Language skills and learning strategies

Modern Foreign Languages

Secondary

How one school uses a single-sex setting to raise motivation

Horbury School tackles the gap in the exam results between boys and girls in modern foreign languages by experimenting with a single-sex setting. This programme explores how head of modern foreign languages Gill Wheeler and her department set up the project and successfully catered for the different learning styles of the boys and girls in order to raise motivation and attainment all round. Engaging the Class 1 will be of value to modern foreign language teachers looking for new strategies to engage the class. Key points include: <ul> <li>The motivation behind the experiment</li> <li>How it was set up</li> <li>How those involved gauge its success</li> <li>A closer look at some of the different approaches used in the boys' and girls' classes and the theory behind them</li> <li>Members of the department talking about what they believe the future of teaching holds and how they can apply what they have learnt to mixed classes</li> </ul>

KS3 Modern Foreign Languages - Engaging the Class 1

Experts analyse the single-sex techniques used by a MFL teacher

Horbury School tackles the gap in the exam results between boys and girls in modern foreign languages by experimenting with a single-sex setting. This programme focuses on a Year 8 low-ability boys class, taught by Gill Wheeler, the head of modern foreign languages at Horbury. Experts Amanda Barton, head of the modern foreign languages PGCE course at Manchester University, and Terry Lamb, former president of the Association for Language Learning examine the techniques Gill is using to motivate her class. The programme explores how Gill sets up a football league system with the class to raise motivation. The class is split into teams who score goals for good work and move up and down a league. Gill uses the league to introduce a wide range of varied activities to cater for the boys' learning styles. We also take a close look at how Gill uses: <ul> <li>Differentiation</li> <li>Independent learning</li> <li>Peer assessment</li> </ul>

KS3 Modern Foreign Languages - Engaging the Class 2

Enhancing MFL and motivating pupils with ICT

In this programme, we travel to Birmingham to explore how ICT can be used to motivate pupils and enhance the teaching of modern foreign languages. Marie Daniels, head of MFL at Hodge Hill Girls' School, explains that she has changed her teaching methods since introducing ICT into her lessons. We follow Marie taking a Year 7 French class and watch as the students use a variety of resources including an interactive whiteboard, educational language software, a website and high quality live voice interaction. The programme features advice for teachers on how to incorporate ICT into MFL lessons and provides information about opportunities for continued personal development.

KS3 Modern Foreign Languages - ICT and MFL

A look at the employment of thinking skills in MFL

This programme explores how Andy Markham uses thinking skills techniques to teach Russian to mixed ability students at Frederick Gough School, a specialist language college in Scunthorpe. Andy, head of MFL at the school, believes these methods can be used in the teaching of any language and says he has seen significant benefits from their use. His students are said to have become increasingly confident and are enjoying lessons more. Andy has encouraged the MFL department to employ thinking skills methods across all of its language lessons. As a result, books have taken a back seat and Andy and his staff take inspiration from everything around them when it comes to lesson planning. We also hear from language expert Wendy Adeniji who offers her opinion on the success of Andy's approach.

KS3 Modern Foreign Languages - Thinking Skills

How sounds and actions can aid the teaching and learning of MFL

In this programme, MFL teacher Anne Orde demonstrates how sounds, actions, rhythm and melody can be used to help teach French grammar to secondary students. Anne, a teacher at Bridgewater High School in Warrington, has developed her own techniques and finds that lessons including kinaesthetic, auditory and visual cues for learning are highly effective and enjoyed by pupils. The physical movements learnt by Anne's pupils are not only arresting but also allow for active monitoring of participation and understanding of the lesson. MFL expert Hilary Meadowcroft, who has observed Anne's ideas, points out how techniques such as these often encourage pupil contributions and can therefore reduce teacher workload.

KS3/4 Modern Foreign Languages - Actions Speak Louder

 Languages head Hilary Meadowcroft combines MFL with a rap 

This programme reveals how languages head Hilary Meadowcroft combined a cross-curricular project with rap to create a series of highly creative lessons. Hilary, from Lymm High School in Cheshire, got the MFL and music departments working together to create a rap in the target language of French. The pupils - from both Year 7 and Year 9 - learned about the vital component of rhythm in both music and language and extended their vocabularies to create rhymes. Finally Hilary brought in an experienced rapper, MC Crystallise, who helped the pupils perfect their raps and gave them tips on performance. Hilary explains how the idea was brought to fruition and what needed to be done to make it both a valuable and enjoyable experience for teachers and pupils alike.

KS3/4 Modern Foreign Languages - It's A Rap

How one group of Year 9 pupils have been taught to teach

In this programme, we see how MFL teacher Lorraine Thomas has transformed her Year 9 pupils into teachers. Each week her class from Holyhead Secondary School in Birmingham travels to a neighbouring primary school to teach French to a Year 6 class. Lorraine provides a lesson plan for her Year 9 pupils, training them to teach the younger pupils basic vocabulary about numbers and colours. She finds that the pride her pupils take in their new role acts as a strong motivational factor in improving their vocabulary and grammar. The sessions also act as useful revision classes, recapping basic language in a different and engaging way. From a wider perspective Lorraine is convinced that the initiative stimulates interest in languages in the younger pupils and gives them a head start before they begin secondary school. She guides us through the main points of the scheme, explaining how it was established and highlighting the potential pitfalls.

KS3/4 Modern Foreign Languages - Pupil As Teacher

An uncut lesson looking at ways of expanding MFL vocabulary

A Year 10 GSCE Italian class at Haydon School, Hillingdon, focus on extending their vocabulary so they can achieve top marks in their upcoming conversation exam. From the outset we hear the teacher give a brief overview of the class and her expectations and objectives for that lesson. After the lesson we have a reflection from the teacher on how she felt the session went. This programme shows a complete lesson, uninterrupted and unedited with the intention of developing classroom observation skills. Part of our uncut series of lessons, providing a fresh insight into teaching with a real time, real action classroom.

Bayley discovers an award-winning KS4 teacher's learning strategy

The winner of the Teaching Award for outstanding new secondary teacher (south-east) is the focus of this practical classroom-management resource, as she meets behaviour and pedagogy expert John Bayley. Harnessing her students' competitive spirit to enthuse them into learning, Spanish teacher Mirella Jerez-Rios divides her classes into competing teams where points mean prizes. Using this pedagogical approach, modern foreign languages (MFL) pupils end up practising their Spanish without realising they're being taught. John observes Mirella teaching a small Year 11 class and then a Year 10 revision class. Pupils may complain about more revision, but revision Mirella-style is anything but mundane for these Key Stage 4 students. An expert at making the most creative use out of simple resources, Mirella reinforces her secondary students' learning through a varied series of games and activities, making one PowerPoint slide and a page of a text book the starting point for a diverse, energetic and challenging double lesson. And the Star Game, Pass the Envelope, and Spanish Catch are just some of the language games Mirella uses at Hove Park School.

Points Mean Prizes

Inspiring ideas to help improve the teaching of Urdu

Though Urdu is rapidly gaining popularity as an MFL choice, many Urdu teachers encounter difficulties in accessing resources for the language. Mohammed Umar of Grange Technology College in Bradford is attempting to tackle this, as well as the feeling that the teaching of Urdu is less appealing to pupils than other MFLs. He achieves this by adapting techniques and resources used in the teaching of other languages to suit Urdu. This programme will be useful to all teachers of Urdu who may be seeking fresh inspiration and ideas.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Subjects

> Secondary Modern Foreign Languages

> Language skills and learning strategies