Summer 2004
9051
Access
in Modern Languages
A Guide for Teachers
Support Materials
The Scottish Qualifications Authority regularly reviews
the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of all
NQ Support materials, whether published by LT Scotland
or others, are reminded that it is their responsibility to
check that the support materials correspond to the
requirements of the current arrangements.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first edition of this support pack was produced by the Higher Still Development Unit (HSDU) in
2001. Most of the exemplification and many of the ideas included in this pack are based on the work of
teachers in special and mainstream schools throughout Scotland. The authors are grateful for their
contribution.
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes provided that no profit
is derived from the reproduction and that, if reproduced in part, the source is acknowledged.
First published 2001
Updated July 2004
© Learning and Teaching Scotland
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
Glossary and abbreviations used
A.
4
5
ACCESS PROVISION — GENERAL INTRODUCTION
National Provision at Access
Who is Access provision for?
Relationship to other programmes of study
Organisation of national units at Access
Time allocation
Progression routes
Target setting
Scottish Group Awards at Access 2 and 3
6
6
6
6
7
8
9
11
11
Advantages of Modern Languages Provision at Access
Entitlement
Internal assessment
Programme content
Teaching approaches
Curricular linking
Age-appropriateness
Flexible timetabling
11
11
12
12
13
13
13
14
Learning and teaching modern languages at Access
National policy and practice
Languages for all
European/global citizenship
Learning and teaching approaches
Multisensory teaching and learning
Consolidation
Supporting learning
Motivation
Communicative language
15
15
15
15
15
16
17
17
18
18
Assessment
Internal assessment: implications for learning and teaching
Designing assessment as part of teaching
National Assessment Bank support materials (NABs)
Moderation
Special arrangements
Supporting students during assessment
Recording achievement
19
19
19
20
21
21
21
22
Management issues
Languages for all: using Access provision in S3/S4
Organisation of classes / groups
Diversification
Time allocation
Credit transfer
Collaborative working
23
23
23
24
24
24
25
Appendix A1 Content for teaching, learning and assessment at Access
Appendix A2 Rapid guide to provision in modern languages at Access
Appendix A3 ‘Cultural Study’ units
26
30
32
Access in Modern Languages
1
B.
C.
ACCESS 1
National provision at Access 1
Who is Access 1 for?
Programme content and rationale
Curriculum descriptors
Countries and languages which may be studied
Entry levels, progression and target-setting
Assessment
Certification of units / recording attainment
Progression
Documentation
33
33
33
33
34
35
35
36
36
36
37
Learning and teaching
Small steps
Curriculum aims
Themes and cross-curricular programmes
Communicative language
Resources
38
38
39
39
40
40
Case study: Access 1/2 [reference only]
41
Appendix B1 Curriculum descriptors: some ideas for curricular linking
42
ACCESS 2
National Provision at Access 2
Who is Access 2 for?
Programme content
Progression within and beyond Access 2
44
44
44
45
46
Learning and teaching
Building bridges to other levels of provision
Enhancing the curriculum
Offering alternative approaches to language learning
Planning how many units to use
Providing a coherent context for language learning
Community linking
Developing a cross-curricular approach focusing on a theme
Using ICT
48
48
49
49
49
51
52
53
53
Assessment
Exemplification of standards of performance
The teaching / assessment cycle
Assessment materials
Reassessment
Communicative language
Reducing the number of assessments
55
55
55
56
57
57
57
Case study: Access 2
58
Appendix C1
Appendix C2
Appendix C3
Appendix C4
59
62
64
65
Planning a coherent approach
Examples of cross-curricular programmes
Example of assessment instrument, with commentary
Summary of assessment at Access 2
Access in Modern Languages
2
D.
E
ACCESS 3
69
National provision at Access 3
Benchmarking
Who is Access 3 for?
Programme content
Assessment
Advantages of the Access 3 approach
Progression routes
69
69
69
70
70
70
71
Learning and teaching
Building bridges to other levels of provision
The place of grammar
Multisensory approaches
A context for language learning
Resources
Models of provision
Benefits to students
Benefits to schools
73
73
73
74
74
75
75
77
77
Assessment
Exemplification of standards of performance
The teaching / assessment cycle
Assessment materials
Reassessment
Communicative language
Reducing the number of assessments
78
78
78
79
80
80
81
Case study: Access 3
82
Appendix D1 Planning around a theme
Appendix D2 Example of assessment instrument, with commentary
Appendix D3 Summary of assessment at Access 3
85
87
88
RESOURCES
National curriculum resources
Resources and equipment to support language learning
Resources to support study units
Advice on teaching approaches
Other resources worth considering
Specialised resources and advice
Contacts and addresses
Access in Modern Languages
91
91
92
94
96
97
99
102
3
FOREWORD
The notes in this pack offer additional support to teachers and lecturers preparing to
implement programmes of study leading to certification at Access1, 2 and 3. They
should be read in conjunction with the relevant unit specifications and assessment
documentation.
Note on Entitlement
The Ministerial Action Group for Languages which reported in December 20001 made
clear their view that all students in Scotland are entitled to an experience of learning a
modern language:
We believe that in a multilingual world a modern language has enormous benefit to
offer all students at primary or secondary school regardless of their age or their
aptitude, their starting- or their finishing point, and including those with special
educational needs (p 22) ... we consider that the entitlement should apply to the full
range of learners and reject the argument that slower learners should be offered less
than the full entitlement (p 30)...National Qualifications... will be capable of meeting
the needs of all learners, including those with learning difficulties(p 24).
Acknowledgements
Most of the exemplification and many of the ideas included in this pack are based on
the work of teachers in special and mainstream schools throughout Scotland. We are
grateful for their enthusiastic contributions to seminar discussions, implementation
studies and case studies and their willingness to share ideas and materials.
1
Citizens of a Multilingual World SEED 2000.
Access in Modern Languages
4
GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS USED
assessment instruments The tasks which are set in order to ascertain whether or not
a student has attained the necessary level of knowledge and/or skill to merit a
specified award.
clusters A cluster is a group of (usually) three units, or the equivalent in terms of
fractional-credit units (eg half-units) which make up a coherent programme of study
within a single subject area. The term ‘cluster’ is used only at Access level where is
no external examination and therefore no ‘courses’.
courses A course is made up of (usually) three units, or the equivalent in terms of
fractional-credit or multiple-credit (eg double) units which make up a coherent
programme of study within a single subject area, plus the associated external
examination. There are no ‘courses’ at Access level.
curriculum descriptors describe ways of including within the framework students
working towards Access 1 units. They are not mandatory and are not certificated by
SQA.
Higher Still Development Unit The body set up to work with SQA and other
national organisations to develop and put in place arrangements for the new system of
national qualifications. It was stood down in June 2001.
Learning and Teaching Scotland Took over from HSDU in 2001 responsibility for
supporting schools
National Assessment Bank This consists of units which describe in detail the
assessment arrangements for each unit. In some subjects, and in modern languages at
other levels, a NAB contains specific instruments of assessment which may be used to
assess the student. In NABs for modern languages at Access, assessment instruments
are likely to be designed internally to match the content studied; Access NABs
describe the standards of performance required, and the assessment instruments
included are illustrative, although they can be used if appropriate to the learning
context.
target language the foreign language being studied
AGL
CILT
HSDU
ICT
LTS
MFL
ML
NAB(s)
SQA
Action Group on Languages
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and research
Higher Still Development Unit
Information and Communications Technology
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Modern Foreign Languages
Modern Languages
National Assessment Bank materials
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Access in Modern Languages
5
ACCESS IN MODERN LANGUAGES
A. ACCESS PROVISION — GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Notes in this section apply to Access provision generally. They should be read in
conjunction with level-specific notes in later sections and, of course, with the relevant
unit specifications and assessment support materials (NABs).
NATIONAL PROVISION AT ACCESS
Access provision is divided into Access 1, Access 2 and Access 3. In modern
languages, as an aid to progression, there are close links and overlaps between the
three levels of provision.
Who is Access provision for?
Any beginners 14+ to adult who require a ‘small steps’ approach to language learning
may follow an Access programme.
Access provision has added a new dimension to the national qualifications framework
for modern foreign languages (MFL). For the first time, all students can receive
certification for their achievements in foreign language learning. Demand for such
provision has been growing in recent years as the benefits of foreign language
learning for all students have become clearer. Many mainstream and special schools
and colleges already provide successful foreign language learning courses for students
who experience difficulties in learning, and Access 1, 2 and 3 now provide suitable
assessment and certification for these students.
Unlike Access 1 and Access 2, which were designed to offer accessible and
progressive provision for students for whom previously no provision had been made
in terms of modern languages, Access 3 provides alternative provision for those who
might previously have followed programmes leading to a Standard Grade Foundation
Level award. It offers an introduction to language learning for beginners of any age,
and may serve to provide a short introductory course for adult returners who may
need re-assurance before progressing to more advanced work.
Relationship to other programmes of study
Figure A1 shows how Access 1, 2 and 3 relate to other national programmes of study.
Note that these relationships are only approximate and that decisions about point of
entry to the framework will depend to a large extent on the abilities and interests of
individual students.
Access in Modern Languages
6
Figure A1:
Approximate relationship of Access 1, 2 & 3 to curricular levels in
other programmes of study
Skillstart
Standard Grade
Foundation level
Access 3
5-14 level C
Access 2
Lifestart
Workstart
Elaborated 5-14
Access 1
Achievement
mapping
Organisation of national units at Access
Access 3
There are three MFL units at Access level 3: Personal Language, Transactional
Language and Language in Work. Together, these three constitute a ‘cluster’ of
modern language units at Access 3. Currently, clusters of units are available in
French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian. Alternatively, each can be offered as a
stand-alone unit.
Other languages derived from former SCOTVEC modules at Level 1 are still
available and are also referred to as National Units at Access 3. They have been
‘levelled’ to correspond with Access 3 and above but they are not part of the
framework developed by the Higher Still Development Unit and have different
specifications. For further information about using these in schools, contact SQA.
This pack deals only with the five languages developed by HSDU.
Access 2
There are four MFL units at Access 2. Three of the units are language units and have
the same titles as those at Access 3 (Personal Language, Transactional Language and
Language in Work). There are strong links between the two levels. Currently, the
three language units can be offered in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian.
At Access 2, the fourth unit, Life in Another Country, can be offered in association
with one or two of the language units, or used as a stand-alone unit. Any three units
offered in one of the five languages constitute a ‘cluster’ of modern language units at
Access 2. When Life in Another Country is offered in association with one or more
Language units, the same language/culture must be studied for each.
Using Life in Another Country: Optional Language as stand-alone unit, any
language/culture may be studied.
Access in Modern Languages
7
Access 1
The two modern language units at Access level 1 have single outcomes derived from
the two outcomes from Life in Another Country (Access 2). The performance criteria
are the same as those used at Access 2, so that students who achieve both units at
Access 1 can claim an Access 2 award without further study. See Section B for further
explanation of how this works in practice.
The progress of students not yet ready for Access 1 units can be recorded using
Curriculum Descriptors which describe progress in terms of experience, awareness
and participation. These are not mandatory and are not certificated by SQA but can be
used for individual target setting and progress can be recorded on the student’s
Progress File. Further developments at this level are being considered.
Figure A2 indicates the organisation of national units within Access provision. For
more detailed information see the appropriate sections of this pack.
Figure A2: Modern Languages Provision at Access 1, 2 and 3
Access 3
units
Personal
Language
Transactional
Language
Language in
Work
Access 2
units
Personal
Language
Transactional
Language
Language in
Work
Access 1
units
curriculum
descriptors
Life in Another
Country
Aspects
of life
Experience
Awareness
Language
Participation
Time allocation
All National Units at Access level are planned as notional 40-hour units of study, but
the time actually spent on each unit will be determined by the centre, taking into
account the needs of the students involved and other local considerations. Some
students will be capable of completing a cluster of units in one year; others will need
two years or more. Some may never complete a cluster, but will gain credit for each
individual unit completed.
Access in Modern Languages
8
Some centres are taking advantage of the flexibility offered by the unitised system to
offer a modern language, perhaps for the first time, to students whose programme
allows only, say, an hour a week to spend on foreign language learning, and who
therefore will expect to complete only one or two units during the year. In other
centres, modern languages is timetabled as a block of time for part of the year, during
which one unit will be studied. Further units may then be added in subsequent years.
Progression routes
Figure A3: Progression routes: Access levels and beyond
Intermediate
1
Personal
Language
Transactional
Language
Language in
Work
external
assessment
Access
3
Personal
Language
Transactional
Language
Language in
Work
PSE/Social Subs.
Investigating
Europe, etc.
Personal
Language
Transactional
Language
Language in
Work
Life in Another
Country
Access
2
Access
1
units
Access 1
curriculum
descriptors
Aspects of
life in
another
country
Language
+
=
Participation
Awareness
Experience
Access 3
There are strong links between Access 3 units and the units available at Intermediate
1. However, breadth of content at Intermediate 1 will reflect the need to prepare
students for external examination, even though some students may opt for individual
units and internal assessment only. To complete a ‘course’ in modern languages at
Access in Modern Languages
9
Intermediate level, students must pass all three units plus the external examination. At
Access 3 there is no external exam, so no ‘course’ as such. The word ‘cluster’ is used
to describe the group of three units. Some schools are choosing to use the Access 3
cluster in S3, progressing to Standard Grade General level in S4. (Further information
in Section D.)
Access 2
There are strong links between the Language units at Access 2 and those at Access 3;
indeed, Access 2 might be considered a ‘subset’ of Access 3. Some schools are using
one or two Access 2 units as an introduction to – or as a preparation for – Access 3.
(Further information in Section C.)
Students seeking to progress beyond Life in Another Country without further foreign
language study can be offered appropriately designed Personal and Social Education
or Social Studies units, or may use stand-alone units derived from former SCOTVEC
modules (now rebadged as national units), such as Investigating Europe. These units
are not part of the modern languages framework and therefore would not count as part
of a student’s foreign language entitlement. Those currently available are listed for
reference in Appendix A3.
Access 1
Students may be working at the level of experience, or awareness, or participation in
relation to the performance criteria in the Access 1 units. Students who are actively
participating are well on the way to achieving individual Access 1 units. By the time
the outcomes from both Access 1 units have been achieved, the student will have
already met the requirements for the Access 2 unit. For detailed information on when
to enter students, see Section B.
All levels of Access provision
For most students studying at one of the Access levels progression will mean vertical
progression to the next level of provision. For some students the language level at the
next stage may be unattainable. In this case, it may be more appropriate for a student
to undertake foreign language study at the same level in a different language. This is
lateral progression.
Building bridges between levels of Access provision
Progression between Access 1 and 2, or between Access 2 and 3 may be very fast, or
may take years, depending on the context. Those teaching students who are expected
to progress to the next level will want to ease transition by designing programmes
which take account of the demands which will later be made on the student. Figure
A3 indicates possible pathways for progression within Access and beyond. More
detailed advice on progression, including bridge building, can be found in later
sections.
Access in Modern Languages
10
Target setting
Some students working at Access levels may not be expected to progress much
beyond this stage. For them, the value of language learning lies in the contribution it
can make to their overall development. In this context, the aims of their language
learning programme may not all be linguistic ones but may be related to targets set in
other areas of the student’s individual curriculum. (For details of credit transfer, see
later in this section under Management issues.)
Scottish Group Awards at Access 2 and 3
For students for whom modern languages is not considered a key subject, their
entitlement to a language learning experience may be gained through single units
spread over time. Single units can nevertheless count towards Scottish Group Awards
both at the level of the unit award, and at the level above. For example, if a student
passes one or more modern language units at Access 2, these may count towards a
Scottish Group Award at Access 2 or at Access 3. Similarly, units or clusters achieved
at Access band 3 can contribute towards Scottish Group Awards at Intermediate 1 or
at Access 3.
There is no Scottish Group Awards at Access 1, but individual Access 1 units can
build towards Access 2 units which will contribute towards a Scottish Group Award at
Access 2.
Only ‘general’ Scottish Group Awards are available at Access 2 and Access 3. There
are no ‘named’ awards.
ADVANTAGES OF MODERN LANGUAGES PROVISION AT ACCESS
Entitlement
The arrangements for modern languages at Access should make it possible for
schools, units and colleges to provide for all of their students, whatever their learning
characteristics, a broad, balanced and progressive curriculum which includes their
entitlement to a foreign language learning experience.
The opportunity to receive certification for single units makes it possible to overcome
the ‘all or nothing’ situation which has sometimes led to students who were unable to
follow the whole Standard Grade programme being excluded from foreign language
learning altogether. Unitisation allows shorter but never-the-less coherent and
progressive programmes of work to be devised, thus allowing students more time to
show what they can achieve.
The arrangements are based on good practice observed in schools, units and colleges
around the country and the levels of performance required for certification should be
achievable, at one or other of the three levels of Access provision, by all but a very
few students in Scotland.
Access in Modern Languages
11
Internal assessment
The biggest difference between assessment at the Access levels and assessment at all
other levels in the framework is the absence of external assessment. For students
studying modern languages at this level, there are several advantages.
