KS3 COURSE OVERVIEW

Subject Leader for Spanish: Mrs B Harper

Course Content and Assessment

The course enables students to develop the skills required to communicate confidently and effectively in Spanish. They explore a variety of authentic Spanish materials, such as newspaper articles, satellite television programmes, songs and internet sites, and study a series of topics related to Spain, the experiences of young Spanish people, and other matters of interest, as well as the wider Spanish-speaking world.

Speaking and listening skills are partly developed through discussion work, to which students are expected to contribute, and through regular conversation classes with a native Spanish Language Assistant. By studying more advanced aspects of Spanish grammar students are equipped with the necessary skills to understand more complex texts, and to write with greater fluency and accuracy.

The AS course comprises three Modules:

• Young People Today (eg Relationships, leisure, work)
• Aspects of Society (eg Mass media, the environment, immigration)
• People and Society (eg Young people’s rights)

These are examined at the end of Year 12 by three Units of assessment:

Unit 1 Listening, Reading and Writing 1 ½ hours
Unit 2 Writing (with reference to texts studied) 1 ½ hours
Unit 3 Speaking 15 minutes

The A2 course comprises a further three Modules:

• Contemporary Issues (e.g. Drugs, racism, homelessness)
• The Cultural and Social Landscape in Focus (personal research topics)
• Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (eg Europe, Science and Technology)

These are examined by three Units of assessment:

Unit 4 Listening, Reading and Writing 2½ hours
Unit 5 One coursework assignment (approx. 700
words) on each of two personal research topics
Unit 6 Speaking 15 minutes

Higher Education and Careers

Clearly this course will provide a sound basis for those who want to go on to study Spanish to degree level. Equally, though, Spanish is highly regarded for its academic rigour, as well as the ability it supposes to communicate confidently with other people. A language qualification, therefore, is the perfect complement to any career path, and is much valued by employers as an additional skill. Many Higher Education courses in subjects such as Marketing, Business, Science and Engineering now include an element of language study and/or period of work experience abroad.

Entry Requirements

In order to cope with the demands of the course, students should have gained at least grade B in Spanish at GCSE, and should have taken the Higher Tier Papers.