Modern Foreign Language

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) overview

Introduction

Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures and the wider world. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. It 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. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries. Our chosen language to teach at Weaverthorpe Primary is French. The focus of modern languages teaching will be on practical communication. It is timetabled and taught to all Key Stage 2 pupils, but Key stage 1 pupils may experience some modern foreign language vocabulary and conversational activities through cross-curricular links within projects.

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.

 Click here for the MFL curriculum map

Click here for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) vocabulary document