A significant percentage of students were failing Standard Grade Foundation Level
courses, not because they were unable to follow the course successfully, but because
they were unable to cope with the challenges of external, one-off assessment, for
whatever reason. Assessment at Access 1, 2 and 3 is on-going and internal. There is
no external assessment. This means that, once registered and entered for the
appropriate units, students can be assessed on a more regular basis, as soon as they
have reached the standard required for success in one of the outcomes. Records of
performance are kept until all the outcomes for a unit have been achieved; the unit is
then ‘resulted’ on their behalf. Thus, a student capable of performing at Standard
Grade Foundation Level, but unable to pass the external examination can be credited
with achievement based on internal assessment only, claiming an award at Access 3
which is equivalent to a pass at Foundation Level. For students unable to reach that
level, Access 1 and 2 provide programmes of work which can be assessed, recorded
and certificated as part of the national framework. Students who are capable of
progressing further can then move on to related but more demanding programmes of
work.
Internal assessment allows centres to design a much wider range of assessment
instruments than is possible in an external examination. This means that students can
be assessed in ways which suit their personal strengths, and that the needs of students
with specific disabilities can be more easily met. At Access, the National Assessment
Bank support materials (NABs) for modern languages simply set standards; they do
not prescribe assessment tasks, other than to indicate the broad topic areas to be
covered.
As far as possible, assessment should be conducted as part of the learning process.
This means that any support used in teaching and learning can also be made available
for assessment. Detailed guidance on support and retesting can be found in the NABs
and is also dealt with in later sections of this guide.
Programme content
Programme content at all three Access levels is based on a single set of language
topics, as set out in the Arrangements documents (see Appendix A1). This facilitates
progression through the levels.
The topic development areas listed in the third column of each grid are not prescribed.
They offer suggestions as to how the topic might be interpreted in practice. The
suggestions are based on material which will be readily available in centres which
have previously offered Standard Grade Foundation courses. Since assessment is
internal, and designed internally, topics can be developed in any way that will suit the
interests and aptitudes of the students; this makes it easier to design programmes
which students will find relevant and motivating. For many
Access in Modern Languages
12
students working at Access, assessment and certification, while important, will not be
the overriding consideration and will represent only the baseline of the programme. It
is clear that many centres are developing innovative and exciting courses which go
well beyond the minimum requirements in their efforts to enrich the experience of
their students.
Teaching approaches
The reduction in the number of topics to be studied allows students to proceed by
smaller steps and to spend longer on the consolidation of core vocabulary and
structures. It also allows those who experience difficulties with retention and recall to
be assessed on their performance rather than on their ability to retain and recall
information. Early indications from implementation studies suggest that this approach
is more appropriate for some students and that they are achieving higher standards of
performance than expected. Loss of breadth seems to be compensated for by
improved quality of performance, with commensurate improvements in enjoyment
and motivation.
Curricular linking
One of the characteristics of modern language learning in special schools, and perhaps
one of the reasons for its success there, is that it is rarely taught in isolation from other
subject areas. Usually, it is taught as part of the European or Global dimension, and is
often linked to study in other parts of the curriculum.2 The notes on implementing Life
in Another Country, in sections B and C, provide some suggestions on how this can be
done, but the ideas can be applied to work on any of the units.
Some students may be judged unlikely to progress beyond Access level. For such
students, every effort should be made to link the modern languages programme to
other parts of the curriculum and to existing aims. Seen in this light, modern
languages, with its emphasis on communication, constitutes an additional resource for
helping students to achieve important personal targets. Some examples of how
schools have exploited this resource are provided in the sections which follow. Staff
awareness of the availability and the value of this resource will inform the planning
process for individual students.
Age-appropriateness
Access provides an age-appropriate alternative to other programmes of study for
students in the 14 to 16 or 16+ age groups. The tasks are suitable for young adults and
the content can be customised to suit the age and interests as well as the abilities of
the students.
2
For a description of curricular linking in special schools, see Europe, Language Learning and Special
Educational Needs (SOEID 1997), section 2.
Access in Modern Languages
13
It is increasingly likely that students undertaking a programme of study at Access
level will have had previous experience of foreign language learning. Centres should
ensure that approaches as well as content reflect the growing maturity of the student
by, for example:
• acknowledging the student’s status as continuing learners, rather than beginners,
and valuing any prior learning they may be able to demonstrate
• giving the student more responsibility for his/her own learning
• involving students in the planning process so that, where possible, they have a say
in the choice of topics and in the way topics are developed
• personalising the language learned, by, for example, selecting or adding words and
phrases which have particular significance for the student
• making use of any relevant resources which students may be able to propose
• ensuring that students are informed in advance of lesson content and the purpose of
activities
• providing a system of recording in which students can participate
• teaching the formal forms of language used between adults
• making use of a wide range of resources, including community resources and ICT
• discussing the relevance of information and skills being learned to student’s own
experience and to their preparation for adult life
Flexible timetabling
As at other levels in the national framework, students can plan to study single units or
clusters of units (or ‘courses’ at levels Intermediate 1 and above). Each unit is said to
represent approximately 40 hours of study, but this figure is purely notional and may,
at the discretion of the centre, be expanded or contracted to meet the needs of the
student group.
Thus a unit may be covered in a term by students studying several times each week on
a regular basis, or in a year or more by students following a less frequent or
interrupted programme of study. If necessary, a cluster of units, or even a single unit,
may be continued into the next year of study, or from school into college. Provided
that accurate records are kept, the time taken may be as flexible as is required by the
individual student.
Access in Modern Languages
14
LEARNING AND TEACHING MODERN LANGUAGES AT ACCESS
National policy and practice
Most of those who have reached the stage of reading this document will not need to
be convinced of the case for language learning for all students. However, they may
need to be able to make the case to others, in which case the following points may be
helpful. The case is made more fully in the advice offered by SOEID in 1997.3
Languages for all
Moves towards curriculum flexibility notwithstanding, current policy is still that all
students, regardless of ability or disability, are entitled to a progressive language
learning experience from P6 to S4. HMIE Jane Renton, in her address to teachers
attending the SEED ‘Good Practice in Modern Languages’ series of conferences in
2003, reminded delegates that:
… pupils with specific learning difficulties or special educational needs can
benefit greatly from studying a modern foreign language. There should be no
assumption that such pupils will be excluded from learning a second
language.
An earlier speaker, from SEED, quoted inspection policy.
Inspections have begun to show that there is some evidence of groups of pupils
dropping their study of a modern language at the end of S2 in order to follow
courses in social skills, life skills or vocational skills. While this may be
appropriate, there is an expectation that all schools will offer all pupils their
entitlement to study a modern language. If during inspection HMIE finds that
there are groups of pupils not studying a modern language, or indeed any
other key area of the curriculum, the matter will be explored with the school.
One common reason for withdrawing a student has been that he/she was unable to
cope with a Standard Grade course, even at Foundation Level. The National Units at
Access now offer an alternative which is based on good practice encountered in
mainstream and special schools in recent years.
European/global citizenship
As the title to the AGL Report reminds us, all students, are Citizens of a Multilingual
World and each student, regardless of ability or aptitude is entitled to an education
which takes account of that status. Even in cases where the student is unaware of the
wider implications of the programme, the idea that other people do things in different
ways – even speak differently – can be a novel one. The very notion that things can be
different is a liberating one for some students.
Learning and teaching approaches
Students using Access provision at the age of 14+ or 16+ may be experiencing some
difficulty in coping with ‘academic’ approaches to learning. That is not to say that
they cannot learn languages, but that they may learn better through active and
3
ibid. Section 1.
Access in Modern Languages
15
multisensory approaches. The programmes of study offered at Access are sufficiently
Access in Modern Languages
16
flexible to allow teachers/lecturers to use any approach which motivates students and
helps them to learn effectively, and to restrict the demands made on students to ones
which are within their capabilities. The absence of external examination makes
possible a wider interpretation of subject matter, so that those topics chosen for study
can truly reflect the interests of the students involved.
Snapshot
Using Access 2 and 3 provision, a class of boys studying German, who are
particularly interested in truck driving and the environment can follow a
programme which incorporates their interests in a number of ways, which
might include, for example:
• Life in Another Country: Study aspects of life in Germany involving
transport, routes, road signs, traffic issues, planning issues, pollution, etc.
• Personal language: imagining a conversation between a Scottish and a
German truck driver in which they exchange personal information.
• Transactional language: role-playing the part of a Scots truck driver in
Germany at an overnight truck stop.
• Language at work: an interview with a German truck driver in this country
about his work.
Multisensory teaching and learning
Students working at Access level are likely to be experiencing difficulty in learning,
and may have particular difficulty with approaches which are largely text-based. This
does not mean that they cannot learn, or that they should not be exposed to the foreign
text, but that text-based materials alone will be insufficient to ensure success. Other
channels of information and communication should be utilised as well. Some of these
are listed below. Although listed separately, it will be clear that, in order to meet the
learning needs of different students, a combination of all the channels should be used
whenever possible. Section E lists some materials which are particularly rich in
multisensory resources. A wide range of materials should be utilised, including realia
and ICT. Further information on effective learning and teaching approaches can be
found in the Subject Guide: Modern Languages
Active learning
Students should be actively engaged in their learning – learning by doing. Tasks
which involve physical movement or manipulation of materials are likely to be more
successful than ones involving passive learning. Copywriting as a physical aid to
learning is a valid exercise, provided that the material to be copied from is clear,
limited in amount, on the same visual plane as the paper onto which it is being copied
(many students have especial difficulty in copying from the board), and that the
student has plenty of time to complete the task. Even if the student’s copy is not clear,
he/she may have benefited from the manual exercise; however, do not expect the copy
to be used for further learning or for revision.
Interactive learning
Students learn not only from the teacher but by interaction with other students, people
outside the classroom and with the environment. They will be stimulated by
Access in Modern Languages
17
collaborative work, by interacting with visitors to the school and by visits out of
school which enhance their classroom learning.
Access in Modern Languages
18
Visual input For many students, learning is improved when visual materials are used
to enhance the input of new information. Pictures, diagrams, wall charts etc. all
provide additional input to the brain which can serve as ‘hooks’ to aid recall. Try to
have the visual material to hand, or on the wall, throughout the topic so that it can be
easily used to prompt recall. At Access, it need not be removed for assessment since
students may refer to support material they have relied on during teaching.
Where the visual material is textual, add support in some other form: provide further
visual input in the form of pictures, etc.; read the text aloud, or record it on tape; set
tasks that require an active response rather than a written one, etc.
Audio input Some students have difficulty in processing information which is
offered solely in sound, e.g. speech. Their ear is unable to discriminate between
sounds sufficiently well to enable them to repeat, let alone recall later, what they have
heard the teacher say. These students need simultaneous input from other sources as
well, including text. Even more than other students, they will benefit from early and
systematic training in relating the foreign sound system to its spelling patterns
(phonetic awareness).
Touch, taste and smell can all be used to enhance learning. Sensory experiences will
be of particular significance to those working at Access 1 but will be appreciated by
all students.
Further advice on learning and teaching approaches can be found in the Subject Guide
for Modern Languages.
Consolidation
Students working at Access level may need the language elements they are studying
to be repeated on frequent occasions. Some may experience difficulties in processing
language, memorising and/or recall and may able to handle only small amounts of
new material at any one time. They will need opportunities to use the same language
elements in a range of different tasks. It is often helpful to use from the outset
strategies which provide ‘hooks’ or cues to aid learning and remembering. These will
link vocabulary and phrases to visual and other props which can be used at later stages
to prompt recall or to provide support during assessment. Students whose learning is
regularly consolidated are likely to enjoy their learning and feel comfortable with
their progress.
Supporting learning
As a rule of thumb, provide whatever is needed for the student to experience success.
At the start of an activity the support needed may be considerable; however, the aim is
to facilitate the student’s own learning and human support should be reduced as the
student becomes able to work with fellow students, or with materials, independently.
Teachers and classroom assistants should not provide answers for students; they are
most useful when they are available to repeat the teaching input, to point out the
materials which the student can refer to, to explain or repeat what needs to be done
and to suggest ways of approaching the current task.
Access in Modern Languages
19
Since one of the main difficulties of students working at these levels is ability to recall
vocabulary, reference material in the form of visual and textual wall charts, help
sheets, scrap books etc. can be very effective ways of supporting learning.
Motivation
Students who experience difficulties in learning have to make considerable efforts to
remain on task and may tire easily. Providing interesting and challenging work which
is within their capabilities will help to provide the motivation to remain on task and
continue learning. Frequent changes of activity allow students with different aptitudes
and interests to engage with the content of lessons and help to mitigate the effects of
learning fatigue.
Communicative language
The principle reason for learning another language is to use it.4
Students are rarely motivated by the need to learn lists of nouns, and there is little
value in their doing so unless the nouns can then be used in situations which allow
students to communicate intentions, choices, etc. Even at the most basic level, the
language items students are asked to learn should be chosen with a view to their
relevance to the student as an individual. As far as possible, the tasks in which the
student engages should be communicative in nature; that is, they should allow the
student to interact with others using or learning the language. Reacting to greetings,
expressing feelings, making choices, etc. can all be done using very straightforward
language, and have the advantage of being ‘real’ in the sense that they express real
emotions or opinions, or provide information selected by the student. Telling students
what to say in the target language, for example, or asking them to give the equivalent
word in a different language, do not constitute communicative tasks. Further advice
on the communicative nature of different tasks can be found in later sections.
4
AGL Report, page 44.
Access in Modern Languages
20
ASSESSMENT
Internal assessment: implications for teaching and assessment
The teaching and assessment arrangements at Access are intended to be flexible
enough to allow certification for a wide range of programmes for students of varying
abilities for whom, for one reason or another, Standard Grade Foundation Level is not
suitable or who are embarking on an elementary programme of study at 16+. The
planning of the programme itself is up to the teacher/lecturer and the students, and
there is evidence of exciting programmes being developed around the country.
Like all units, at all levels, Access level units are internally assessed. However, unlike
all other levels, there is no external assessment. While this distinction adds a welcome
opportunity for designing programmes which truly reflect the interests and needs of
students, it has important implications for assessment.
1. The freedom centres have to develop the prescribed topics in any way they choose
means that it is not possible for SQA to provide assessment tasks which reflect
what has been learned by students. The centre is therefore responsible for
designing both the programme and the assessment.
2. Since assessment at Access will arise naturally in the course of teaching/learning,
this should not be onerous, many teaching/learning materials being equally
suitable for assessment. The teacher/lecturer will however need to be aware of the
conditions under which tasks intended for assessment are carried out, in order to
ensure that they are in line with the assessment requirements detailed in the
appropriate NAB.
3. There being no corroborative external assessment of students’ performance,
centres need to adhere rigorously to the guidelines on assessment standards
contained in the NABs in order to ensure that they apply standards comparable to
those applied by colleagues both within the centre and across the country. Equally,
there is a need for rigour in planning, recording and retention of evidence if the
credibility of the awards made at Access is to be maintained. (See also notes on
Moderation, below.)
Designing assessment as part of teaching
The evidence requirements detailed in the unit specifications and the NABs represent
the minimum required by SQA. Although assessment is intended to be closely linked
to teaching, it is not intended to be the whole of teaching. The overall intention of
Access programmes is to provide experiences of foreign language learning which the
student will find interesting and stimulating and which will contribute to a broad,
balanced and progressive curriculum of real value to the student.
Ideally, there will be little distinction between teaching, learning and assessment.
Targets will be agreed with the student, and when the targets have been reached,
achievement is recorded. In practice, the need to produce evidence for moderation is
likely to make the conduct of an assessment task a little more formal than a task
intended for learning, practice, consolidation or revision. There should not, however,
Access in Modern Languages
21
be much difference in content or methodology between the two; the student should
not find any surprises, and the need for re-testing should be rare. If the student is
aware of the target s/he is aiming for, undertaking a task which demonstrates
attainment of that target is all that is required.
When devising an assessment task, the following points might be borne in mind:
• Does the task meet at least the minimum requirements as detailed in the unit
documentation?
• Does it reflect the content of the programme you have run up to that point?
• Is it possible for the student to pass the assessment using the teaching and the
resources you have provided up to this point?
• Is the task designed in such a way as to allow the student to demonstrate more than
the minimum requirement if it is within his/her capacity to do so?
• Is the task sufficiently challenging to give the student who passes a sense of
achievement?
On the one hand, the task should not demean the candidate by being too easy; on the
other, the task should be achievable. One way to this is to make the task similar to the
best performance achievable by the candidate, and to allow whatever preparation,
revision or support the candidate him/herself finds necessary. This gives the student
responsibility for his/her own achievement while making available to him/her the
ingredients needed for success.
Where possible, the task should be open-ended enough for the students to demonstrate
any additional abilities they may have. It is not unusual for students to perform at a
level higher than expected if given an opportunity to do so.
Snapshot
One teacher working with an Access 2 class found some of the students ready
to make more than the minimum of 4 exchanges in the interactive task. She
found they were in fact capable of achieving an outcome based on Access 3
criteria. This was recorded. By the end of the year all students in the group
were credited with passes at Access 2. Those who had met the requirements
for two topics at Access 3 then had only two further topics to study to achieve
an Access 3 unit.
