GCSE languages Your companion guide to our new specifications in French, German and Spanish Find out more at: aqa.org.uk/languages
GCSE languages are changing We ve created this guide to help you understand how the new GCSE changes will affect you and your students. These changes will apply to all exam boards for GCSE languages with first assessment in summer 2018. All GCSEs will be linear All exams will take place at the end of the course. GCSE grades will be in numerical format All new GCSEs will be graded 9 1, rather than A* G. Grade 9 will be the highest and equivalent of an A** (which doesn t exist currently). GCSE languages key dates Download our draft specifications at: aqa.org.uk/gcse-french aqa.org.uk/gcse-german aqa.org.uk/gcse-spanish Download practice papers and mark schemes from the GCSE languages page on our website Book your place at one of our free launch events. (also available online) April 2015 April 2015 June 2015 Download our accredited specification via links June/July 2015 above Start teaching September 2016 First exams Summer 2018 For more information about GCSE languages changes, visit aqa.org.uk/languages 2
A specification for you and your students GCSE LANGUAGES Creating a new GCSE qualification that meets the needs of you and your students is extremely important to us. That s why we ve been working with teachers and subject experts to design new specifications that you ll enjoy teaching and that your students will find engaging. 1. We re confident you ll find them engaging, interesting and practical to teach. 2. The new content includes some familiar topics as well as some new aspects. 4. We re also hosting numerous free specification launch events and prepare to teach events to ensure you re fully prepared and confident about teaching in September 2016. 3. Discover free and great value teaching resources to help you plan your lessons, teach and assess your students progress. We re here to help and support you Want to speak to a subject expert in the GCSE languages team? T: 01423 534 381 E: mfl@aqa.org.uk Explore our draft specifications: aqa.org.uk/subjects/ languages/gcse Find out more about the new GCSE grades: aqa.org.uk/new-gcse-grades 3
Reasons you ll enjoy teaching the new AQA languages specifications Discover some of the highlights of our new GCSE French, German and Spanish specifications. We ve kept lots of the topics you know and like as well as including some new aspects. Free, easy-to-use teaching resources will help you to plan, to teach and to assess your students. Speaking assessment now includes role-play to reflect the importance of transactional language. There s an equal level of demand across each specification. Clear mark schemes in each skill which will reward students appropriately. Our question papers have been designed to ensure students of all abilities can demonstrate what they know and can do. How the new assessment will work No more controlled assessment. The four assessment objectives have equal weighting. Translation from and into the target language will be assessed in the Reading and Writing exams and will be appropriately designed for each tier. 4 There will be some questions in the target language in the Listening and Reading assessments. Literary texts in the Reading assessment will form part of the stimulus materials. Students may be entered for Foundation Tier or Higher Tier; all four question papers must be taken at the same tier.
Specification at a glance GCSE LANGUAGES These qualifications are linear, meaning students sit all their exams at the end of the course. Each paper counts for 25% of the overall marks. Subject content Core content Students study the following themes. These themes apply to all four question papers. Theme 1: identity and culture Me, my family and friends Technology in everyday life Free-time activities Customs and festivals in the target language speaking countries/ communities Theme 2: local, national, international and global areas of interest Home, town, neighbourhood and region Social issues Global issues Travel and tourism Theme 3: current and future study and employment My studies Life at school/ college Education post-16 Career choices and ambitions Assessments GCSE languages have a Foundation Tier (grades 1 5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4 9). Students must enter for all four skills at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series. Grammar and vocabulary requirements are specific to the individual language. Find out more You can see full details of the new specifications at: aqa.org.uk/languages 5
Paper 1: Listening What s assessed + Understanding and responding to different types of spoken language. How it s assessed Written examination: 35 minutes at Foundation Tier 45 minutes at Higher Tier Each exam includes five minutes to read the question paper before the listening recording is played 40 marks at Foundation and 50 marks at Higher 25% of the total GCSE marks. Questions Foundation and Higher Tier: Section A questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally Section B questions in the target language, to be answered in the target language or non-verbally. 6
GCSE LANGUAGES Paper 2: Speaking What s assessed + Communicating and interacting effectively in speech for a variety of purposes. How it s assessed Non-exam assessment: 7 9 minutes at Foundation Tier (+ preparation time) 10 12 minutes at Higher Tier (+ preparation time) 60 marks (for each of Foundation and Higher Tier) 25% of the total GCSE marks. Questions Foundation and Higher Tier: The format is the same at Foundation and Higher Tier, but with different questions for the photo card and different stimulus materials for the role-play. The timings are different too: Role-play 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 2 minutes at Higher Tier) Photo card 15 marks (2 minutes at Foundation Tier; 3 minutes at Higher Tier) Conversation 30 marks (3 5 minutes at Foundation Tier; 5 7 minutes at Higher Tier). 7
