Scotch College

LOTE - FRENCH Year 7 – 2011

Rationale

The main aim for students in their first year of learning French is to develop competence in communicating about a variety of everyday and school-related situations.

Year 7 students gradually acquire listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and are introduced to the culture and customs of France and other French-speaking countries.

The ‘Touché 1 and 2’ course is designed specifically for use by students in Australian schools. The emphasis in class is on developing listening and speaking skills, using the cartoon stories, accompanying tapes and pairwork activities. The accompanying workbook contains reading comprehension and writing activities, which reinforce and extend material treated orally in each unit. Students practise French in drills and exercises which use the language in realistic situations. Vocabulary and grammar are introduced within the thematic context and not as an end in themselves. Students also complete some ICT tasks using generic software and/or the Internet.

Course content

Topics covered include:

• talking about oneself

• meeting others

• family

• animals

• like and dislikes

• school

• time

• homelife

• weather

• months

• seasons

Homework and Assessment

Students are encouraged to develop the habit of revising new vocabulary after every lesson so that they will be able to participate in subsequent lessons. Homework is usually based on the ‘Touché’ workbook exercises and topics arising from classwork.

Students are assessed on their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as shown through their performance in small tests, projects, ICT tasks, homework assignments, class tasks and common unit tests. Intercultural knowledge and language awareness are integral parts of the language learning experience and assessment.

At the end of Semester Two, students sit a one hour written test.

LOTE - GERMAN

Rationale

The major aim of the German course in Year 7 is to develop students’ communicative competence in understanding and speaking the language. Reading and writing skills are also developed gradually.

Classwork is based largely on ‘Genau!’, which has been designed specifically for use in Australian schools. 

This comprises a textbook and a workbook with accompanying written exercises and a CD. Vocabulary and grammar are presented in a topical context as an aid to performing communicative tasks.

As they progress through the course, students become familiar with the activities and daily life of the peer group, and through this, they also learn about the culture, geography and recent history of the German-speaking countries. Supplementary magazines and multi-media software are also used for language and cultural work.

Course content

Topics covered include:

• taking about oneself • describing yourself and others

• School, teachers and studies • likes and dislikes

• hobbies • German food

• family • clothes

• numbers • months

Homework and Assessment

Students are encouraged to develop the habit of learning and revising new vocabulary after every lesson so that they will be able to participate in subsequent lessons. Homework is usually based on the course Workbook exercises and arises from classwork.

Students are assessed on their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as shown through their performance in small tests, projects, ICT tasks, homework assignments, class exercises and common unit tests. Intercultural knowledge and language awareness are integral parts of the language learning experience and assessment.

At the end of Semester Two, students sit a written test of one hour.