National Assessment Bank support materials (NABs)
National Assessment Bank support materials exist for each unit in Access 2 and
Access 3. As Access 1 units are derived from the individual performance criteria in
the Access 2 unit Life in Another Country, the NAB for that unit will serve both
Access 1 and Access 2. The NABs can be used for any of the five languages.
Access in Modern Languages
22
Unlike modern language NABs at other levels, the NABs at Access level serve only to
exemplify the standards to be attained for successful completion of each unit. The
flexibility centres have to design programmes which will suit their students means
that, although the assessment instruments could in theory be used as they stand, it is
extremely unlikely that, in practice, they will exactly match what any group of
students has been taught. The tasks included in the NABs are designed as examples
only. Centres are free to design their own assessment instruments in the light of the
content which has been taught.
The range of task types included in the NABs is necessarily more limited than the
tasks which can be designed ‘in house’, since they have to be capable of being printed
and distributed nationally. Centre are free to design more innovative assessment tasks
to suit their own programme design. At Access these tasks are likely to be active and
multisensory. Assessment instruments may involve use of observation checklists, for
example, as well as pen and paper exercises.
Moderation
Centres seeking re-assurance about instruments and standards may contact SQA for
advice and prior moderation. In practice, if all the documents have been studied
carefully, this will rarely be necessary, and centres should find that as they become
familiar with the standards required, they will have no difficulty in finding or
designing suitable assessment instruments. For further information on prior and
retrospective moderation, see the SQA publication: Putting Assessment Moderation
Policy into Operation (Publication code: A0892)
Special arrangements
Given the flexibility allowed at Access and the freedom centres have to design
appropriate programmes and internal assessment, seeking special arrangements which
require permission from SQA should not usually be necessary. The SQA special
arrangements documentation has undergone major revision since the introduction of
the new provision. The current document gives guidance on the changes centres are
permitted to make, and when special permission will be necessary. In case of doubt,
SQA should always be consulted.
Supporting students during assessment
Students working at Access may require considerable support in order to achieve the
standards required. They should be given whatever support they need to achieve the
standards, but the work that is assessed must of course be their own. Support materials
should not be created specifically for the assessment task, since the task will closely
mirror teaching and the student will have been taught how to make use of any support
which has been needed. Assessment tasks should assess what the student has already
learned to do. The need for further teaching or help with new vocabulary in the course
of assessment would suggest that teaching has been inadequate or that the assessment
task has been poorly designed.
As a general principle, every effort should be made during teaching to provide
students with the tools and skills which will allow them to succeed independently of
human support. Human support may be needed at the stage where students are
becoming familiar with the tools and learning the skills, but the aim should be for
Access in Modern Languages
23
them to be able to succeed independently by the time they are assessed. This will
ensure that there is no doubt that the assessed work is their own. It will also free the
student from dependence on human support which may not always be available.
Where this principle cannot be applied, the aim should be to ensure as much
independence as possible. Where students have become accustomed to using
technology to enable them to participate and to succeed, they should be allowed to use
the same technology during assessment. Centres should check their plans against the
current edition of the SQA document on guidance to special arrangements and, if need
be, contact SQA directly.
Recording achievement
Students should be closely involved in monitoring their own achievement and in
keeping records which will clearly indicate the progress they are making, though
some may need help to do this. Some sample proformas are given in the NABs, but
centres may wish to adapt and add to these in order to make them meaningful to their
students. Some centres are finding that the milestone approaches they use for target
setting in other subjects can work equally well in modern languages. Examples of “I
can...” sheets are included in the student support materials.
Formal recording of achievement following assessment should be sufficient to allow
moderation to take place. This means that the assessment instruments used should be
retained, along with the record of attainment of individual students. In oral work,
authentication may take the form of a record of the task set and an indication of the
standards expected. Some centres are making use of audio and videotapes to record
performance; this is perfectly acceptable but not essential. However, recording at
Access needs to be particularly rigorous in view of the absence of external exam.
Where students have produced visual or concrete materials, photographs and videorecorded evidence can motivate students to further efforts, as well as contributing
evidence for moderation.
Snapshots
In one school, booklets produced by students as part of their study of life in
another country were placed in the school library to be consulted by other
students.
In another school, video-recordings were used at a parents' evening to show
what students had achieved.
Posters in a third school were displayed in the school foyer as part of a drive
to show the rest of the school what was being achieved in the attached
Resourced Unit.
Records, or partial records, may need to be retained beyond the end of the academic
year in order for programmes to be continued at a later date, perhaps with a different
teacher, or in a different establishment.
Access in Modern Languages
24
MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Languages for all: using Access provision in S3/S4
National policy (SED Circular 1178, 1989) holds that all learners in Scotland are
entitled to receive a programme of foreign language learning between from S1 – S4.
This age range is likely to be reviewed following publication of the ministerial Action
Group for Languages, but the notion of entitlement is unlikely to be radically altered.
In the original guidance, all students were expected to be catered for through Standard
Grade courses, but the mandatory external assessment and breadth of content has
proved problematical for some learners, even at Foundation Level. The new unitised
programmes of work, focusing on quality of performance rather than quantity of
vocabulary learned and assessed wholly internally, provide a more appropriate
approach for some young people and may be offered from S3 onwards. However,
Standard Grade is likely to remain the norm for the majority of learners in this age
group.
With the advent of more suitable provision, it is expected that far fewer students will
need to be withdrawn from foreign language learning, and, indeed, this is already
proving to be the case. Access 1, 2 and 3 are already widely offered in special and
mainstream settings throughout Scotland.5
Organisation of classes / groups
There is no national guidance on how students should be grouped; that is a matter for
local authorities and individual centres, depending on how they plan to make
provision which meets local needs. In keeping with the spirit of inclusion, all learners
should as far as possible be offered the same range and quality of language learning
experiences, and segregation should be avoided. Where ‘special’ groups are formed,
this should be to enable better provision to be made for the students involved. The
flexibility inherent in the new unitised system means that schools can combine units
in all sorts of ways. Figure A4 shows some of the organisational variations adopted by
centres who took part in the implementation studies. More detailed information can be
found in Sections C and D.
5
See Modern Languages in Special Schools and Mainstream Units in Scotland 2002 by McColl,
McPale and Picozzi. Available as a PDF file at www.scilt.stir.ac.uk under Publications.
Access in Modern Languages
25
Figure A4: Organisational variations in S3/S4
S3
1
S4
2
Access 2 Life in Another
Country (France) + Access 3
Personal Language (French)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Access 3 Transactional
Language + Language in
Work (French)
Access 3 cluster (Spanish)
3
Access cluster (French)
Intermediate 1 (French)
4
Standard Grade Foundation Level with Access 3 entry used as
‘safety net’ to ensure that those at risk of failing F level have
something to show for their achievements
Access 3 cluster taught over 2 years with Access 2 being used
as a ‘safety net’.
Access 3 cluster
Standard Grade General
5
6
achievement
Access 2: Life etc. (France)
Access 3: cluster (French)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Access 3 1 or 2 units or
cluster (Spanish)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Int 1: 1, 2 or 3 units or course
(French) [option to complete
in S5]
Access 3 units or cluster.
Combination of Access 2/3
units/clusters
Access 3 cluster
S Grade General Level
(Examples taken from implementation studies carried out in session 2000-2001.)
Diversification
There is some evidence that schools are finding Access 3 useful for introducing a
second foreign language in S3. In the main, those opting for a second foreign
language are able learners and can be expected to progress to Intermediate 1 and
perhaps further by the end of S4.
Some schools are considering offering a second foreign language at Access level in
S5/6, or using it as a ‘safety net’ for second language learners attempting Intermediate
1.
With less able learners, schools are finding some groups able to complete Access 3 by
the end of S3. Some of those will progress to Intermediate 1; others, who seem to
have reached as far as can be expected, are being offered ‘lateral progression’; that is,
one or more units in another language at Access 3.
Time allocation
Unitisation of provision means that centres may respond more flexibly to students’
entitlement to modern language learning. In theory, students make take as long as they
need to complete a unit of work. Where timetabling permits, therefore, short
programmes, extended programmes, blocks of time for part of the year, etc. may make
it easier to provide worthwhile language learning experiences for all students.
Credit transfer
Centres who reported numbers of students failing Standard Grade Foundation Level,
or achieving only a band 7 have found such failure depressing for teachers and
learners alike. For a student who, after two years of work, fails Standard Grade French
or who is awarded a Grade 7, there is no credit transfer into a Scottish Group award.
Access in Modern Languages
26
On the other hand, a student who achieves only one unit at Access 3 will score one
point and a student who completes a whole cluster of three units will score 3. Success
at Access 3 therefore, or even at Access 2, will improve overall performance rates for
individual students.
Some schools report that students who were considered at risk of failing at Foundation
Level are moving successfully through Access 3 work in S3 and progressing to
Intermediate 1 or Standard Grade General level by the end of S4.
Senior managers will be aware that, as far as the SEED Audit Unit is concerned, an
Access 3 cluster is equivalent to a pass at Standard Grade Foundation Level.
Collaborative working
Although there are situations in which modern language classes may be taught by
teachers who are not modern language specialists (in some special schools, for
example), in most situations, all foreign language learners remain the responsibility of
modern language departments, aided as necessary by Support for Learning colleagues.
It is worth noting that centres who make good provision in modern languages for less
able learners tend to be those where there is a high level of co-operation between
modern languages and support for learning departments, especially where such
collaboration concentrates on developing methodologies which make it easier for
students to learn. It is not necessary for Support for Learning staff to be modern
language specialists in order for valuable curriculum development to take place.
Indeed, non-specialists can provide valuable insights into the specific difficulties
faced by individual learners – who are also, of course, non-specialists.
Access in Modern Languages
27
APPENDIX A1
CONTENT FOR LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT AT ACCESS
The following grids, taken from the Arrangements documents, list topics to be
covered in modern languages at all three Access levels. There are separate grids for
Personal Language, Transactional Language and Language in Work.
Each unit comprises 4 topics (shown in bold). The topics are mandatory, but can be
developed in any way which is deemed appropriate by centres, taking into account
student interests and the availability of resources.
For Access 3, internal assessment evidence for each unit must show that all four
topics have been covered.
For Access 2, in respect of Personal Language, Transactional Language and
Language in Work, internal assessment evidence for each unit must show that at least
two of the topics have been covered.
For Access 2 and Access 1, in respect of Life in Another Country, assessment must
cover at least two aspects of life. The aspects of life chosen for study must be linked
to topics included in any of the grids.
Access in Modern Languages
28
PERSONAL LANGUAGE
THEMES
Lifestyles
Education
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT
TOPICS
Personal identification
• self
• family members
• friends / colleagues / fellow
students
• pets
• colours
House/home town
•
•
•
•
Free time
• leisure activities / interests
• television
Daily routine in learning
environment (e.g. school /
college)
• language of the learning
environment
• objects in the learning
environment
• subjects studied
• time
• careers
Access in Modern Languages
accommodation
personal possessions
places in town
simple directions
29
TRANSACTIONAL LANGUAGE
The topics listed for this unit are to be studied and assessed within the context of a
real or imaginary visit to the country where the target language is spoken.
THEME
The Wider World
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT
TOPICS
Shopping
•
•
•
•
Eating out (café / restaurant)
• menus
• ordering food and drink
Travel / touring
•
•
•
•
Accommodation
hotel / campsite / hostel
Access in Modern Languages
numbers / quantities
prices / money
food and drink
presents / souvenirs
holiday
transport
places / directions
times / dates
30
LANGUAGE IN WORK
The topics listed for this unit are to be studied and assessed within the context of work
in this country with visitors from abroad.
THEME
The World of Work
Access in Modern Languages
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT
TOPICS
Shopping
• formal greetings / leave
taking
• number / quantities
• money / prices
• food and drink
• presents / souvenirs
Eating out (café /
restaurant)
• menus
• ordering food / drink
Travel / tourism
•
•
•
•
Hospitality
• hotel / campsite / hostel /
bed & breakfast
• reception
tickets
transport
places / facilities
times / dates
31
APPENDIX A2
RAPID GUIDE TO PROVISION IN MODERN LANGUAGES AT ACCESS
ACCESS 1
CODES
D3K3 O7
D3K4 07
UNITS
Life in another country: Aspects
of life
Life in another country: Language
OUTCOMES
Compare aspects of life in a country other than Britain with
the same aspects of life in your own community.
In respect of the same language being studied, demonstrate
understanding of a limited range of vocabulary associated
with each of the aspects of life studied.
ACCESS 2
D562 08
D564 08
D566 08
D568 08
D570 08
D75N 08
D563 08
D565 08
D567 08
D569 08
D571 08
D337 08
D463 08
D469 08
D475 08
D481 08
D338 08
D464 08
D470 08
D476 08
D482 08
Life in another country: French
Life in another country: German
Life in another country: Italian
Life in another country: Russian
Life in another country: Spanish
Life in another country: Optional
Personal language: French
Personal language: German
Personal language: Italian
Personal language: Russian
Personal language: Spanish
Transactional language: French
Transactional language: German
Transactional language: Italian
Transactional language: Russian
Transactional language: Spanish
Language in work: French
Language in work: German
Language in work: Italian
Language in work: Russian
Language in work: Spanish
C059 08
C060 08
C061 08
C062 08
C063 08
Cluster: French
Cluster: German
Cluster: Italian
Cluster: Russian
Cluster: Spanish
Access in Modern Languages
•
•
•
•
1.
2.
1.
2.
Compare aspects of life in a country other than Britain
with the same aspects of life in your community.
In respect of the main language used in the country being
studied, demonstrate understanding of a limited range of
vocabulary associated with each of the aspects of life
being studied.
Demonstrate understanding of personal information
presented in oral or written form in the target language.
Engage in social interaction with a user of the target
language.
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in
oral or written form in the target language.
Obtain information, goods or services in an interaction
involving the use of the target language.
Demonstrate understanding of requests for information,
goods or services presented in oral or written form in the
target language.
Provide information, goods or services in an interaction
involving the use of the target language.
Note: any three of the four units in a single language
constitutes a cluster, except unit D75N 08 which is a freestanding generic unit.
32
RAPID GUIDE
ACCESS 3
D563 09
D565 09
D567 09
D569 09
D571 09
D337 09
D463 09
D469 09
D475 09
D481 09
D338 09
D464 09
D470 09
D476 09
D482 09
Personal language: French
Personal language: German
Personal language: Italian
Personal language: Russian
Personal language: Spanish
Transactional language: French
Transactional language: German
Transactional language: Italian
Transactional language: Russian
Transactional language: Spanish
Language in work: French
Language in work: German
Language in work: Italian
Language in work: Russian
Language in work: Spanish
C059 09
C060 09
C061 09
C062 09
C063 09
Cluster: French
Cluster: German
Cluster: Italian
Cluster: Russian
Cluster: Spanish
Access in Modern Languages
1.
2.
Convey information in the target language.
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in
oral and written form in the target language.
1.
2.
Request information in the target language.
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in
oral and written form in the target language.
Use the baisic language required in making a purchase
3.
1.
2.
3.
Demonstrate understanding of requests in the target
language for information.
Provide information in the target language.
Use the basic language required in providing a service.
33
APPENDIX A3
‘CULTURAL STUDY’ UNITS
Units within the Higher Still framework
(For unit codes, see Appendix A2)
Access 1:
Life in another country: aspects of life
Life in another country: language
Access 2:
Life in another country: French/German/Italian/Spanish/Russian
Life in another country: Optional language
It is expected that at levels above Access 2 aspects of life/culturewill be incorporated
into the content of the language programme.
Other National Units included in the SQA Catalogue
The units listed below are freestanding units however, they are NOT part of the
Modern Languages framework. They can be treated as single units worth one credit
transfer towards a Scottish Group Award. No foreign language work is specified in
these units. Some of them have been used to provide a context for foreign language
work. Unit codes are shown in brackets.
Questions regarding use of these units should be addressed to SQA.
Access 2:
Investigating Life and Work in Another Country (D80m 08)
(Note: this unit explores three aspects of life in the chosen country
and provides opportunities for candidates to achieve the core skill of
Working With Others and Access 2.)
Access 3:
Investigating Europe (D36K 09)
Experiencing Europe (D36L 09)
Investigating foreign culture 1 (EA96 09)
Intermediate 1: Investigating Europe (D36K 10)
Experiencing Europe (D36L 10)
International issues (D345 10)
People and the environment: Europe (D236 10)
People and the environment: Global Issues (D237 10)
Access in Modern Languages
34
ACCESS IN MODERN LANGUAGES
B. ACCESS 1
Notes in this section apply to Access 1. They should be read in conjunction with the
general notes in Section A, with the Access 1 unit specifications and curriculum
descriptors. Because of the overlap with Access 2, Section C will also be relevant.
NATIONAL PROVISION AT ACCESS 1
Who is Access 1 for?
Modern Languages at Access 1 is likely to be undertaken by students aged 14+ with
severe, profound and/or complex needs, for whom extended language study is not
appropriate, but who could benefit from a programme which has potential to broaden
horizons and enrich experience.
