French

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Course

Eduqas A Level in French

Teaching and Learning

A Level topics are:

• Being a young person in French-speaking society (families and citizenship, youth trends, education and employment)
• Understanding the French-speaking world (regional culture and heritage, media, art, film, music)
• Diversity and difference (migration and integration, cultural identity and marginalisation, cultural enrichment and celebrating difference, discrimination and diversity)
• France 1940-1950: The Occupation and post-war years

Literature and film studies:

• No et Moi
• Intouchables

The exam structure:

Paper 1: Speaking exam (30%). Students prepare and discuss a topic of interest to them and then have a discussion with the examiner about what they have studied during the A level course

Paper 2: Listening, reading and translation exam (50%)

Paper 3: Critical analysis of the book and film studied (20%)

Assessment

The A Level assessments are taken in May/June at the end of Year 13.

French is a skills-based as well as a content-based subject.

Entry  

Please refer to The John of Gaunt entry requirements

Attendance

2 years for the full A level

Why study French?

French is a very versatile subject that can easily be combined with other subject areas both at Sixth Form level and University level. Studying French gives you a very useful skill that can help to improve your job prospects. Most languages students spend periods of time studying or working abroad. This can be a very rewarding experience as you learn a lot about other cultures, and it also looks impressive on a CV. French is spoken not just in France, but also in 28 other countries worldwide as an official language, and the ability to speak French multiplies your opportunities to travel and work in other countries in the future. Finally, if you like talking and debating issues, this really could be the subject for you! 

Links to Higher Education

Students with an A Level qualification in French have many options available to them:

Modern Languages degree. This can be in French, or you can combine it with another language.  Many universities offer the chance to pick up a second language ab initio (from scratch!)  Alternatively, you could use your language learning skills to begin a new language at University.  Students from The John of Gaunt School have gone on to learn Russian, Arabic, Italian, Korean and Swedish at University.

Other related degrees, such as European Studies or Computational Linguistics. These have a significant amount of language content.

Degrees in other areas. Many degrees offer modules in a modern language, often with the opportunity to spend time studying abroad. Languages combine well with almost all subjects, for example Law, Marketing, Business, IT and Sciences.

Links to Careers

Career routes for Modern Languages graduates include working for an international company, the travel industry, marketing, the diplomatic service, translating and teaching. However, speaking a foreign language is a skill which can be used in a multitude of other career areas, such as law, the Armed Forces, scientific research and many others. Remember that the ability to speak French could be the one thing that makes you stand out from the rest of the applicants for a job! You could also have access to a whole range of jobs in France or another French-speaking country.