MFL
Intent
At St. Joseph's, we ensure that all pupils will be given the opportunity to make substantial progress in learning the French Language. We believe that in learning a foreign language, the children are given insight into other cultures, fostering pupils curiosity and deepening their understanding of the world. We endeavour to enable children to express their ideas and thoughts in French and respond to French speakers, both in written and oral tasks.
Children will learn to:
- listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
- explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
- engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation
- present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
- speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
- read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing to a range of audiences
- appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
- describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
- display an understanding of basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied
- broaden their vocabularyand develop their ability to understand into familiar written material
- understand basic grammar, in relation to topic vocabulary, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjunction of high frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language and how to apply these, for example, in building sentences, and how these differ from and are similar to English
Implementation
The children of St. Joseph's are taught and able to recall a range of core vocabulary in French including, colours, numbers and basic greetings, say their name and ask simple questions. Children register and follow classroom instructions in French. The pupils understand basic French grammar which includes the concept of gender, articles and plurality. Phonics and pronunciation is taught following Physical French Phonics, A Sound, Action and Spelling System for Teaching French Phonics. In respect of our Catholic faith, the children are given the opportunity to learn to worship in the French language. The children have access to French dictionaries during lessons to assist their learning. Further teaching, concerning the patterns and sounds of language, are explored through songs, music and stories. Furthermore, our pupils enjoy learning about French traditions, culture and food.
Impact
The pupils at St. Joseph's are growing into confident French speakers. Pupils engage in the French language both inside and out of the classroom setting. The children display significant understanding and interest in French culture and traditions. Given the opportunities our school provides, the children make substantial progress in learning the French language, equipped for their next stage of learning.
Progression
The children at St. Joseph's begin their language learning journey by studying the geographical location of France and its major cities. The pupils initially learn basic greetings and early topic vocabulary nouns with determiners. We begin to build simple sentences, which become more complex with the addition of 'mais' and 'et' conjunctions. The children are taught phonics and grammar alongside topic vocabulary, significantly aiding pronunciation and sentence structure. In reflection of our faith, the children are given the opportunity to worship in French at the end of each lesson. Pupils experience French songs and rhymes, through which, the children develop oral confidence and are given the scope of performance within class assemblies. Here at Anderton St. Joseph's, our language teaching enables students to facilitate sucessive language study.