Students working at this level are likely to have been following an elaborated 5-14 or
other curriculum in which the achievement of personal targets is central to the
programme of study. Many of these targets will have involved personal and social
skills and/or sensory awareness.
Programme content and rationale
Modern Languages at Access 1 allows the student to work towards the achievement of
personal targets within a programme of experiences suggested by a European or
global context. This has the benefit of allowing students to enjoy fresh experiences
and practise essential skills within a context which is likely to be new, stimulating and
perhaps more age-appropriate.
The programme is based on a range of topics offered to all modern language students
(See Appendix A), but is flexible enough to allow interpretations which allow the
student’s personal targets to be accommodated. There are two units at Access 1 which
are based on the two outcomes of the corresponding unit at Access 2.
The Aspects of Life unit requires the student to study two aspects of life in another
country and to compare this with the same aspects of life in their own country.
Assessment is in English or in whatever language the student is taught or is most
competent in, including British Sign Language. For some students this unit will be
used on its own, as a way of extending the student’s experience, and there will be no
intention of doing any foreign language work at this or any other level.
The Language unit requires the student to become familiar with at least eight foreign
words or expressions connected with each of the aspects of life studied for the other
unit. Foreign language was included in the framework at the development stage since
staff were aware that, for some students, awareness of the existence of other
languages and the opportunity to experiment with other modes of expression helped
them to become more aware of communication in general and to heighten their
interest in developing their own language skills. It would appear that stimulating in
new ways the areas of the brain which deal with language can be beneficial in terms
of language development generally, regardless of the language involved.
Access in Modern Languages
35
Speech and language therapists and other staff working with students with speech and
language impairments have reported that students with special educational needs
whose characteristics include an element of elective mutism have been drawn to speak
when offered some foreign language learning experiences. The reasons for this are not
well understood, but practitioners believe that sometimes the mutism is psychological
in origin and that experiences which may have interfered with the student’s
willingness to speak their own language, do not affect the student’s willingness to
experiment with foreign language utterances. In some cases interest in the foreign
language work appears to have led to a breakthrough in communication generally,
with consequent improvement in the student’s willingness to communicate in his/her
own language.
From the comments above it will be clear that the case for including the foreign
language in the educational programmes of students working at the level of Access 1
may relate to its therapeutic value rather than to its value as a preparation for
progressive language learning.6
Curriculum descriptors
Students not yet ready, or unable, to tackle the units may nevertheless be included in
the activities which are offered to other Access 1 students. The curriculum descriptors
associated with each unit suggest ways in which students may be involved. The extent
of their involvement can be described in terms detailed in the descriptors as
experience, awareness and participation. At the level of experience, students may
simply be assisted to take part in the activities, with enjoyment and extending
experience being the main goals. Students participating at the level of awareness will
be conscious of the purpose of the experiences and be keen to join in. Students who
are able to participate in some of the decision-making and take an active role in the
proceedings are almost ready to embark on the units.
The curriculum descriptors are not mandatory, and centres may have other systems in
place which fulfil the same purpose. Centres are encouraged to use whatever system is
most suitable for them and for their students. Some suggestions for activities can be
found in Appendix B1 at the end of this Section.
It is likely that curriculum descriptors will be replaced in time by more formal
arrangements.
6
For further information on the benefits of language learning for students with profound or complex
needs, see Europe, Language Learning and Special Educational Needs (SOEID, 1997) Section 3B, and
Modern Languages for All McColl, H. David (Futon Publishers, 2000.)
Access in Modern Languages
36
Countries and languages which may be studied
These two units at Access 1 are derived from the two outcomes of a single unit at
Access 2. There are currently six versions of the Access 2 unit. Five of them are
language-specific – French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish – and their titles reflect
this, eg Life in Another Country: French. The sixth version, entitled Life in Another
Country: Optional Language, is a generic, freestanding unit which may be used to
study any country and its language but which is not linked to further language study
within the modern languages framework. In effect, this means that any country and its
language may be studied at Access 1 or Access 2, provided that the centre has
sufficient resources to conduct and assess the programme. It is assumed that any
teacher/lecturer embarking on this unit will have sufficient knowledge of the language
to fulfil the teaching and assessment requirements, or can draw upon the expertise of
others who have the necessary knowledge and skills (e.g. foreign nationals living
locally). Ways of combining the units with targets in other areas of the curriculum are
suggested in Section C.
Entry level, progression and target setting
Students begin work at whichever point centres consider to be appropriate for them.
As with all Access 1 arrangements, students’ progress is charted along a pathway
which may lead ultimately to the award of the associated unit at Access 2. The stages,
where appropriate, can be used to set targets for students.
Figure B1: Progression routes:
ACCESS 2
UNIT
Life in
Another
Country
Access in Modern Languages
ACCESS 2
NAB
Life in
Another
Country
ACCESS 1
UNIT
ACCESS 1
UNIT
Aspects of life in
another country
Language
CURRICULUM
DESCRIPTOR
(aspects of life)
CURRICULUM
DESCRIPTOR
(language)
participation
participation
awareness
awareness
experience
experience
37
Assessment
Advice on assessment of the two Access 1 units should be derived from the NAB for
the Access 2 unit Life in Another Country. Further notes can be found in the
paragraphs on assessment in Section C of this pack. However, all exemplification is
limited by what can be reproduced in print. For assessing the achievements of
students working at Access 1, in particular, active tasks and observational procedures
are likely to be more appropriate.
Certification of units / recording attainment
Each Access 1 unit will be certificated by SQA as an individual unit. However, as
Access 1 units are derived from units at Access 2, it will also be possible to allow the
evidence of achievement of the Access 1 units to be used to count towards
achievement of the relevant Access 2 unit.
Students should be entered for their first Access 1 unit at the beginning of the
programme of study. When they have achieved the unit and it is clear that they are
also likely to complete their second unit successfully, they should be entered – not for
the Access 1 unit – but for the appropriate unit at Access 2. (See figure B2, below.)
This is because, on successful completion of the second Access 1 unit, the students
will have met all the requirements for the relevant Access 2 unit. If they have been
studying life and language in a country where French, German, Italian, Russian or
Spanish is spoken, they should be entered for the corresponding Access 2 unit. For all
other languages they should be entered for the generic language unit at Access 2
(D57N 08) – Life in Another Country: Optional Language.
Achievement of skills leading up to the units (eg by means of the curriculum
descriptors) may be recorded by the centre in the student’s Progress File or National
Record of Achievement, or using whatever method the centre considers most
appropriate.
Progression
If at a later stage students are able to continue language study, this should be to
Access 2 language units. If the student has already achieved the Access 2 unit Life in
Another Country: French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish, this will count as one
of the three units required to make up a Cluster in the same language at Access 2.
There is currently no language progression from the optional language unit because
the rationale for it is different. However, if a student who has completed the Access 1
unit Aspects of Life wishes to do further cultural study, there are some freestanding
single units which might be suitable. These are listed in Appendix A3 for reference.
However, they do not form part of the modern languages framework and are not
covered in any other detail in this pack.
Access in Modern Languages
38
Figure B2 Progression: Life in Another Country: Access 1 and 2
Acc 2
Acc 1
French
D338 08
German
D464 08
Italian
Russian
Spanish
D470 08
D476 08
D482 08
D3K3 07 Aspects of life
D3K4 07 Language
optional language
D75N 08
Documentation
Unit specifications and Curriculum Descriptors can be found in the volume Details of
Access Provision: Access 1. These contain introductory information and guidance on
learning, teaching and assessment. Centres may find it helpful to be aware of the
arrangements as they apply to the associated Access 2 unit. These can be found in
Details of Access Provision: Access 2. Arrangements for modern languages at Access
1, 2 and 3, including Access 1 Curriculum Descriptors can also be found on the
Access CD issued to centres.
There are no NABs for Access 1 units. The NAB for Life in Another Country at
Access 2 contains advice on each of the outcomes which can also be applied to the
individual units at Access 1.
A special school’s experience of developing Life in Another Country for a class of
students working at Access levels 1 and 2 has been recorded in support pack 7115,
Modern Languages: Life in Another Country: Access 1/2.
Further advice is provided in the section of this document which deals with Access 2.
Access in Modern Languages
39
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Small steps
Arrangements at Access 1 provide a flexible framework of opportunities for students
to work towards individual targets and to progress by small steps. Although classes at
this level are likely to be small, they are likely to consist of students who, though they
may be participating in the same activity or experience, will be participating in
different ways. Figure B2, for example, shows a way of charting the different stages at
which members of the same class might be working. Note that, because of the close
link between Access 1 and Access 2, students working within Access 1 are already
working towards Access 2. Bear in mind, too, that students may be at different stages
in their study work and their language work.
Figure B3: Access 1 – Charting individual achievements
Student
A
Stage
•
•
B
•
C
•
•
D
•
E
•
Both Aspects completed successfully.
Has been assessed successfully for
the first set of language items and is
about to be assessed for the second
set.
One Aspect, with its associated
language items completed
successfully. Now working on the
second topic
Working on Aspects and likely to be
successful.
Joining in the language activities but
unlikely to be wholly successful.
Joining in all activities and trying
hard, but unlikely to meet the criteria
for certification for some time.
Enjoys taking part in the class
activities but is able to make little
independent contribution at present.
Access in Modern Languages
Assessment and recording
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Awaiting certification for Access 1
Life in Another Country: Aspects of
Life.
Has been entered for certification of
the Access 2 unit
Entered for Access 1: Life etc:
Aspects, and Access 2: Life etc.
Entered for Access 1 unit Life etc:
Aspects
Achievement recorded in Progress
File etc. at level of Participation.
Achievements recorded in Progress
File etc. at awareness and/or
participation levels, as appropriate.
Progress File records new
experiences and reactions to them.
Targets at the next level are set and
progress towards them are recorded.
40
Curriculum aims
Students working at Access 1 may be unlikely to progress very much further with
linguistic study in the foreign language. The aims of these units for them may focus
more on the opportunities they offer for personal development than on the
achievement of linguistic ambitions. For such students, every effort should be made to
link the modern languages programme to other parts of the curriculum, to core skills
and to personal targets.
Even in cases where the student him/herself is unaware of the wider implications of
the programme, participation in the programme can provide access to a wider range of
experiences than the student’s condition might otherwise suggest. The
European/global dimension provided by the unit Life in Another Country, for
example, can provide contexts for learning which may not otherwise have occurred to
a teacher striving to find new and interesting experiences for students for whom
opportunities for independent exploration is limited. Modern Languages, with its
emphasis on the European/dimension and on communication, constitutes an additional
resource for helping students to achieve important personal targets.7
Snapshots
In a school where many students needed help with feeding, music is always
played at mealtimes. During a European theme week, staff decided to play
music from a different European country each day. They soon realised that
students were aware of the change, responding differently to Austrian brass
band music, French accordion, etc. On the final day when Spanish flamenco
music was played, the physical reactions of students led to the addition of
castanets to music room equipment and the tape to the music therapy
repertoire.
Another special school uses Life in Another Country as part of its social
subjects programme. Weekly lessons are devoted to a series of brief studies
of life in a range of countries and skills are developed over a period of time.
When students are ready, two studies are used as the basis for assessment. If
a student fails to meet the criteria in respect of any country he/she is given
support and assessed again at the end of the next piece of study. In this way,
teaching is formative and there are several opportunities for successful
assessment.
Themes and cross-curricular programmes
There are signs that in special schools and in special programmes in colleges, the
modern languages framework is providing a useful focus for developing themes
within which work on individual targets can be set. The abilities of students in such
groups often span Access 1 and Access 2, and the sensory possibilities inherent in the
study of life in other countries provide ideal opportunities for including students
7
For examples of how special schools have been using this approach, see Europe, Language Learning
and Special Educational Needs Section 2 and Section 3B p.8; and the exemplar programme Life in
Greece which has been issued as a support pack for Modern Languages at Access ½ (7115).
Access in Modern Languages
41
working towards Access 1 units in the activities of an Access 2 programme. This
appears to be happening, for example, with older students who after 16+ need a more
adult, experience-expanding programme within which to develop the skills of
independent living. Tying the development of basic skills into ‘exotic’ contexts can
help to make such work seem less routine and repetitive – for teachers as well as for
students.
Cross-curricular programmes are dealt with more fully in Section C.
Communicative language
The principle of using the foreign language for a communicative purpose (See Section
A) applies at all levels. At Access 1 this may be simply to responding to the use of the
target language, or to indicating recognition of familiar words. Responding to a
greeting in the target language, for example, or expressing choices, where the options
offered are perhaps of ‘foreign’ origin and offered in the target language – these
responses need not be verbal, yet are truly communicative. Teachers consulted in the
course of development were clear that they wished foreign language work to be
included in the programme, arguing that even if some students could not complete all
the requirements for the unit, they could still enjoy and benefit socially from being
involved in simple communicative exchanges.
Resources
School resources Given the nature of this programme, there are likely to be
resources throughout the school which could be called upon to enhance the
programme. Teacher/lecturer’s own personal resources may include experiences
abroad which can be recounted, or items of interest collected in the course of foreign
holidays
Community resources Similarly, there will be people and places in the local
community who will have skills and resources to offer. Local libraries may be able to
provide relevant books and videos. Travel agents may be able to provide brochures.
Local shops and restaurants may prove useful sources of information as well as
exciting destinations.
ICT Email discussion groups allow teacher/lecturers to exchange information and
ideas. See Section E for details of the modern languages/SEN forum.
The Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research
(Scottish CILT) houses a collection of resources to support Modern Languages at
Access, including Life in Another Country.
Europe, Language Learning and Special Educational Needs (SOEID 1997)
contains a description of work being done in special schools and units around the
country.
Section E of this pack contains lists of materials and organisations which can support
programmes of study at Access.
Access in Modern Languages
42
CASE STUDY: ACCESS 1/2
Special School
This detailed case study is available as Modern Languages: Life in Another Country:
Access 1/2. (Publishing Code: 7115). The pack describes the work done in a Special
School in preparation for implementation. The programme has since been run
successfully and the first students have received their certificates.
Appendix C2(i) in this current pack summarises in diagrammatic form some of the
contents of the programme described in the case study, and adds a few more
possibilities.
Access in Modern Languages
43
ACCESS 1: LIFE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
APPENDIX B1
Curriculum descriptors: Some ideas for curricular linking
Music: sound
experience
exposure to national music
e.g. French accordion, Spanish flamenco
awareness
listening to music
participation
clap, dance, beat time, hum, sing, instrument
Personal Hygiene: smell
exposure to scents
know source, origin etc.
choose perfume to wear on suitable occasion
Personal Hygiene: touch
put on item of national dress
know which country etc.
wear costume e.g. for fancy dress party
be able tell about it
HE: taste
taste ‘foreign’ food
know the country etc.
help to choose / make / buy / serve
drink mineral water
know origin / describe taste
compare tastes / express opinion / choose
taste wine / grape juice
understand manufacture, history
tread grapes in a basin
HE: consumer
studies
go along on visit to
supermarket to see / buy
e.g. French produce
help to choose / buy
help to prepare / taste / express opinions
PE: sport
(e.g. boules)
watch others playing
handle balls
follow the contest
understand rules
play the game
PE: dance
watch folk dance
(real or video)
know which country
join in, as appropriate
Access in Modern Languages
44
Communication
listen to story from another land
know origin, recap
(art, drama, mime, puppets etc.)
join in / re-tell story
RME: festivals
(e.g. Xmas)
be present at festival
Christmas carols
explain festival
associate with countries
take part in festivities & associated activities
join in
Social Subjects
(e.g. on national days)
food, music etc. from
country
show awareness of
origin
express opinions, help prepare, taste, join in
as appropriate
observe making of poster, jigsaw etc.
involving maps, places of interest
make suggestions
join in as appropriate
be able to repeat some of facts learned
MER
watch others growing herbs
smell and taste the herbs
know they are used for flavouring food
help to grow the herbs
say which herbs/plants are used and where
PSE: receiving foreign
visitors
be present during
visit
listen to conversation
show awareness of content
take part in conversation
PSE: visit /
residential exp.
visit a foreign country, or
a place associated with one
be able to talk about visit,
snaps, post cards etc.
plan a visit, take part, discuss
PSE: local journeys
be included in visits to places
associated with foreign places or cultures
anticipate and enjoy the visit
remember it in retrospect
be actively involved in planning and conduct of
the visit
Maths: currency
handle foreign coins
name them, know values
use coins for real or in role play
Mod. Langs: speech
(unit 2)
listen to examples
of foreign language
know language, meaning
/ respond to language
say some words in correct contexts
Access in Modern Languages
45
ACCESS IN MODERN LANGUAGES
C. ACCESS 2
Notes in this section apply to Access 2. They should be read in conjunction with the general
notes in section A and, of course, with the relevant unit specifications and assessment support
material (NABs). Because of the overlaps with Access 1 and Access 3, Sections B and/or D
may also be relevant.
NATIONAL PROVISION AT ACCESS 2
Modern Languages provision at Access 2 is characterised by a flexibility which makes
certification for foreign language learning accessible to a wider range of students than ever
before. It builds on successful work already being done in special schools and units across
Scotland.
