Modern Foreign Language Intent
At St. Anne’s, we believe that the learning of a language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils. It helps them to develop communication skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing, with an aim of making substantial progress in one language. In addition, we want our children’s knowledge of how language works to lay the foundations for future language learning. By introducing an international dimension to pupils’ learning, we aim to raise aspirations about language, not only to stimulate curiosity and foster an interest in learning other languages which may be needed within life, but also through awareness of cultural differences in other countries around the world. We believe that learning another language gives children a new, broader world perspective, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others.
We have chosen to teach Spanish as our lead language as many millions of people speak Spanish across all five continents and it provides a good basis for learning other languages. It is our intention to ensure that by the end of our children’s primary education, they have acquired an understanding of written Spanish, confidence to speak in Spanish with others and be aspirational to learn other languages.
We introduce the children to Spanish in a fun, enjoyable way to give them a positive, enthusiastic attitude to MFL learning. The teaching of MFL begins in Key Stage 2, where pupils are initially exposed to the language through basic greetings, colours and numbers and progress to days of the week, instructions and simple songs. This access to language learning enables our children to develop language acquisition skills from a young age, which facilitates their understanding. Throughout KS2, the children further develop their knowledge and understanding of Spanish through their weekly lessons which support the core skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Following the National Programme of study alongside that drawn up by specialists from our principle feeder secondary school, facilitates a seamless transition to Key Stage 3. The resulting bespoke curriculum ensures that by the end of the end of KS2 children are able to write a paragraph in Spanish, make cross-curricular links and have a good understanding of the Spanish culture.
Purpose of Study
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
Aims
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
- understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
- speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
- can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
- discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied
Attainment Targets
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
Schools are not required by law to teach the example content in [square brackets].
Subject Content
Key Stage 2: Foreign Language
Teaching may be of any modern or ancient foreign language and should focus on enabling pupils to make substantial progress in one language. The teaching should provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and should lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching at key stage 3. It should enable pupils to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary.
The focus of study in modern languages will be on practical communication. If an ancient language is chosen, the focus will be to provide a linguistic foundation for reading comprehension and an appreciation of classical civilisation. Pupils studying ancient languages may take part in simple oral exchanges, while discussion of what they read will be conducted in English. A linguistic foundation in ancient languages may support the study of modern languages at key stage 3.
Pupils should be taught to:
- listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
- explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
- engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
- speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
- develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
- present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
- read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
- appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
- broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
- write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
- describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing
- understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.