Paper 3: Reading What s assessed + Understanding and responding to different types of written language, including literary texts. There is no requirement to teach literary criticism, but students will be expected to understand and respond to passages of literature as a stimulus text. How it s assessed Written examination: 45 minutes at Foundation Tier 1 hour at Higher Tier 60 marks (for Foundation and Higher Tier) 25% of the total GCSE marks. Questions Foundation and Higher Tier: Section A questions in English, to be answered in English or non-verbally Section B questions in the target language, to be answered in the target language or non-verbally Section C translation from the target language into English (approximately 35 words at Foundation Tier and 50 words at Higher Tier). 8
GCSE LANGUAGES Paper 4: Writing What s assessed Communicating effectively in writing for a variety of purposes. How it s assessed Written examination: 1 hour at Foundation Tier 1 hour 15 minutes at Higher Tier 50 marks at Foundation and 60 marks at Higher Tier 25% of the total GCSE marks. Questions Foundation Tier: Question 1 list task (student produces six nouns) 6 marks Question 2 message (student produces nine sentences in response to nine short tasks, approximately 60 words in total) 18 marks Question 3 translation from English into the target language (approximately 35 words) 10 marks Question 4 structured writing task (student responds to 5 compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) there is a choice from two questions 16 marks. Higher Tier: Question 1 structured writing task (student responds to 5 compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) there is a choice from two questions 16 marks Question 2 open-ended writing task (student responds to four compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 150 words in total) there is a choice from two questions 32 marks Question 3 translation from English into the target language (approximately 50 words) 12 marks. 9
Clear assessment and marking you can trust We know the time and effort that you and your students put in to exams. We also understand how essential it is that the marks we give are fair, reliable and trustworthy. Getting the right results Our Centre for Education Research and Practice (CERP) provides statistics and research evidence to ensure we assess and mark your students work fairly and accurately. We also recruit and train the highest calibre examiners and continually monitor their work. Clear question papers Students of all abilities will understand our exam papers which are clearly worded. Well-structured mark schemes and exemplar materials Our mark schemes demonstrate how to help students of all abilities get the marks that they deserve. Our exemplars use real student answers with comments from senior examiners to explain how our mark schemes are applied. More exam help and advice available 1. Watch our videos on assessment explained or see how we create a specification at aqa.org.uk/exams 2. Analyse student results with our free Enhanced Results Analysis tool aqa.org.uk/era 3. More exam-related help is available at aqa.org.uk/results Assessment support Our exam resources will help you prepare for exams. These include practice questions, tests and revision exercises. If you d like to speak to us about the new exams, call us on 01423 534 381. 10
GCSE LANGUAGES Free resources help you bring the new specifications to life We ve worked closely with some fantastic teachers to create resources you ll find useful and inspiring. Each resource will help you with a specific aspect of teaching either planning your lessons, teaching them, or preparing your students for exams. Free resources include: events to introduce you to the new specification and advice on how you can teach it schemes of work and lesson plans practice question papers mark schemes marked student exemplar materials with commentaries training and professional development opportunities digital resources vocabulary lists grammar tools guidance on literary texts online progress tests support for teaching translation. Want to improve your teaching skills? We can support you throughout your teaching career with practical training, tried, tested and taught by teachers. Browse and book our professional development events at aqa.org.uk/professional-development Join the conversation @AQACPD 11
Meet the team Judith Rowland-Jones Head of Languages Neil Hardy Resource Co-ordinator, Languages Keep in touch To contact the languages team: T: 01423 534 381 Gill Tayles Qualifications Manager, Languages E: mfl@aqa.org.uk Want to know about our new specification, launch meetings and resources? aqa.org.uk/gcse-french aqa.org.uk/gcse-german aqa.org.uk/gcse-spanish The information in this guide is based on the draft specification submitted to Ofqual in April 2015 and is subject to change. We will publish the accredited specification and specimen question papers as soon as we receive Ofqual accreditation expected in the summer. Copyright 2015 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. AQA Education (AQA) is a registered charity (registered charity number 1073334) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (company number 3644723). Registered address: AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX. April 2015