There are four units at Access 2. Three of these are language units and have titles similar to
the language units at Access 3 and Intermediate 1 (Personal Language, Transactional
Language, Language in Work); they are part of the framework which facilitates linguistic
progression. The fourth unit at Access 2, Life in Another Country, has two purposes: it
provides a cultural context for language learning for those students undertaking more
extensive language study via the other Access 2 units, and it provides a taste of foreign
language learning for those students who will go no further. It also constitutes the link
between Access levels 1 and 2. All four units are assessed internally. There is no external
assessment.
A cluster of modern languages units at Access 2 is any combination of three of the four units
in any one of the five languages. Single units can be used to complete the overall programme
of students who might otherwise be denied their entitlement to a progressive foreign language
learning experience.
Units achieved at Access 2 contribute towards Scottish Group Awards at Access 2 or at
Access 3, either as individual units or as a cluster of 3 subject units.
Who is Access 2 for?
Access 2 is sometimes used as a general introduction to foreign language learning for adult
returners who may need reassurance before embarking on more challenging work at Access
3. However, Access 2 in modern languages is mainly used by students with special
educational needs in S3 or above, in schools, colleges or other centres. It is likely to be used
by the following groups:
•
•
•
•
Students with special educational needs who may previously have been withdrawn from
modern languages for lack of a suitable course.
Students who have been working successfully at Access 1 and are ready to take their
study further.
Students who are embarking on foreign language study for the first time; Standard Grade
Foundation level and Access 3 units are considered to be too demanding.
Students in an Access 3 class or group who find themselves unable to meet all the criteria
for Access 3 outcomes; they may be able to meet the criteria for Access 2, studying the
same topics.
Access in Modern Languages
46
Programme content
There are four units at Access 2. Each unit has 2 outcomes.
In the case of the three language units, Personal Language, Transactional Language and
Language in Work, Outcome 1 involves receptive language (listening and/or reading);
Outcome 2 involves participation in a conversational interchange involving the use of the
target language.
The topics of study for the three language units are drawn from the three prescribed topic lists
in Appendix A1. These lists are the same for all three Access levels. The second column in
each list contains four topics; for students working at Access 2, any two of the topics are
studied. How the topics are interpreted is decided by the Centre and its students, though some
familiar treatments are suggested in the third column.
Students studying any of the three language units must study French, German, Spanish,
Italian or Russian.
In the case of Life in Another Country, Outcome 1 involves a study of 2 aspects of life in
another country; Outcome 2 requires familiarity with a few words or phrases in the foreign
language, associated with each of the aspects of life studied. The two aspects of life and
language to be studied must be based on topics from any of the three grids in Appendix A1.
The language studied in this unit must be the same as the language studied in any of the other
units. Students should be entered for the appropriate unit (eg Life in Another Country:
French).
Life in Another Country can also be used as a freestanding generic unit. In this case, it is not
intended to be linked to any of the other language units and so any language may be studied,
provided the centre has the skills and other resources needed to teach and assess the unit.
Students should be entered for the generic unit Life in Another Country: Optional Language.
There is currently no linguistic progression from this generic unit. It is intended for use as a
focus for thematic approaches to cross-curricular development rather than for linguistic
progression. Using Life in Another Country to provide thematic links to other areas of the
curriculum will be dealt with more fully later in this Section.
Figure C1 Progression using Life in Another Country: Access 1 / 2
Acc 2
1 or 2 units from:
Lang. Personal language, Transactional language, Language in Work
Acc 2
Life
Acc 1
French
D338 08
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish optional language
D464 08
D470 08
D476 08
D482 08
D75N 08
D3K3 07 Life in Another Country: Aspects of life
D3K4 07 Life in Another Country: Language
Access in Modern Languages
47
Units outwith the modern languages framework are available for students who wish to study
other countries without undertaking any language work. For example, Investigating Life and
Work in Another Country (Acc2) (D80m 08).
Progression within and beyond Access 2
Progression within and beyond Access 2 may be swift, or may take several years, depending
on the starting point, the units chosen for study, the amount of time allocated, and the
student’s rate of progress. Possible scenarios are described below.
•
Some students will enter only for the study unit Life in Another Country at Access 2 and
may have no further linguistic ambitions. Progression will take place in other areas of the
student’s curriculum.
•
Some students may have completed Life in Another Country (French, German, Italian,
Russian, or Spanish) at Access 2 and proceed to work on the language units with the aim
of completing a cluster of modern language units at Access 2. This is lateral progression
within Access 2.
•
Students who have achieved the unit Life in Another Country: Optional Language at
Access 2 may now wish to begin progressive language study. They will need to complete
all three language units in French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish at Access 2 in
order to achieve the cluster at Access 2. This is lateral progression within Access 2.
•
Some students will progress through the 3 linguistic units at Access 2 and be well placed
to continue their study of the same three units at Access 3. This is vertical progression
from Access 2 to Access 3.
•
Some students who manage to complete the cluster of units at Access 2 may be unlikely
to cope well at Access 3. They may wish to continue study at Access 2 in a different
language. In this case lateral progression is achieved through language diversification.
There is currently no language progression from the optional language unit because the
rationale for it is different. However, if a student who has completed the Access 1 unit
Aspects of Life wishes to do further cultural study, there are some freestanding single units
which might be suitable. These are listed in Appendix A3 for reference. However, they do
not form part of the modern languages framework and are not covered in any other detail in
this pack.
Access in Modern Languages
48
Units / cluster at
Access 3
(same language)
Access 2
Life in Another
Country
Access 2
Personal
language
Units / cluster at
Access 2
(different language)
Access 2
Transactional
language
Access 2
Language in
work
(any three Access 2 units = an Access 2 cluster)
Access 1
Life in Another
Country:
(Aspects of life)
Access in Modern Languages
49
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Building bridges to other levels of provision
Early experience suggests that teachers sometimes underestimate what students can achieve
when offered a programme which meets their learning needs. Those teaching students at
Access 2 need to be familiar with the requirements for Access 3 so that suitable transition
routes can be planned in advance and so that students can make rapid progress if they are
capable of doing so.
Programmes of work at Access 2 and Access 3 have been deliberately planned to aid
transition between levels; the topic lists are identical and assessment requirements often
overlap. Consequently, if assessment tasks at Access 2 are designed to be open-ended, some
students may prove themselves capable of achieving a level of performance which would
have met the criteria for Access 3. For example, although the minimum requirement for
speaking at Access 2 is for four successful exchanges, the student should be encouraged to
make at least four contributions (ie more if they can). The student may in fact be capable of
making the six contributions required for Access 3. If so, this should be recorded and the
evidence kept for counting towards an Access 3 award when the time comes.
Particular care needs to be taken when students who are counting Life in Another Country as
one of their cluster of three units at Access 2 are planning to progress to Access 3, for they
will have achieved outcomes in only two of the three language units at Access 2. They will
be required to study all three language units to complete the Access 3 cluster. In effect, since
the topics in Transactional Language and Language in Work are almost identical, this may
not pose major problems provided that the Access 3 teacher/lecturer is aware of the potential
difference in experience between two students, both of whom will have completed a cluster at
Access 2
Bridges can also lead in the opposite direction. Students who have started off working toward
achievement of outcomes at Access 3 and who find the requirements too demanding may find
themselves capable of achievement at Access 2 in the same topic area. Indeed, some centres
are designing Access level programmes which allow students at different Access levels to be
taught together, and for individual students to be entered and assessed at whatever level they
are capable of achieving.
Snapshot
One mainstream school offering Life in Another Country at Access 2 found that one
of the students was unable to meet the requirements for Outcome 2, despite much
coaching. The student was therefore entered for the Access 1 unit on Aspects of Life.
This allowed him to achieve a certificate for work he had completed successfully with
the rest of the class.
Access in Modern Languages
50
Enhancing the curriculum
Modern Languages at Access 2 can broaden the curriculum by providing an introduction to
the notion that people in other lands have ways of doing things and ways of expressing
themselves which, though different from our own ways, are effective and interesting. It also
offers an opportunity to engage in foreign language learning which enables students to
recognise and respond to simple communications uttered in the target language. Language
learning can be linked to cultural studies or other areas of the curriculum using a thematic
approach.
The content and standards detailed in unit specifications and NABs are minimum
requirements for assessment and certification purposes. Teaching programmes may – and
frequently do – go far beyond the minimum requirements.
Snapshot
In one special school, Outcome 1 of the generic version of Life in Another Country is
used to plan a social subjects programme which examines aspects of life in several
different countries. Informal assessment is conducted whenever students have
developed the necessary skills. The school is considering doing some language work
next year which will allow students to complete the unit before they leave school.
Offering alternative approaches to language learning
While most students will be able to experience the foreign language in all four modes –
speaking and writing (productive) and listening and, reading (receptive) – some students
may have physical or learning difficulties which make it difficult to carry out one or more of
these activities. At Access 2 there are only two outcomes. Outcome 1 assesses ability to
understand communications in the foreign language (reading and/or listening). Outcome 2
assesses the student’s ability to take part in an interaction involving the use of the target
language. This flexibility makes it possible for students to succeed even if one of the four
modes is unavailable to them. A student with a hearing impairment, for example, may
concentrate on reading rather than listening; a student who has difficulty with written
language can concentrate on listening and speaking; a student without oral language can
communicate in writing, sign, pointing etc. with an interlocutor who uses the target language.
Planning how many units to use
Any of the four units can be used on its own, as a ‘stand-alone’ unit worth one credit at
Access 2. Any two the units can be combined (2 credits). Three units makes up a cluster of
subject units at Access 2 (3 credits). Although each unit is based on a notional 40 hours of
study, there is no reason why a unit should not take however much time students need in
order to achieve the outcomes. How many units are to be offered will depend not only on the
ability of the students but also on the amount of time each week available for modern
language study and how long the programme is expected to last.
Access in Modern Languages
51
Some schools plan to use only one unit:
Snapshots
One special school offers modern languages for one term only, in rotation with other
activities. A single unit is studied during the term.
Another special school offers modern languages only once a week. They expect to
take a year to cover a single unit.
The special school which figured in the case study8 planned to use the unit Life etc.
as a focus for foreign language study for a composite class working at Access 1 and
Access 2. They planned to link it to other subject areas and expected to spend at least
a year on the whole programme.
Any two units can be combined to make up a limited programme which nevertheless contains
a significant amount of foreign language work.
Snapshots
Several schools are planning a two-unit programme using Life etc. and Personal
Language.
A school in which students have already studied a modern language plans to omit
Personal Language which students have covered before, and to concentrate on Life in
Another Country linked to Transactional Language in preparation for a trip abroad.
Any three of the four units may be combined to make up a cluster of units at Access 2.
Snapshot
Some mainstream schools are planning to offer the three language units as a cluster,
so that transition to Access 3 can be managed without difficulty.
8
Modern Languages: Life in Another Country: Access 1/2 (document 7115)
Access in Modern Languages
52
Some schools are offering three Access units, without initially specifying the level, or how
many units an individual student will achieve.
Snapshot
Because of the overlap between the content of Access 2 and Access 3, some schools
are planning a composite class in which entry levels will be determined by the
performance of the candidates.
Providing a coherent context for language learning
The unit Life in Another Country can be used as an introduction to foreign language learning
for students who have not previously been involved in foreign language learning, or as a
context for more extended language learning, running concurrently with topics from other
language units. It can be combined with one or more of the language units to form a coherent
programme of work.
Once the units which are to make up the programme have been determined, the aim of
detailed planning should be to make the whole experience as enjoyable and rewarding as
possible for the students. There is no educational reason why units and outcomes should be
tackled in linear and perhaps fragmented sequence. On the contrary, students working at this
level, like all students, will benefit from an approach which allows them to experience the
programme as a coherent whole rather than as an series of discrete topics and tests. Appendix
C1 provides two examples of planning which start from the notion of ‘contexts for learning’
and aim to provide links between the units selected, as well as with other subject areas. Both
examples demonstrate how social activities which are of interest to the students can be used
as contexts to motivate learning.
In the first example, all three units selected for study centre on Shopping for French cheeses.
The second shows how units can be selected and developed in ways which support and
enhance a trip abroad. These two examples should suffice to demonstrate how programmes
of work can be designed in ways which will motivate students and enhance the quality of
their experience of language learning. The first plan – Appendix C(1) – was adopted and
adapted by the school which features in the case study at the end of this Section.
Appendix C1 (iii) provides a template for use in designing further examples. A good starting
point may be to discuss the interests of the students and to select a ‘name of topic’ which they
will find motivating, and then to see which of the prescribed topics could be developed in
ways which would link to that.
Note that two topics, or aspects of life, need to be planned in order for the student to
demonstrate achievement of the minimum assessment requirements, but any number may be
studied in the course of a programme. There is no reason why two – or all three – of the units
should not be run concurrently for each of the contexts.
With further careful planning it may also be possible to design assessment tasks which
combine a number of outcomes, thus reducing the number of ‘tests’ the student has to
undergo. (For further discussion of this point, see the case study at the end of section D.)
Access in Modern Languages
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Snapshots
One school is planning to use the two aspects of study on Life in Another Country in
different terms. In the first term, Aspect 1 will provide the context for work on one or
two topics drawn from Personal Language; in the second term, Aspect 2 will be used
as the background to work on topics drawn from Transactional Language. Any topics
remaining to be covered will be covered in the third term.
Another school found students so well motivated as a result of the background studies
that they are planning to develop a similar approach in S1/S2, in line with the new 514 Guidelines.
Some schools are using Life in Another Country as an introductory unit to an Access
3 programme.
Community linking
The examples in Appendix C1 also demonstrate an important aspect of language learning at
this level (or perhaps at any level): the need to relate ‘foreign’ material to the student’s
existing experience by exploiting resources within the local community with which the
student is already familiar. Outcome 1 from the unit Life in Another Country requires the
student to compare aspects of life in the two countries, ie ‘foreign’ and familiar. This is
another of the aspects of good practice developed by special schools which has been adopted
and developed for the national programme. The support pack for Access 1/2 demonstrates
just how extensive these community links can be in a special school. For a mainstream
example, see the case study at the end of this section.
Snapshots
A student working at Access 2, who is interested in cars, and whose father owns a
garage, plans to link up with a garage in the French town with which his home town
is twinned. This will provide one or more contexts for learning around which his
programme can be designed. He hopes to visit the garage and perhaps do some work
experience there in the course of the next school visit.
A second student in the same school, whose abiding interest is in food, will link up
with a restaurant in the twin town.
Exploring the community in which the school is situated can be a rich source of ideas; people
as well as places can be used to provide a focus or input to programmes which will interest
and motivate students. In addition, they often give rise to wide-ranging discussions which,
while not obviously part of the modern languages programme can help to extend the
educational experiences offered to students, to connect the subject to their daily lives and
establish the relevance of modern languages to their programme.
Access in Modern Languages
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Snapshot
A visit from a former Foreign Legionary living near one school provided the starting
point for part a series of topics which took the French Foreign Legion as its focus.
The internet was used for further research into the Legion, and labelled illustrations
provided the basic linguistic input. Topics from Personal Language could compare
legionary and local cadets force or even school uniforms, daily routine, ID cards etc.
Developing a cross-curricular approach focusing on a theme
It will be clear from the Snapshots above that programmes are being developed which
combine modern language units in imaginative ways. Other innovative schemes are being
developed which link units from several different curricular areas around a theme, using Life
in Another Country to provide a focus.
Appendix C2(i) gives a graphic representation of the curriculum described in the HSDU
Modern Languages Access 1/2 support pack (Code:7115). In that programme, the theme Life
in Greece is used as a context for the generic unit Life in Another Country: Optional
Language. The theme is developed in other subject areas using appropriate units which will
be assessed by the relevant teachers. This is an exciting course which will take students far
beyond the minimum requirements for some of the units involved. In fact, this illustrates an
important principle for those developing programmes at this level: that learning is more
important than assessment. Assessment is incidental; simply a way to record and celebrate
some aspects of what students have learned.
Snapshot
In their search for a theme which is more ‘adult’ and ‘esteem-enhancing’ one school
has turned to the Life in Another Country unit to provide a focus for independent
living skills for its 16+ students.
This model can be used to achieve many different aims for different groups of students.
Appendix C2(ii), for example, shows how a programme might be designed around ‘cultural
studies’ with a group in which some of the students are bilingual.
It seems to be easier for those offering special programmes to develop a flexible, studentcentred approach to curriculum design. However, with support from senior management, it
may be possible to develop something similar in mainstream settings.
Using ICT
Many software programs exist which will give practice in vocabulary learning; fewer provide
the coherent ‘chunks’ of language which students need if they are to communicate something
meaningful. The ability to name a collection of objects is not a particularly useful skill.
However, well-chosen software programs can provide additional practice with elements of
language which can then be incorporated into meaningful classroom contexts.
Access in Modern Languages
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Centres are finding the internet useful for locating information about the country being
studied. Some of the best sites seem at first glance to provide too much information, or
language which is too difficult for students working at this level to access. However, as the
case study at the end of this section demonstrates, it is not the material itself so much as what
you do with it which determines its usefulness. Some promising websites are listed in Section
E.
