1 Very weak: little or no communication; not easily understood; much prompting needed.

matching headlines to texts, matching pictures to descriptions, There will be 25 questions (apart from Spanish Level 1 where there will be 20) on a number of short passages. gap-filling, multiple choice, matching headlines to texts, matching pictures to descriptions, matching two halves of a sentence, matching questions and answers, matching people and opinions, choosing a number of correct answers.

Writing There will be two written exercises. Question 1 (8 marks) Write five simple sentences in the target language, each based on a visual or written stimulus. Marks will be awarded for content, accuracy and quality of language. Question 2 (17 marks) This question will require 80–130 words of continuous writing in the form of a letter based on a written stimulus in the target language. demonstrate the full range of their knowledge of the linguistic features contained in the syllabus. Marks will be awarded for content, accuracy and quality of language.

Content and communication 7 All four points covered with some elaboration. 6 Four points covered but not all with detail. 4-5 Reasonable content but either one point not covered or the general coverage of the points lacking detail. 2-3 Limited coverage of the required points; little or no attempt to elaborate or only two of the points covered. 1 Very little relevant information communicated. No relevant information communicated. accuracy 5 Very accurate: a sound application of grammar, vocabulary and structures; reads well. 4 A good level of accuracy: a generally sound application of grammar, vocabulary and structures. 3 Fairly accurate: satisfactory application of grammar, vocabulary and structures. 2 Lacking in accuracy: difficulty in communicating the relevant information; marked weaknesses in application of grammar, vocabulary and structures. 0-1 Substantially inaccurate: very limited knowledge of the language. Quality of language 5 Excellent range of idiom, vocabulary and structures. 4 Good range of idiom, vocabulary and structures. 3 Adequate range of idiom, vocabulary and structures. 2 Some range and variety of idiom, vocabulary and structures. 0-1 Frequent repetition of identical words and structures.

Un supermarché Une personne impolie J’habite à Cobham au sud-est d’Angleterre. Dans ma ville il y a 3 très grands supermarchés qui s’appellent Waitrose, Tesco et Sainsbury. Personellement je n’aime pas beaucoup les supermarchés car ils sont barbants, mais mes parents les adorent. Nous allons à Waitrose toutes les semaines pour faire les courses. On peut acheter des légumes, de la viande, du pain, des boissons etc. Waitrose est très cher mais c’est bon. Il y a aussi un petit café la, donc on peut prendre un café au lait avec les amis. Un supermarché Mon frère (Keith) est très impoli. Il est toujours méchant et il ne fait rien à la maison. Mon père lui donne de l’argent de poche mais Keith ne dit pas merci. Quand ma mère veut aller au cinéma avec nous Keith dit «NON je ne veux pas ! Je déteste ça». Il ne lave pas la voiture de maman. Il ne prépare jamais le répas et il ne se lève pas les samedis. Une personne impolie Des fruits J’adore les fruits surtout les pommes, les bananes et les poires. En été on peut manger des fraises, des framboises et des oranges mais je n’aime pas trop les oranges. Quand on fait un pique-nique ma mère prépare toujours une salade de fruits avec des fraises, du kiwi, un ananas et des pommes. C’est délicieux. En hiver il n’y a pas de bon fruit.

Ta ville Ton argent de poche Checklist: Opinions [] Time phrases [] J’habite à Cobham au sud-est d’Angleterre. Ma ville est jolie mais petite. Il y a des supermarchés, des églises, et des cafés où on peut prendre un café au lait avec les amis. On a aussi des magasins qui vendent les vêtements à la mode mais Malheureusement, Il n’y a pas de cinéma, alors si on veut voir un film on doit aller à Guildford. Aussi Il y a un vieux château dans le parc derrière Marks and Spencers. C’est super car on peut jouer au foot dans le parc. La semaine prochaine je vais faire les magasins avec mes parents car c’est l’anniversaire de ma soeur. C’est barbant! Ton argent de poche Mes parents me donnent cinq livres par semaine mais je dois faire des tâches ménagères. Par exemple, je dois ranger ma chambre tous les samedis, débarrasser la table tous les jours et laver la voiture de papa une fois par semaine. Mon frère aîné reçoit vingt livres par semaine. Ce n’est pas juste car il est paresseux et il ne fait rien. Un cadeau de Noel Pour Noel j’ai donné de bons cadeaux à mes parents. Pour ma mère j’ai acheté une raquette de tennis. C’est très cool et elle est très contente. Pour mon père j’ai acheté un livre de Winston Churchill. Il a beaucoup aimé le livre. Pour mes cadeaux j’ai reçu des CDs, un jean de Hollisters, un t-shirt très cool de Abercrombie, un VTT, une guitare électrique. Checklist: Opinions [] Time phrases [] Past tense future tense [] Linking words [] Quality language []

How to revise – top tips Little and often – 10-15 mins per day. Always revise key words from vocabulary areas and regular verb endings. Check irregular verbs too. Past papers: learn from your mistakes. Especially writing. When you encounter new vocab or phrases write them down and try to use them (in speaking and writing) Check key vocab and grammar www.linguascope.com After revision on Linguascope topic write a short paragraph in French for each of the main topic areas or practise your conversation questions. Go over as many role-plays as possible (from website) and practise them.

How to revise – top tips Little and often – 10/15 minutes per day. Be specific in what you want to achieve from the revision. Be active in the revision Use variety of methods o make up little rhymes o use colour o draw mind maps o make up association stories o draw pictures / practice diagrams o learn lists o flash cards help for certain things – e.g. learning key words or vocab. o test yourself with “Look, Cover, Write, Check” Be

How to revise – top tips Always revise key words from vocabulary areas and regular verb endings. Check irregular verbs too. Past papers: learn from your mistakes. Especially writing. When you encounter new vocab or phrases write them down and try to use them (in speaking and writing) Check key vocab and grammar www.linguascope.com Username: ffleet p/word: olympics Go over as many role-plays as possible (from website) and practice them.

Common mistakes Spellings: père/mère/frère Je m’appelle - je mappel J’habite – je habite Mon pere j’aime Mes parents chambre Nous allons (instead of nous avons). Adjective agreements Oui – often spelled as Qui Du/de la/des au/à la/aux

How to produce a really good writing paper. Always try to keep your sentence structure simple yet effective. Add lots of relevant detail( when, with who, where, opinion and reason) Have a good opener for each paragraph. Use a separate paragraph for each bullet point in the question. Don’t translate literally e.g Je joue un grillet allumette (I play a cricket match).

Ma Ville J’habite à Cobham au sud-est d’Angleterre. Ma ville est jolie mais petite. Il y a des supermarchés, des églises, et des cafés où on peut prendre un café au lait avec les amis. On a aussi des magasins qui vendent les vêtements à la mode mais malheureusement, Il n’y a pas de cinéma, alors si on veut voir un film on doit aller à Guildford. Aussi Il y a un vieux château dans le parc derrière Marks and Spencers. C’est super car on peut jouer au foot dans le parc. La semaine prochaine je vais faire les magasins avec mes parents car c’est l’anniversaire de ma sœur. C’est barbant!