Studying French in Years 10 and 11.

Specification = AQA French 3651

Languages are vital for mutual understanding and for personal development in a globalised world. They have become increasingly important in the world of work and leisure. More and more people travel abroad to work or even decide to live abroad.

Even if your future place of work is in England, whether you work in the Sciences, Education, the Arts, the Media or in Business, you will need to use a foreign language in a world of faster communication technology and an expanding international market.

Finance, IT, and legal services are currently the three business sectors from which language providers currently have the most work. It is predicted that future demand will remain the same in these three sectors, whereas demand is increasing in property industry, leisure and tourism, as well as in the public service sector.

With 200-plus countries taking part in the Olympics, an estimated 70,000 volunteers will be needed and with a basic requirement to run the 2012 Games at least bilingually in French and English, languages look set to get a huge boost in the next few years. Already, organisations and businesses are starting to factor the need for language skills into their planning.

Whatever your future qualifications, you will be able to use language GCSEs for a job abroad in any country of the European Union, should you wish to. Anyone who wants to succeed in today's global job market must be able to understand the motivation of a business partner and communicate his or her own interests. You will be at an advantage if you can speak the language.
In your future studies, you may want to do a work experience abroad, a gap year abroad or study at an English university which offers a period at a partner university in France.

Assessment

This is done in part through a final examination and you may be entered for any combination of Foundation and Higher papers according to your strength in each of the various skills of listening, speaking and reading. Writing for your coursework portfolio will be started in Year 10 and continued in Year 11.

You will be encouraged to use Information Technology to produce your coursework and you will be using the French Internet to research your chosen topics. You will be working using multi-media language software as well as language sites on the Internet. You will study more and more advanced authentic texts in the foreign language.

The topics cover the situations you are likely to encounter while on holiday or on an exchange trip in the foreign country. They are also the topics needed to describe everyday activities, personal and social life and the world around us. There will be discussions on current issues of interest to students.

Finally, it is highly recommended that you take part in an exchange programme or other study tours. You will be expected to visit the country of the language studied at least once during the course.

To find out more about the value of studying languages, for careers information and advice about languages, do look up the website www.languageswork.org.uk.