Fax, email or other electronic links with centres or individuals abroad can be very motivating
and open up areas of language which might have otherwise been considered too difficult for
this group of students. Messages compiled by the group can be just as interesting as
individual communications – perhaps more so.
Snapshot
A group of wheelchair users corresponding with a boy in Belgium, also a wheelchair
user, enjoyed discussing their reply to his questions about their future aspirations.
Technology has enabled many students to access aspects of the curriculum which would
otherwise have been closed to them. Technology with which they are already familiar should
be exploited for the benefit of their language learning. Even specialised items of equipment
can now be customised for foreign language learning. See under Resources in Section E.
Snapshot
A student who routinely uses an Infotalker to communicate is able to join in role-play
when the machine is programmed appropriately.
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ASSESSMENT
Assessment requirements and guidelines for all four units at Access 2 are well covered in the
unit specifications and the associated NABs. The notes included in the section cover only
those points where clarification appears to be needed.
Exemplification of standards of performance
Although some assessment tasks for each outcome are included in the NABs, they are
intended only as exemplification of the standards required. Given the freedom centres have to
develop topics, it is unlikely that the tasks provided will mirror sufficiently closely the items
of language actually learned by the group. As centres become familiar with the requirements
they will find that the teaching materials they use can be readily adapted for use as
assessment tasks. Often, at this stage, all that distinguishes a learning task from an assessment
task is the ability of the student to undertake the task successfully on his/her own.
The teaching/assessment cycle
Teachers are familiar with a range of teaching cycles or and most will have established a
sequence which they find works for them and their students. Below, is a typical
teaching/assessment sequence which might be employed with students working at this level.
It describes one possible approach to a single topic.
Stage 1 Introduction to the topic area and discussion of how it will be treated. Students are
clear from the outset what they will be able to do at the end of the topic.
Stage 2a Presentation of a small ‘chunk’ of basic vocabulary, using a variety of media and
appealing to as many senses as possible. The teacher provides many opportunities to for
students to hear and see the items of language before they are asked to produce them for
themselves. Extensive use of techniques such as repetition, chanting, word recognition etc.
For some students scribing words will help to fix them in memory. At this stage some or all
of the words will be learned as discrete items; communication will come later. Means are
found to record the words learned so that students can refresh their memories at a later stage.
These can take the form of word lists which can be added to and used throughout the cycle;
posters, diagrams etc which can remain on display.
Stage 2b, c, etc. More small chunks of language are presented, each one building on the
earlier ones so that learning is consolidated and language learned earlier is not forgotten.
Simple language games are very useful at this stage.
Stage 3 When enough discrete items have been learned, students learn how to use these to
communicate meaning. Simple sentence structures are introduced, one at a time, over a
period of time. Students are shown how the words they have learned can fit into the pattern of
language introduced, and this serves to further consolidate basic vocabulary. Activities are
devised which allow students to become familiar with phrases and sentences in which they
words they have learned appear, so that they can recognise them for themselves and
eventually begin to use them. They are provided with opportunities for manipulating familiar
language and creating new patterns. More elaborate language games, raps, rhymes etc. are
useful at this stage/
Access in Modern Languages
57
Stage 4 Reading, writing, listening and speaking are practised, with the teacher providing as
much support as is required for the student to be successful. Where possible, the support
should be in a form the student can use independently, so as not to become over-reliant on
human support. Where human support is found to be essential, the aim of the teacher
involved is to coach the student gradually to take control of the activity for him/herself. This
is where the word lists and other reference material will be useful as the student is taught the
skills and techniques which will help him/her to access the necessary material for
him/herself.
Stage 5 Once the student is able to perform tasks independently to the standard required an
assessment task is provided. The student is clear that the task must be completed without help
from the teacher or other students but that he/she can still make use, if necessary, of the
reference materials with which he/she is now familiar. It should not be necessary to make up
new word lists, etc., for the assessment tasks since, as a matter of in principle, they should not
introduce words which the student cannot be expected to know. If the student cannot
complete the task without support from the teacher (other than encouragement), then the
match between teaching/learning programme and assessment task probably needs to be
reviewed. The better the preparation and the better the match, the more likely it is that the
student will be successful in achieving the standard required. Where possible, tasks are openended, so that students who are capable of achieving more than the minimum standard are
able to do so. If a student consistently performs above the minimum standard, it may be
worth looking at the standards required for the same topic at Access 3 to see if the student
could be entered successfully at a higher level. The specimen paper in Appendix C3 provides
an example of a speaking test which both gives support to the student and is sufficiently
open-ended to be able to indicate performance at Access 2 or Access 3.
Stage 6 When the student has reached the required standard of performance for an outcome,
the achievement is noted both by the teacher and by the student. Learning materials and
evidence of tasks achieved are retained for future reference by the student. Evidence which
meets SQA’s requirements is retained for moderation by the teacher. Although taped
evidence is not required for outcomes which involve speaking and listening, both are useful
ways of collecting and storing the evidence. Otherwise, notes of the assessment task and
observational checklists etc. must be sufficiently detailed for a moderator to have a clear idea
of the nature of the task and the students’ performances.
At Access 2 the various stages may last for several lessons, for weeks or even months. The
challenge for teachers will be to find different ways of presenting the tasks so that students
gain increasing mastery without losing interest.
Assessment materials
Centres who have used the student materials disseminated by HSDU have found that they are
suitable for use by students at Access 2 as well as those at Access 3. They have also found
that the revision sheets at the end of each topic provide good preparation for assessment.
Some revision sheets require very little adaptation to make them suitable for use as
assessment tasks. Materials suitable for both learning and assessment can be found amongst
the resources many centres have built up to support work at Foundation Level. In some cases
these may require further simplification. See Section E for lists of resources centres have
found useful.
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Reassessment
Schools report that, with the additional time made available for each topic, and with the
opportunity to assess when the student is observed to have reached the required standard,
most students are successful on their first attempt. If they are not, it usually means that the
student was not, in fact ready, or had not understood the nature of the task or the support
which could be used. In this case the task can be treated as formative preparation for further
assessment. In some cases, – as in the sample task in Appendix C3 – the nature of the task is
such that the student could revise the material and attempt the same task on another occasion.
An alternative way of reassessing, used by some centres, arose from the fact that the students’
programme of study was based on more than the minimum number of topics (two per unit, in
the case of Access 2). This meant that if a student was not successful in achieving the
required standard for a particular learning outcome for one topic, it was not always necessary
to repeat the formal assessment at that time. The experience was used formatively, to help the
student see where he/she needed to improve, but formal assessment was not carried out again
until the end of the next topic, by which time the student’s level of performance should have
improved. This was seen as a way of relieving the burden of re-assessment both for the
student and for the teacher and of showing students the importance of learning how to
improve their learning strategies. However, if this procedure is used for reassessment, the
teacher needs to keep careful records to ensure that the student has, by the end of the
programme, been assessed successfully on all of the required topics.
Communicative language
One of the aims of the language programme, from Access 1 upwards, is to empower students
to communicate their own ideas, however simply, in the target language. This means that
once the initial vocabulary learning stage has been passed, students need to be given tasks to
do that require them to draw upon that language resource to produce their own responses or
utterances. This has implications for the type of tasks set and the type of questions asked. For
example, in a task where the student is required to give directions, the question “Où est la
banque?’ invites a communicative response only if there is a street plan, so that the student
has to find the location of the bank and say where it is according to the plan. An instruction
from the teacher to: “Say the bank is on the left”, with or without a street plan does not allow
the student to generate communicative language, because he/she is being told what to say and
may not, in fact, have been able to work out the position of the bank.
Reducing the number of assessments
Some schools have found ways to reduce the number times each student needs to be assessed.
• By combining two outcomes, both can be assessed on a single occasion. eg, listening and
speaking.
• By teaching Transactional Language and Language in Work concurrently, and choosing
corresponding topics, students can role-play one part and then another, covering both
scenarios (abroad seeking information and services and at home providing them).
The case study at the end of section D shows how one school planned to reduce the number
of assessment events at Access 3. The same principles apply at Access 2.
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CASE STUDY: ACCESS 2
Urban secondary school
Shopping for French Cheeses was chosen as the first theme for an Access 2 class in S3. This
aspect of Life in Another Country: French was selected from the Transactional Language
content grid, and relates to the topic food and drink. There were 6 students in the group, four
boys and 2 girls, all from the Resourced Location in the school, and all of whom would have
been withdrawn from modern languages prior to this year. They came to lessons in the
Modern Languages department for two periods a week.
One of their first tasks was to access the site <www.fromages.com> where they found their
way to a long list of French cheeses which they printed out. They took this list along to their
local supermarket delicatessen counter where they ticked off the French cheeses which were
on sale there, and added one or two which weren't on their list. They asked the man behind
the counter what he thought was different about French cheeses and reported this back later.
They bought samples for a cheese-tasting session they planned to organise.
Back in class, they accessed the Fromages site again and clicked on the cheeses which they
had identified. This brought up detailed descriptions of the cheese (in French or English),
place of origin etc (which they found on a map). They made printouts which they used with a
map for a wall display.
Before the cheese-tasting they learned the names of the cheeses and made printed cards to go
alongside the samples. They included some British cheeses for comparison. They learned that
the French cheeses should be served with bread, whereas local custom dictates crackers or
oatcakes. They also learned how to express their opinions in French (miam miam / j'aime ça /
je n'aime pas ça / c'est bon / c'est moche / pouah!/ c'est dégoutant / ça sent mauvais...) and the
cheese tasting session was used as part of their assessment for Outcome 2. A survey of
opinions provided data for a bar chart revealing the most and least popular cheeses, French
and local.
The web site and the local community provided the stimuli for a whole range of activities
which embraced far more than was required for the two outcomes. On a future occasion it
may be possible to consolidate community links by asking students to prepare handouts that
the supermarket could copy for customers. Later in the programme, in their S4 year, students
will be able to refer back to this experience when they learn how to buy cheese in a French
shop as part of the Transactional Language unit.
The second theme, on personal identity related to the content of the Personal Language unit.
This time students studied the French Foreign Legion. The main stimulus was a visit to the
class by a former legionnaire who lived locally. The internet was used to gather more
information and to generate discussion. Following this, students started more intensive
language work on the Personal Language unit but were unable to complete it by the end of
the year.
Next year the teacher plans to complete the Personal Language unit in the first term and to
spend the rest of the year on Transactional Language. This will allow the students to
complete the Access 2 Modern Languages Cluster by the end of S4. One student who has
experienced particular difficulty with work in the foreign language will be entered for the
Access 1 unit which involves only the study outcome. All of the students reached the end of
S3 with one unit successfully completed (Life in Another Country: French).
Access in Modern Languages
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PLANNING A COHERENT APPROACH
APPENDIX C1(i)
Example i: Topic: Shopping from Transactional Language and Language in Work.
TOPIC
CONTEXT Cheese
CURRICULAR LINKS Possible links with Geography, HE,
and Maths.
OUTCOMES
ACTIVITIES / notes
1. Investigation &
comparison
Investigate cheeses in local shops. Compare tastes of French
and Scottish cheeses and ways they would be served. Find out
prices in French shops and compare. Create ‘shop window
display’ and add labels. Organise cheese tasting event.
(Display can be used as props for other outcomes.)
2. Understanding the
foreign language.
Learn the names of the cheeses. Be able to label them correctly
and to identify them when asked. If possible, express simple
opinions based on taste (bridge to linguistic units and to
Access 3)
1. Receptive language
Be able to match up pictures and words, as in shop display.
(Links with Life Outcomes 1 and 2, and Work Outcome 2)
No. 1
UNIT
Life
UNIT
Transact
2. Interaction involving Role-play the part of the customer buying cheese in a French
shop.
use of the foreign
If possible, include weights and prices.
language
(Links with Life Outcome 1, Work Outcome 2)
UNIT
Work
1. Receptive language.
Identify requests for different types of French cheese.
(Link with Life outcomes)
2. Interaction involving Role play the part of the shopkeeper selling cheese in a French
shop, or selling cheese in the local shop to a French customer,
use of the foreign
using the foreign language.
language
(Links with Transact Outcome 2.)
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PLANNING A COHERENT APPROACH
APPENDIX C1(ii)
Example ii: Various topics drawn from Personal Language and Transactional Language
TOPIC
CONTEXT School trip
to Germany
CURRICULAR LINKS Possible links with Geography,
Maths, and PSE
OUTCOMES
ACTIVITIES / notes
1. Investigation &
comparison
Find on a map places to be visited. See how far that is from
here. Plan details of journey, route, times, etc. Compare street
plans etc. using information and pictures from brochures,
partner school etc.
2. Understanding the
foreign language.
Study street signs the group may expect to see. Be able to say
what they mean.
No. 2
UNIT
Life
UNIT
1. Receptive language
Personal
Be able to understand things people tell you about themselves:
name, age, etc. Class helps to draw up list of suitable details.
(Link with Outcome 2)
2. Interaction involving Take part in a conversation which, in response to questions,
you give information about yourself.
use of the foreign
(Link to Outcome 1)
language
UNIT
Transact
1. Receptive language.
Be able to identify items on a typical café menu and say what
is available.
2. Interaction involving Role-play the part of a customer in a German café. Order and
pay.
use of the foreign
language
Access in Modern Languages
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PLANNING A COHERENT APPROACH
TOPIC
CONTEXT
CURRICULAR LINKS
OUTCOMES
ACTIVITIES / notes
APPENDIX C1(iii)
No.
UNIT
1. Investigation &
comparison
2. Understanding the
foreign language.
UNIT
1. Receptive language
2. Interaction involving
use of the foreign
language
UNIT
1. Receptive language.
2. Interaction involving
use of the foreign
language
Access in Modern Languages
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APPENDIX C2 (i) An example of a cross-curricular programme using Life in Another Country as a focus
MODERN LANGUAGES
Study two aspects of life in Greece
including:
Be able to name food and herbs in Greek
Prepare labels in Greek for the tasting
session
Prepare a menu in Greek for the meal you
make.
Be able to say what you like and dislike
LIFE IN
ANOTHER
COUNTRY:
MANAGING ENVIRONMENTAL
RESOURCES
Grow and harvest herbs used in Greek
cookery
HOME ECONOMICS
GREECE
Buy Greek food in local supermarket
Organise a ‘tasting session’
Plan and serve a Greek meal
CORE SKILLS Number
Currency
Buying food / plants for herb garden
Budgeting for events
CORE SKILLS Communication
GEOGRAPHY / ART / CRAFT
Find out about Greece and how to get
there
Make posters for the classroom
Write and illustrate a booklet about life
in Greece; put it in the Library for others
to read
PHYSICAL EDUCATION / MUSIC
Listen to traditional Greek music
Learn a Greek folk dance
Learn a Greek song
Access in Modern Languages
MAKING LOCAL JOURNEYS
plan / do / review
Visit local supermarket for samples
of Greek produce
Visit travel agents for brochures on
Greece
Organise outing to local Greek
restaurant
Do research in local branch library
Write invitations to the meal
Make notes
Prepare posters
Read and respond to a traditional Greek
story
CORE SKILLS Working together
Planning and serving a meal for guests
Planning and undertaking a visit to a
local restaurant with friends
With others, make posters and/or
booklets about Greece
64
APPENDIX C2 (ii) An example of a multi-cultural programme using Life in Another Country as a focus
MODERN LANGUAGES
Study two aspects of life in Pakistan
including:
What languages are used in Pakistan
Be able to name some food and herbs used
in traditional dishes from Pakistan
Prepare labels for a tasting session
Prepare a menu for the meal you make.
Be able to say what you like and dislike
LIFE IN
ANOTHER
COUNTRY:
PAKISTAN
CORE SKILLS Number
Currency
Buying food
Budgeting for events
PHYSICAL EDUCATION / MUSIC
Listen to traditional music from Scotland
and Pakistan
Learn a folk dance from each country
Learn a song from each country
Access in Modern Languages
Study and compare traditional costumes
of Scotland and Pakistan
Organise and take part in a fashion show
MRE
Find out about some of the festivals
celebrated in Pakistan
Find out if they are celebrated in this
country by people whose family came
from Pakistan
Invite visitors who can tell you more
Organise and take part in a festival
CORE SKILLS Communication
GEOGRAPHY / ART / CRAFT
Find out about Pakistan and how to get
there
Make posters for the classroom
Write and illustrate a booklet about life
in Pakistan; put it in the Library for
others to read
HOME ECONOMICS Fabric
MAKING LOCAL JOURNEYS
plan / do / review
Visit local shops for samples of
ingredients used in traditional
cookery
Visit travel agents for brochures
about Pakistan
Visit local people and places to learn
about aspects of life in Pakistan
Do research in local branch library
Make notes
Prepare posters
Read and respond to a traditional story
Tell someone what you have learned
about Pakistan
CORE SKILLS Working together
Planning and serving a typical meal for
guests
Planning and undertaking a visit to a
local place of interest
With others, make posters and/or
booklets about Pakistan
65
APPENDIX C3 Sample assessment
Unit: Personal Language
Topic: Personal Identification
Task: Speaking
Your French teacher is organising penpals for your class. She wants you to talk about
yourself on tape so that she can send the cassette off with your application.
