Modern Foreign Languages

"Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things"

Flora Lewis

"Language is not just a lesson; it's a life skill of communication"

Subject Intent

At Brislington, we believe that languages are an important life skill which helps students to communicate in all areas of their life, but also with different types of people from different countries and cultures.  We want students to learn about different cultures and discover the world around them and become global citizens.

We therefore concentrate on developing:

• Communication: we want students to develop the skills of exchanging information by both speaking and writing
• Proficiency: we want students to gain a high degree of knowledge and skills to become competent linguists
• Resilience: we don’t shy away from the difficulties of learning a language and want students to develop the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and cope with highly demanding tasks. 

We do this focusing on the three pillars of language learning:  sounds (pronunciation),  words (vocabulary) and rules (grammar)

Curriculum Intent

Character: We want our students to become confident communicators, who are able to use language flexibly in real-life contexts. Through learning another language our students will be encouraged to have a curiosity and understanding of other cultures. Through exploration of another language they will also learn more about themselves and the world beyond their classrooms. Their language skills should help to inspire a love of language learning and give them the confidence to communicate with speakers of these languages here and abroad. Our curriculum is an inclusive curriculum, where all students are able to achieve, and all are enabled to develop their skills and ability to speak the language spontaneously.

Competence: Students should be able to speak and write with increasing complexity, sponteneity and fluency as they progress in their learning. Vocabulary and grammatical structures are introduced sequentially and interleaved  for effective retrieval practice. We also use language beyond the curriculum and expose students regularly to authentic texts, culture and student-led discussion, enabling them to deepen their understanding of the French and Spanish-speaking world.

Community: We want our students to gain an understanding of their local, national and global communities through MFL, by helping them to explore different cultures and communities across the world where the languages are spoken. Our curriculum allows our students to appreciate cultural diversity and discuss complex issues with sensitivity, such as through engaging with social issues. Our goal is that through study, students will gain a sense of global responsibility, respect and tolerance for other cultures.

Future Career Pathways:

Should you have any queries or would like further information regarding this subject please contact Mrs E Reppold (Director of Faculty and Subject Lead French) via email: Elizabeth.Reppold@oasisbrislington.org or contact Ms Jen O'Hagan (Subject Lead German) via email: Jennifer.Ohagan@oasisbrislington.org