Academic Departments - Modern Languages

At St. David’s we value the teaching of Modern Languages very highly and at present the department offers both French and Spanish up to GCSE and A level. We hope to foster a love of communicating in a foreign language and to promote understanding of other cultures by learning about the different customs and traditions. All girls in years 7, 8 and 9 study French and Spanish and are taught in sets according to ability. They can choose to take one or both of these languages for GCSE.

We aim to motivate pupils with enjoyable and interactive lessons. Activities include listening to dialogues on CD’s or watching scenes on video. They will practice speaking by taking part in surveys or role-plays and other interactive games. An interactive whiteboard is used in many different ways to enhance learning and is a great motivator.

Reading skills are developed by studying a variety of texts and written work is developed by both tasks in class and homework assignments. Many homework tasks are creative or are based on work using ICT for example designing a brochure, writing short articles or poems. Last year a poetry competition was held and proved to be extremely popular. PowerPoint presentations are used as a powerful teaching and learning tool. We encourage girls to make full use of the many websites to which we have subscribed which are available on the Internet. The learning of formal grammar is within the framework of a topic and we encourage girls to use grammar as a structure for their learning.

At GCSE the areas studied are personal information, home and abroad, school and work experience, leisure and the media.  There is the opportunity for Year 11 students to practice their language skills at extra revision sessions.

At Advanced level, students begin to develop their language and use it in a more sophisticated way. They learn to present an argument by studying controversial issues including crime and punishment, politics, the media and racism. The oral exam at AS and at A2 encourages students to acquaint themselves with several aspects of culture and coursework at A2 further develops their knowledge of the chosen country. Lessons are presented through different media, including topical magazines and newspaper articles, film and the Internet. Homework will include written exercises, preparing oral presentations, researching on the Internet for news items on which to report, listening to self-study tapes and reading and writing short articles.

There are several study days arranged throughout the course and the French and Spanish Institutes are visited for research. Visits to screenings of films and conferences at the British Film Institute or to art galleries and museums have been arranged for A Level pupils. In the past these have included: occupied France during World War II on French film; images of Francoism in Spanish films; or an exhibition of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo at the Tate Modern.

There are regular trips abroad to both Spain and France. Places visited in the past include Barcelona, Cantabria, Bilbao, Normandy and Loire Valley. A trip to Santander, Spain, for 2009 is currently being organised.

We also organise work experience in the country of the students’ choice for Sixth Formers. In the past, pupils have worked in shops, restaurants or schools and it has been a fantastic opportunity to further improve their knowledge of the language and culture.

Every opportunity is used to practice speaking the foreign language. We have also hosted visits from a Spanish school, which often result in firm friendships being made.

A number of our students study two languages and continue with them at university.

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