Task: Introduce yourself to a new penpal on tape.
You must provide at least 4 (or 6) pieces of information about yourself. For example,
you can talk about:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
your name
your age
your birthday
your nationality
where you live
what you look like
what sort of person you are
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
how many brothers and sisters you have
what they look like
what pets you have
what your parents do for a living
which colour you prefer
anything else you have learned how to say
about yourself
Commentary
Performance level: The task is suitable for assessment at Access 2 (minimum 4 pieces
of information) or Access 3 (minimum 6 pieces of information)
Preparation: the list will contain only items which the student has already studied. The
student may be given the task in advance with time to review and revise what he
knows and can do. He could be encouraged to use the list as a check list and tick off
the items he feels he can handle successfully.
The assessment: Eventually the task will be carried out by the student without
prompting or support other than the reminders included in the list. There is no time
limit, except that the task must be completed in one sitting. The student can delete and
re-record until he is satisfied that it is the best he can do. Support may include
ensuring that the student knows what to do.
This task is open-ended enough to be used for revision and re-assessment if the
student fails to perform satisfactorily the first time.
When updating the assessment record, details of topics covered would depend upon
the items the student managed to record successfully on tape.
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APPENDIX C4 Summary of assessment at Access 2
Life in another Country
Content:
2 topics from Appendix 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3
(link to content of any other units studied)
O1
Compare aspects of life in a country other than Britain with the same
aspects of life in your own community.
(If other language units are studied, the country studied should be one
in which that language is an official language.)
Task types:
Presentation, discussion, display, writing etc. in English or target
language.
Criteria:
a) Candidate makes 6 key points; and
b) 3 comparisons.
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
O2
In respect of the main language used in the country being studied,
demonstrate understanding of a limited range of vocabulary associated
with each of the aspects of life being studied.
Task types:
Reading / Listening
Criteria:
Demonstrates familiarity with 6 out of 8 words / phrases relating to the
area studied
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
Minimum number of assessments overall: 4
Personal Language
Content:
2 topics from Appendix 1.1
O1
Demonstrate understanding of personal information presented in oral
or written form in the target language.
Task types:
Reading / Listening
Criteria:
Identifies correctly 4 items of information drawn from chosen topics
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
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O2
Engage in social interaction with a user of the target language
Task types:
role play / interview / conversation
Criteria:
Successful interaction within a familiar context.
The student makes at least 4 successful contributions to the exchange.
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
Minimum number of assessments overall: 4
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Transactional Language
Content:
2 topics from Appendix 1.2
O1
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in oral or written
form in the target language.
Task types:
Reading / Listening
Criteria:
Identifies correctly 4 items of information drawn from the chosen
topics
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
O2
Obtain information, goods or services in an interaction involving use
of the target language.
Task types:
role play
Criteria:
Interacts successfully with a sympathetic user of the target language,
within familiar contexts, in order to obtain information, goods or
services. The student makes at least 4 successful contributions to the
exchange.
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
Minimum number of assessments overall: 4
Language in Work
Content:
2 topics from Appendix 1.3
O1
Demonstrate understanding of requests for information presented in
oral or written form in the target language.
Task types:
Reading / Listening
Criteria:
Identifies correctly 4 requests for information drawn from the chosen
topics
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
O2
Provide information, goods or services in an interaction involving use
of the target language.
Task types:
role play
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Criteria:
Interacts successfully with a sympathetic user of the target language,
within familiar contexts, in order to obtain information, goods or
services. The student makes at least 4 successful contributions to the
exchange.
Minimum number of assessments: 2, different topics
Minimum number of assessments overall: 4
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ACCESS IN MODERN LANGUAGES
D. ACCESS 3
Notes in this section apply to Access 3. They should be read in conjunction with the
general notes in section A and, of course, with the relevant unit specifications and
assessment support material (NABs). Because of the overlap with Access 2, Section C
will also be relevant.
NATIONAL PROVISION AT ACCESS 3
Benchmarking
Unlike Access levels 1 and 2, which were designed to offer accessible and progressive
provision for students for whom there was previously no mainstream provision for
assessment in modern languages, Access 3 provides alternative provision for those
who might choose to follow other pathways.
Access 3 is equivalent, in terms of standards of performance achieved, to Standard
Grade Foundation Level and to Skillstart units.
Who is Access 3 for?
The absence of external examination, and the increased flexibility this permits in
terms of course design, makes Access 3 suitable for a wide range of candidates, in
schools, and in further education settings. For example:
• students who have been working successfully at Access level 2 and are ready to
take their language learning further;
• students who have been working reasonably successfully at Standard Grade
Foundation level but are considered to be at risk of failing the final exam; they
may be able to meet the criteria for internal assessment at Access 3;
• students who are embarking on foreign language study for the first time;
Intermediate 1 is considered to be too demanding; one or more Access 3 units are
used as an introduction to further study;
• students who are beginning study of a second foreign language at Intermediate 1;
Access 3 will provide a ‘fall-back’ position for any students who may find
themselves struggling.
• Access 3 can be used as an easy introduction to language learning for beginners of
any age, and may serve to provide a short access course for adult returners who
may need re-assurance before progressing to more advanced work.
Schools involved in the Implementation Study for modern languages at Access 3
during session 2000-01 were all using Access 3 in S3/4. They found it particularly
useful for students who:
• had special educational needs;
• experienced low levels of concentration;
• had difficulty retaining information for long periods of time;
• were disaffected and/or poorly motivated;
• were frequently absent.
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Although there are as yet no official statistics on the gender of those entered for
Access 3, ad hoc reports suggest a preponderance of boys.
Programme content
There are three units: Personal Language, Transactional Language and Language in
Work. Content is based on the topics listed in Appendix A1, at the end of Section A.
Each unit has 4 topics, all of which must be covered. How they are covered is left to
centres to decide, taking into account the interests of students and teachers and the
availability of resources. The topic development lists contains suggestions; they are
not mandatory. At present, units may be offered in French, German, Italian, Russian
or Spanish. The units can be studied individually (worth 1 credit towards a Scottish
Group Award); individual units in the same language may be paired (2 credits); three
units in the same language constitutes a ‘cluster’ (worth 3 credits).
Centres will note that there is no cultural study unit at Access 3. At Access 3 and
above it is expected that aspects of life in the foreign country will be integral to the
language content studied. Centres seeking to provide a distinct cultural unit may wish
to consider the freestanding cultural study units listed for reference in Appendix A3.
However, although these units have been levelled against units in the Higher Still
framework and are also referred to as Access 2, Access 3 etc., they are not part of the
Higher Still framework and therefore do not count towards clusters in modern
languages or any other cluster. They would count towards a group award as additional
single units. Students would still need to achieve all three Access 3 modern language
units in order to achieve a modern languages cluster at Access 3. The additional units
are listed for reference only. There are no further details in this pack.
Assessment
The units are internally assessed. There is no external assessment. Although NABs
provide advice and some examples of assessment tasks, these are intended only to
indicate standards for assessment; centres are free to design assessment tasks which
reflect precisely what their students have learned. This gives centres an unprecedented
opportunity to devise programmes which both meet the learning needs of their
particular students and which they will find motivating and enjoyable. (More on
assessment later in this Section.)
Advantages of the Access 3 approach
By requiring a relatively small minimum number of topics to be covered, more time is
provided for students to consolidate their learning before their performance is
assessed, allowing them to achieve higher levels of performance. By assessing at the
completion of each topic, centres are able to assess students on the level of their
performance rather than on their capacity for long term memorisation.
Implementation studies suggest that this approach is proving more satisfying for
students and staff and that levels of performance are being achieved which are higher
than had been expected.
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Writing in the foreign language has often proved a barrier to success for some
students. At Access 3, writing in the foreign language is not mandatory. Though it
may well form part of the teaching and learning process, it need not be formally
assessed unless it is the sole way in which productive language can be generated; for
example, by students who have difficulties in speaking. (Writing may, nevertheless,
be important for a wider range of students. See Building bridges, below.)
Feed back seems to confirm that, where they are offered a suitable programme of
study, students really enjoy learning a language; they are keen to have the opportunity
to learn other languages; and they are capable of achieving higher levels of
performance than they or their teachers expected.
Progression routes
Students who have studied for one of two units may be able to achieve success in the
remaining unit/s to complete the cluster.
The themes of each of the units at Access 3 are continued at Intermediate 1, so that,
although standards and content coverage will be more demanding, there is a sense in
which Access 3 can be considered as a preparation for Intermediate 1. (However, see
Building bridges, below.)
Students whose performance levels at Access 3 and whose command of English
suggests that Intermediate 1 may prove too demanding may progress laterally to study
of a different language at Access 3, either as individual units or, potentially, as a
complete cluster.
Students who have struggled to achieve the standard required for Access 3 but who
have reached the level required for certification at Access 2 may be able to achieve
Access 3 with additional time and effort. This need not be too repetitive, since the
way topics are developed may make them seem very different next time round.
Figure D1 illustrates some of the programmes offered (or planned) at Access 3 in S3/4
by schools taking part in the Implementation Study.
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Figure D1: Using Access 3 in S3/S4
S3
1
S4
2
Access 2 Life in Another
Country (France) + Access 3
Personal Language (French)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Access 3 Transactional
Language + Language in
Work (French)
Access 3 cluster (Spanish)
3
Access cluster (French)
Intermediate 1 (French)
4
Standard Grade Foundation level with Access 3 assessment
used as ‘safety net’ to ensure that those at risk of failing F
level have something to show for their achievements
Access 3 cluster taught over 2 years with Access 2 being used
as a ‘safety net’.
Access 3 cluster
Standard Grade General
5
6
Access in Modern Languages
achievement
Access 2: Life etc. (France)
Access 3: cluster (French)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Access 3 1 or 2 units or
cluster (Spanish)
Access 3 cluster (French)
Int 1: 1, 2 or 3 units or course
(French) [option to complete
in S5]
Access 3 units or cluster.
Combination of Access 2/3
units/clusters
Access 3 cluster
S Grade General Level
74
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Building bridges to other levels of provision
Depending on the context, Access 3 may represent the ultimate goal for some
students, or the starting point for others. Either way, as with all aspects of the
framework, it is important for teachers/lecturers to be aware throughout the
programme of the likely next step for their students, so that they can build appropriate
bridges.
‘Smoothing’ that next step is particularly important for students working at Access 3,
since the next step, Intermediate level 1, is the first one in which external assessment
is one of the components. Of course, the student is not obliged to take the external
assessment, and some will go on to take just one or two internally assessed units.
However, even for these students there are important differences for which they need
to be prepared as early as possible and which may have implications for the tasks
which are incorporated into their Access 3 programme.
The three units which make up Intermediate 1 have similar names to those at Access
3, and the topics listed will seem very familiar, so Access 3 will certainly be a good
preparation for Intermediate 1, however, there are important differences. Whereas at
Access 3 centres can select any approach they wish for developing the set topics
(because they will also be determining the assessment tasks), at Intermediate 1 the
topic development lists are much more important; it is those lists which are likely to
determine the content to be sampled in the external examination. This means that all
students are expected to cover all the topic development areas, whether or not they
intend to enter for the external examination. Consequently, for students who are likely
to proceed to Intermediate 1, it would be as well to keep a closer eye on the topic
development lists than would be necessary for those for whom Access 3 is the
ultimate goal.
A further development at Intermediate 1 is the attention given to the skill of writing in
the foreign language. Although writing may well be one of the activities students will
engage in at Access 3, and may be formally assessed if that is appropriate, writing in
the foreign language is not mandatory. If the student plans to proceed to Intermediate
1 it would be as well for a more rigorous approach to writing to be built into the
Access 3 programme, even if it is not formally assessed, otherwise the transition to
Intermediate 1 may prove problematical.
The place of grammar
Formal teaching of grammar may not be appropriate for students working at Access
level, but they will benefit from approaches which introduce them to ‘patterns of
language’ which they can begin to recognise and apply for themselves. Many students
who experience difficulty in processing language can be helped by approaches which
allow them to see structures and patterns represented graphically. If these are
carefully introduced and then put on permanent display for future reference they can
be very effective aids.
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Multisensory approaches
Provision of visual (pictorial, graphical) support for language is important for some
learners whatever their level of ability; for those with learning difficulties it can make
a crucial difference. As far as possible, all the senses, including the kinesthetic, should
be recruited to help with the effort of experiencing, learning, remembering and
recalling the elements of language which students are exposed to in the course of their
programme. Each sense can provide an additional ‘pathway’ to the brain which will
not only aid memorisation but provide alternative ‘hooks’ by which to recall the
information from storage when required. Many students working at this level
experience difficulties with academic learning with its emphasis on text; it does not
mean that they cannot learn, but that they may learn better in different ways.
Programmes based on active, multisensory approaches can enhance learning, so that
students can achieve the goals set and enjoy a sense of achievement.
Other good advice on learning and teaching approaches can be found in the Subject
Guide: Modern Languages.
A context for language learning
Although there is no study unit at Access 3, teachers who have used the unit Life in
Another Country at Access 2 find that some of the principles they found valuable
there can be transferred effectively to work at Access 3. In particular, the notion of
having an integrating ‘theme’ to link different aspects of coursework; the deliberate
linking of the unfamiliar to the familiar; the search for connections between modern
languages and other areas of the curriculum; the use of local people and places as
resources for learning; involving students in selecting topics and topic development
which are of particular interest to them: all these can help to enhance the relevance of
the programme to students’ daily lives and improve motivation. (For more
information, see Section C.)
Snapshots
So convinced of the benefits are some teachers that they are using the single
Access 2 unit Life in Another Country as an introduction to Access 3. Others
have decided to use the ideas in their programme design without actually
entering students for the unit. In one school a ‘study project’ has been
introduced into programmes at various levels.
Other centres, while not adopting a discrete project approach, have made a
deliberate attempt to organise their topic work around one or more themes of
interest to their students. Topics adopted by centres include: football, the
environment, long-distance lorry driving, an imaginary or actual visit abroad.
One school used an Enterprise Activity unit to provide a context for the
French Transactional Language unit. They ran a French café for a school fête
for which they baked croissants, and insisted that their customers spoke only
French.
Appendix D1 is a proforma which centres might find useful for planning a thematic
approach.
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Resources
Student materials disseminated to centres provide a starting point for those
introducing Access 3 or Access 2 for the first time, but they are, of course, limited in
the range of topic developments that they can offer. Nevertheless, centres are finding
that they provide a sort of template for developing other topic areas and that they can
pull in materials from other course books to fit a similar framework. One school, for
example, has added a chapter on ‘Camping’ to the topic ‘Accommodation’. Since the
topics to be covered are ones which can be found in most introductory language
courses, there is no shortage of materials which can be used in this way. Additional
topics can be added over time to produce an extended resource which goes far beyond
the needs of any one particular class or group. Few schools seem to be making use of
a single ‘text book’, preferring to draw on a range of resources to meet their students’
needs.
As centres become more familiar with the flexibility with regard to topic development
which internal assessment makes possible they are introducing subjects which are less
well covered by traditional textbooks. Using any materials which come to hand, the
internet and active learning, they are encouraging students to compile and create their
own learning materials on themes of interest to them (eg. football, trucking and the
environment) and linking these to the mandatory topics to be covered.
Snapshot
A school adopting the theme of ‘trucking’ with a German class of S4 boys,
incorporated into the Transactional Language unit: food, drink and
accommodation (at truck stops), accommodation, shopping (for petrol/derv);
asking directions, etc.
Models of provision
Centres are free to organise teaching groups in any way they choose. The following
examples are drawn from schools who took part in the Access 3 Modern Languages
Implementation Study carried out in the session 2000-01. No colleges were included
in the study. Some of the schools offered more than one of the options described, but
the variations have been described separately for the sake of clarity. In some cases,
schools were in their first year of implementation and were able only to indicate the
plans they hoped to implement in subsequent years.
Size There are no regulations regarding class/group sizes. However, in the schools
which took part in the Implementation Study, sizes tended to be small. The smallest
was 5; most fell between 10 and 16; the largest was 25.
Composition Class groups were organised in a variety of ways. The flexibility
inherent in Access 3 arrangements meant that centres had freedom to group students
in whatever way best suited their students and their own resources and staff’s
experience of using the new arrangements. Some examples follow.
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School A
The Access 3 group was taught and assessed separately from the Standard Grade
Foundation class.
School B
Students were taught in a Foundation Level class. When it became clear that some
students were at risk of failing the final Standard Grade examination, they were
entered for Access 3 and assessment was carried out at the end of suitable topics, in
line with SQA requirements. Support for Learning staff helped by
• making themselves familiar with the Access 3 arrangements;
• identifying those aspects of the Standard Grade programme which were likely to
meet requirements;
• preparing students for assessment; and
• adapting materials where necessary.
School C
Access 3 was used instead of Foundation Level in S3. This served as a stepping stone
to Standard Grade General Level in S4. The school pointed out that this route took
students to a level of achievement higher than they would normally have been
expected to achieve.
