Modern foreign languages
Intent, Implementation and Impact of the MFL Curriculum
Intent
There are around 6500 spoken languages in the world today - English is only one of them. The benefits of learning a second language stretch far beyond an acknowledgement towards our rich global diversity; it allows children to be immersed into another culture first hand.
In addition to these cultural benefits, there are numerous other advantages to acquiring a second language. Studies have shown that broadening linguistic skills can lead to better scores on standardised tests, particularly in the categories of maths, reading and vocabulary. Research has also revealed that multilingual people, especially children, are better at multi-tasking thanks to their ability to shift between two systems of speech, writing, and structure. The good news does not end here. Additional language learners generally have improved decision-making skills, are more perceptive and have an increased attention span. This practice has even been found to increase the size of your brain!
At Harnham Junior School, we teach Modern Foreign Languages through engaging French lessons, among other experiences. So why French? As well as France being one of our closest European neighbours, French is spoken by 229 million people worldwide, and is closely related to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian, with many of its skills transferable across to these. Children also quickly discover that French has close similarities to the English language, thanks to our countries’ interconnected history.
With its plethora of benefits, it is our intention at Harnham Junior School to immerse our children into this culturally rich area of the curriculum, through regular inspiring lessons and incidental use of the language.
Implementation
French is taught through regular concise, engaging lessons that utilise a range of resources. Our most successful resource among staff and children is the computer program ‘Salut’. Filled to the brim with songs, interactive activities and games, Salut allows learners to explore a new language with as much or as little scaffolding as desired. Each activity can be heavily adapted to suit the linguistic confidence of its audience.
Other forms of differentiation include offering bilingual dictionaries in all French lessons to further broaden the language used by our more able students. These children are also encouraged to share their additional findings with the rest of the class and are given more open-ended challenges. A more in depth exploration of the grammar and sentence structures is also promoted.
Our less able children gain additional provision through picture based resources, cloze procedure sentences and the repetition of a few key phrases at a time. They may also receive the support of a more able speaker who is keen to share their understanding with another.
With evidence showing repeated exposure to a language being highly effective, incidental use of French is also practiced by staff. This may come in the form of a key word or phrase for the children to use at other times around school or to be said in response to the register.
To further immerse the children into the cultural aspects of learning a new language, we also celebrate a Languages Enrichment Day where our Young Interpreters have the opportunity to share their array of languages with all other children around school. Additionally, all year groups have been invited to watch a bilingual theatre performance, helping to highlight how accessible another language can be even when a novice in the field.
We aim to host other multi-cultural opportunities with other Young Interpreters from our cluster of school to further embed our value of being Harmonious with our wider community.
Impact
French is assessed through a range of means including observations in class, book scrutinies, pupil voice and photos. Their attainment is then recorded to track their progress against age related expectations.
When planning lessons, academic milestones are detailed; these are based on the National Curriculum objectives. Then, at the end of each unit, the skills which have been met are acknowledged and any ongoing skills are embedded into future units to ensure their coverage.
It is hoped that, with this continued familiarisation into a new language, the world will be their oyster, or in this case their ‘escargots à beurre l'ail’.