GCSE Languages Companion guide - AQA

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GCSE languages Your companion guide to our new specifications: Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Polish and Urdu Find out more at: aqa.org.uk/languages First teaching from September 2017 First assessment summer 2019

Transcript of GCSE Languages Companion guide - AQA

Page 1: GCSE Languages Companion guide - AQA

GCSE languagesYour companion guide to our new specifications: Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Polish and Urdu

Find out more at:aqa.org.uk/languages

First teaching from September 2017First assessment summer 2019

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GCSE languages are changingWe’ve created this guide to help you understand how the new GCSE changes will affect you and your students.

Key dates for your diary…

Download our draft specifications at: aqa.org.uk/bengaliaqa.org.uk/chinese-mandarinaqa.org.uk/italianaqa.org.uk/modern-hebrewaqa.org.uk/panjabiaqa.org.uk/polishaqa.org.uk/urdu

September 2016

Download practice papers and mark schemes from the GCSE languages page on our website

September 2016

Start teaching September 2017

First exams Summer 2019

These changes will apply to all exam boards offering GCSE languages from September 2017.

All GCSEs will be linear All exams will take place at the end of the course.

GCSE grades will be in numerical formatAll 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).

For more information about GCSE changes, visit aqa.org.uk/languages

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GCSE LANGUAGES

A specification foryou and your studentsCreating 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 our new specifications engaging, interesting and practical to teach.

2. The new content includes some familiar topics as well as some new aspects.

3. Discover free schemes of work and marked exemplar work, to help you plan your lessons.

4. We’re also hosting online Prepare to teach events in 2017.

We’re here to help and support youWant to speak to someone in the GCSE languages team?

T: 01423 534 381

E: [email protected]

Explore our draft specifications: aqa.org.uk/languages

Find out more about the new GCSE grades: aqa.org.uk/exam-changes

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Reasons you’ll enjoy teaching the new AQA languages specificationsDiscover some of the highlights of our new GCSE specifications.

• We’ve kept lots of the topics you know and like as well as including some new aspects.

• Speaking assessment now includes role-play to reflect the importance of transactional language.

• Free, easy-to-use teaching resources will help you to plan, to teach and to assess your students.

• Clear mark schemes in each skill which will reward students appropriately. You can re-use many of your existing resources.

• 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 • The four assessment objectives

have equal weighting and will be tiered.

• Translation from and into the target language will be assessed in the Reading and Writing exams and will be appropriately designed for each tier.

• There will be some questions in the target language in

the Listening and Reading assessments, except for Chinese (Mandarin) where all assessments are in English.

• 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.

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GCSE LANGUAGES

Specification at a glanceThese qualifications are linear, meaning students sit all their exams at the end of the course. Each paper counts for 25% of the overall marks.

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

Subject content

Core contentStudents study the following themes. These themes apply to all four question papers.

Theme 3: current and future study and employment

• My studies• Life at school/

college• Education

post-16• Jobs, career

choices and ambitions

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.

Assessments

Find out moreYou can see full details of the new specification at: aqa.org.uk/languages

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Paper 1: ListeningWhat’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.*

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* For Chinese (Mandarin), all questions and answers will be in English.

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GCSE LANGUAGES

Paper 2: SpeakingWhat’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 (+ 12 minutes’ preparation

time)• 10 – 12 minutes at Higher Tier (+ 12 minutes’ 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 stimulus 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)*• General conversation – 30 marks (3 – 5 minutes at

Foundation Tier; 5 – 7 minutes at Higher Tier).

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* For Chinese (Mandarin), all tasks will be set in English.

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Paper 3: ReadingWhat’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.

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* For Chinese (Mandarin), all questions and answers will be in English.

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GCSE LANGUAGES

Paper 4: WritingWhat’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 – student produces four short sentences in response to

a stimulus photo (8 marks)• Question 2 – student produces a short text of approximately 40

words in response to four compulsory short bullet points (16 marks)• Question 3 – translation from English (sentences) into target

language (10 marks)• Question 4 – structured writing task (student responds to four

compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there will be a choice from two questions (16 marks).

Higher Tier:• Question 1 – structured writing task (student responds to four

compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 90 words in total) – there will be a choice from two questions (16 marks)

• Question 2 – open-ended writing task (student responds to two open-ended compulsory bullet points, producing approximately 150 words in total) – there will be a choice from two questions (32 marks)

• Question 3 – translation from English (short passage) into the target language (12 marks).

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Clear assessment and marking you can trustWe 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 resultsOur 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 papersStudents of all abilities will understand our clearly worded exam papers.

Well-structured mark schemes and exemplar materialsOur 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 available1. 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

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Want to improve your teaching skills?We can support you throughout your teaching career with practical training, tried, tested and taught by teachers.

To improve your professional skills, search aqa.org.uk/professional-development

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GCSE LANGUAGES

Free resources help you bring the new specifications to lifeWe’ve worked closely with fantastic teachers to create resources you’ll find useful and inspiring.

Resources include:• events to introduce you to the

new specification and advise on how you can teach it

• schemes of work • practice question papers• mark schemes

• student exemplar materials with commentaries

• training and professional development opportunities

• vocabulary lists.

Join the conversation@AQACPD

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Copyright © 2016 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. August 2016

Keep in touch

The information in this guide is based on the draft specifications submitted to Ofqual in August 2016 and is subject to change. We will publish the accredited specifications and specimen question papers as soon as we receive Ofqual accreditation.

To contact us:

T: 01423 534 381

E: [email protected]

To receive regular updates about GCSE languages register at aqa.org.uk/from-2017

Want to know more about our new specifications?aqa.org.uk/bengali aqa.org.uk/chinese-mandarin aqa.org.uk/italian aqa.org.uk/modern-hebrew aqa.org.uk/panjabi aqa.org.uk/polish aqa.org.uk/urdu

Visit aqa.org.uk/languages

Judith Rowland-JonesHead of Curriculum – MFL