School D
Access 2 and 3 were taught together. Differentiation was achieved by entering and
assessing students according to their level of performance. As Access 3 students had
to pass on four topics, Access 2 students had a choice of topics on which they could
be assessed. This simplified the reassessement process.
School E
Similar to School D, but staff were more familiar with the arrangements and felt that
students attempting internal units at Intermediate 1 could also be included.
Time allocation Again, centres devised a range of solutions to suit their student
groups and their circumstances. Some examples:
School F
A two-year programme was built up as follows: in S3, Life in Another Country:
French (Access 2), and Personal Language (Access 3); in S4, Transactional
Language and Language in Work were run concurrently.
School G
Reduced time was allocated to modern languages for students being offered an
alternative work-related curriculum. Access 3 was covered over two years with a
smaller weekly allocation of time.
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School H
The school offered Access 3 to all students as an alternative to Standard Grade
Foundation Level. Students were able to cover all three Access 3 units in S3. The
school intended to enter them for Intermediate 1 in S4.
School I
A group of students identified in S2 as being poorly motivated were offered Access 3
in S3 as a way of completing their programme in their first foreign language. They
would be offered a second foreign language at Access 3 in S4. The school reported
that students who had been discouraged found this formula motivating, and liked the
idea of leaving school with qualifications in two languages despite the fact that they
were not ‘high fliers’.
School J
Similar to school I, except that students would be offered a choice in S4: to continue
with their first language at Intermediate 1 or to study a new language at Access 3.
Benefits to students
Schools taking part in the implementation study reported increased motivation,
interest and ‘engagement’. They attributed this to the fact that internal assessment
allows topics to be selected and customised or adapted to suit the interests as well as
the needs of their particular student group. They also felt that fewer topics and more
focused assessment provided more opportunities for consolidation and better retention
of what had been learned. They felt that improved motivation had improved
attainment and self-esteem, which further improved motivation and attainment.
School felt this had had a beneficial affect on behaviour and concentration. Students
‘at risk’ were more likely to leave with a certificate which testified to what they had in
fact achieved.
Schools which had previously offered Scotvec module 1 as an alternative to Standard
Grade Foundation Level were less surprised at the levels achieved. However, they
reported satisfaction at being now within a recognised framework in which students
who were capable of it could progress to the next level.
Benefits to schools
Schools report that arrangements for Access 3 give them additional ways of
complying with the modern languages entitlement for every student and that fewer
students are now withdrawn or at risk of failing. The flexibility allows them to find
more creative solutions to the demands of timetabling and to experiment with
diversification Opportunities for progression in smaller steps, combined with
improved motivation seem likely to result in improved attainment, which will aid
school target setting.
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ASSESSMENT
Assessment requirements and guidelines for all three units at Access 3 are well
covered in the unit specifications and the associated NABs. The notes included in the
section cover only those points where clarification appears to be needed.
Exemplification of standards of performance
Although some assessment tasks for each outcome are included in the NABs, they are
intended only as exemplification of the standards required. Given the freedom centres
have to develop topics, it is unlikely that the tasks provided will mirror sufficiently
closely the items of language actually learned by the group. As centres become
familiar with the requirements they will find that the teaching materials they use can
be readily adapted for use as assessment tasks. Often, at this stage, all that
distinguishes a learning task from an assessment task is the ability of the student to
undertake the task successfully on his/her own.
The teaching/assessment cycle
Teachers are familiar with a range of teaching cycles or and most will have
established a sequence which they find works for them and their students. Below, is a
typical teaching/assessment sequence which might be employed with students
working at this level. It describes one possible approach to a single topic.
Stage 1 Introduction to the topic area and discussion of how it will be treated.
Students are clear from the outset what they will be able to do at the end of the topic.
Stage 2a Presentation of a small ‘chunk’ of basic vocabulary, using a variety of
media and appealing to as many senses as possible. The teacher provides many
opportunities to for students to hear and see the items of language before they are
asked to produce them for themselves. Extensive use of techniques such as repetition,
chanting, word recognition etc. For some students scribing words will help to fix them
in memory. At this stage some or all of the words will be learned as discrete items;
communication will come later. A means is found to record the words learned so that
students can refresh their memories at a later stage. These can take the form of word
lists which can be added to and used throughout the cycle; posters, diagrams etc
which can remain on display.
Stage 2b, c, etc. More small chunks of language are presented, each one building on
the earlier ones so that learning is consolidated and language learned earlier is not
forgotten. Simple language games are very useful at this stage.
Stage 3 When enough discrete items have been learned, students learn how to use
these to communicate meaning. Simple sentence structures are introduced, one at a
time, over a period of time. Students are shown how the words they have learned can
fit into the pattern of language introduced, and this serves to further consolidate basic
vocabulary. Activities are devised which allow students to become familiar with
phrases and sentences in which they words they have learned appear, so that they can
recognise them for themselves and eventually begin to use them. They are provided
with opportunities for manipulating familiar language and creating new patterns.
More elaborate language games, raps, rhymes etc. are useful at this stage.
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Stage 4 Reading, writing, listening and speaking are practised, with the teacher
providing as much support as is required for the student to be successful. Where
possible, the support should be in a form the student can use independently, so as not
to become over-reliant on human support. Where human support is found to be
essential, the aim of the teacher involved is to coach the student gradually to take
control of the activity for him/herself. This is where the word lists and other reference
material will be useful as the student is taught the skills and techniques which will
help him/her to access the necessary material for him/herself.
Stage 5 Once the student is able to perform tasks independently to the standard
required an assessment task is provided. The student is clear that the task must be
completed without help from the teacher or other students but that he/she will have an
opportunity to prepare for the assessment in advance. Assessment tasks should not
introduce new words which the student cannot be expected to know. If the student
cannot carry out the task without support, then the match between teaching/learning
programme and assessment task, and/or the level at which the student has been
entered, probably need to be reviewed. The better the preparation and the better the
match, the more likely it is that the student will be successful in achieving the
standard required in the assessment task. Where possible, tasks are open-ended, so
that students who are capable of achieving more than the minimum standard are able
to do so. If a student is really unable to meet the required standard, it may be worth
looking at the standards required for the same topic at Access 2 to see if the student
could be entered successfully at a lower level. The specimen paper in Appendix C3
provides an example of a speaking test which both gives support to the student and is
sufficiently open-ended to be able to indicate performance at Access 3 or Access 2.
The paper in Appendix D2 provides an example of a supported listening assessment
task.
Stage 6 When the student has reached the required standard of performance for an
outcome, the achievement is noted both by the teacher and by the student. Learning
materials and evidence of tasks achieved are retained for future reference by the
student. Evidence which meets SQA’s requirements is retained for moderation by the
teacher. Although taped evidence is not required for outcomes which involve
speaking and listening, both are useful ways of collecting and storing the evidence.
Otherwise, notes of the assessment task and observational checklists etc. must be
sufficiently detailed for a moderator to have a clear idea of the nature of the task and
the students’ performances.
At Access 3 the various stages may last for several lessons, for weeks or even for
months. The challenge for teachers will be to find different ways of presenting the
tasks so that students gain increasing mastery without losing interest.
Assessment materials
Centres who have used the student materials disseminated by HSDU have found that
they are suitable for use by most students at Access 3. They have also found that the
revision sheets at the end of each topic provide good preparation for assessment.
Some revision sheets require very little adaptation to make them suitable for use as
assessment tasks. Materials suitable for both learning and assessment can be found
amongst the resources many centres have built up to support work at Foundation
Level. See Section E for lists of other resources centres have found useful.
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Reassessment
Schools report that, with the additional time made available for each topic, and with
the opportunity to assess when the student is observed to have reached the required
standard, most students are successful on their first attempt. If they are not, it usually
means that the student was not, in fact, ready, or had not understood the nature of the
task or the support which could be used. In this case the task is probably best treated
as formative preparation for further assessment.
An alternative way of reassessing, used by some centres, relies on the students’
programme of study being based on more than the minimum content. Centres are
encouraged to enrich the programme according to the students’ abilities and interests.
This can lead to more than 4 topics being studied in a unit, or to each topic being
developed in a number of ways (sub-topics). Either way provides more opportunities
for assessment and means that if a student is not successful in achieving the required
standard for a particular learning outcome for one topic, it may not be necessary to
repeat the formal assessment at that time. The experience can be used formatively, to
help the student see where he/she needs to improve learning techniques, but formal
assessment is not carried out again until the end of the next topic, by which time the
student’s level of performance should have improved. This is seen as a way of
relieving the burden of re-assessment both for the student and for the teacher and of
showing students the importance of learning how to improve their learning strategies.
It also creates a situation in which the student does not have to be assessed on every
topic/sub-topic studied, but can ‘nominate’ a topic for assessment when he/she feels
confident about it. There is no reason in principle why all students in the group should
be assessed on exactly the same topics/subtopics. However, if this procedure is used
for reassessment, the teacher needs to keep very careful records to ensure that the
student has, by the end of the programme, been assessed successfully on all of the
required topics.
Communicative language
One of the aims of the language programme, from Access 1 upwards, is to empower
students to communicate their own ideas, however simply, in the target language.
This means that, once the initial vocabulary learning stage has been passed, students
need to be given tasks to do that require them to draw upon that language resource to
produce their own responses or utterances. This has implications for the type of tasks
set and the type of questions asked. For example, in a task where the student is
required to give directions, the question “Où est la banque?’ invites a communicative
response only if there is a street plan, so that the student has to find the location of the
bank and say where it is according to the plan. An instruction from the teacher to:
“Say the bank is on the left”, with or without a street plan does not allow the student
to generate communicative language, because he/she is being told what to say and
may not, in fact, have been able to work out the position of the bank.
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Reducing the number of assessments
Some schools have found ways to reduce the number times each student needs to be
assessed.
• By combining two outcomes, both can be assessed on a single occasion. eg,
listening and speaking.
• By teaching Transactional Language and Language in Work concurrently, and
choosing corresponding topics, students can role-play one part and then another,
covering both scenarios (abroad, seeking information and services; and at home,
providing them).
The case study which follows shows how one school planned to reduce the number of
assessment events for students working at Access 3.
Access in Modern Languages
83
CASE STUDY: ACCESS 3
Rural secondary school
National Qualification
Access provision offers
• an introductory, basic level of language, sufficient to make contact and get by;
• the opportunity to learn practical, useful language;
• the opportunity to gain a National Qualification;
to students who, for one reason or another, would probably not perform well in an
end-of-course examination: students with special needs, the disaffected, students with
high absenteeism, or who have only a very limited amount of time to devote to initial
language study etc.
Flexible Content
There is no final exam, and all the internal assessment can be set by the presenting
centre, as detailed in the national units and NABs. So, as long as basic personal and
transactional language is covered in each of 4 prescribed areas, you can teach what
you like and cover as much or as little as the students can cope with. We have always
included learning about the geography, customs and way of life in the foreign
country/countries in our modular courses, and Access allows us to continue to do so.
Encouraging Student Autonomy
It’s always a good idea to let students think they have choices and that their opinions
matter. Let them choose (from a fairly limited range) the topics they will study or the
order they will study them in. Sharing the pass/fail criteria with your students gives
them valuable insight into how to pass and also allows them to target-set and work
towards improvement.
Many of the students who will be learning a language at Access 3 are likely to have
very poor self-esteem and low expectations of themselves. It is essential therefore to
cultivate a supportive environment in which it is not really possible to fail, and where
teacher-support is withdrawn only when students can confidently operate without it.
Help sheets, mnemonics, prompts, wall posters, gestures, raps, songs, colour-coding,
anything to help students use the foreign language confidently should be seen as an
integral part of classroom practice, and any activity which students can undertake
more or less independently of this support may qualify retrospectively as an
assessment activity.
Flexible Assessment - Combining Assessment
The assessments are broken down into 17 little elements, which is very useful if you
have students with very severe learning difficulties who couldn’t be expected to cope
with any but the most straightforward and tightly focused assessment activity. One of
the strengths of the Access units, however, is the fact that many of these assessments
can be combined, without making them unnecessarily complicated, so that most
students will do perhaps 9 or 10 assessments over the 120 hour course. As the table at
the end shows (Figure D2), the assessments for Transactional Language and
Language in Work will usually involve students in role-playing both sides of a
transaction, and so the 8 assessment tasks proposed will actually appear to be only 4
tasks to the students: one at the end of each teaching unit, while students still operate
confidently in that area.
Access in Modern Languages
84
Achievement for All
Access 3 involves assessment of 4 basic topic areas for Personal Language and a
further 4 for Transactional and Work Language. Speaking assessments require
students to make at least 6 valid contributions to a conversation. Access 2 requires
students to be assessed on only 2 topics for each unit, and to make just 4 contributions
to a conversation. So if Access 3 students struggle to pass all the assessments, even
when broken down into discrete elements, they may still qualify for an award at
Access 2 level.
Student-friendly Assessment
Assessment can be overtaken at the point of study, so students who can not retain
language easily or who find external assessment too daunting are supported by
Access. Students are also greatly encouraged by their steady achievement of unit
outcomes.
Figure D2 shows what we plan to do, given 2x80 mins/week (= 100+ hours), with
reassessment perhaps of individual elements for any students who can’t quite pass the
multi-tasked assessments proposed.
Of course, it would be possible to devise assessments which covered even more
elements at one time, but if students are capable of sustaining complicated assessment
they should perhaps be considering Intermediate Level courses instead!
Linear Progression
Some students may well be able to build on the language they have learned at Access
3 and progress to Intermediate 1 in the same language. For those who would have
difficulty retaining sufficient language for an end-of-course exam, it would still be
possible to pass the internal assessment and gain unit awards at Intermediate 1. For
others it may be more appropriate to transfer the language-learning skills they have
acquired to another language and to learn one or more additional languages to Access
3. We certainly find that students with special needs get more out of learning several
languages than they would out of extended study of a single language. If they can
switch languages before they have experienced failure, they will approach their new
language with some degree of enthusiasm and with better organisational and language
skills.
Access in Modern Languages
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PERSONAL LANGUAGE
Figure
D2
When?
Aug-Oct
LANGUAGE IN WORK (LW)
Teaching / Assessment
Self and Family (i.d.)
Introduce yourself
3 tasks
Oct-Dec
4 tasks
Jan-March
3 tasks
April-May
TRANSACTIONAL LANGUAGE (TL)
Outcomes
addressed
Speaking
Listening
Home Town
Speaking
Prepared talk on town
Read short extracts from brochures Reading
etc.
Free Time
Conversation
about
time/hobbies/how often? etc.
Education
Conversation about school
2 or 3
tasks
free Speaking
Listening*
Speaking
Teaching / Assessment
Café / restaurant
Read a menu,
order food and drink, pay
Take an order for food and drink, provide
correct items and
provide a bill using a menu
Shops and shopping
Identify, ask for and buy presents and souvenirs
Understand requests for, provide and sell
presents and souvenirs
Travel, touring and tourism
Understand train information and buy specific
train tickets
Understand request, read train information and
provide correct information and ticket(s)
Hospitality and accommodation
Ask for hotel rooms, meal times, or
Request rooms in advance in writing
Provide services requested
Outcomes
addressed
TL Reading
TL Speaking
LW Listening
LW Speaking
LW Reading
TL Speaking
TL Listening
LW Listening
LW Speaking
TL Speaking
TL Listening
LW Listening
LW Speaking
LW Reading
TL Speaking, or
TL Writing
LW Sp or Wr
LW Li or Re
Total number of tasks: 4/5
Total number of tasks: 8
Some students may succeed in meeting all the outcomes in a relatively small number of tasks. However, some students many need to undertake
additional tasks in order to ensure that all the topic areas have been covered in the course of their assessment. The record sheet included in the
NABs is intended to assist teachers and students to keep track both of outcomes and of topic coverage.
Access in Modern Languages
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PLANNING AROUND A THEME
UNIT: Personal Language
TOPICS
APPENDIX D1
THEME:
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO THEME
1. Personal
identification
2. House / Home town
3. Free time
4. Daily routine
UNIT: Transactional Language
TOPICS
THEME:
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO THEME
1. Shopping
2. Eating out
3. Travel / touring
4. Accommodation
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UNIT: Language in Work
TOPICS
THEME:
TOPIC DEVELOPMENT LINKED TO THEME
1. Shopping
2. Eating out
3. Travel / tourism
4. Hospitality
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APPENDIX D2 Sample assessment
Unit: Personal Language
Topic: Personal identification & Free time
Task: Listening
Your penpal sends you a cassette. He is talking about his hobbies and what he does in
his free time.
Task: Listen to the cassette and do the task below.
Complete the following sentences in English:
At the weekend, Jean likes going ___________________________.
On ___________________ he likes __________________ or going to the disco.
He doesn’t like going to the ________________________.
In the evening, he likes to __________________________.
He prefers _____________________ and ____________________.
He ________________________ the news.
On ________________ he likes going to the football match with his
___________________.
Commentary
Performance level: There are 10 pieces of information to be given, the students must
get at least 6 right in order to be successful.
Preparation: The tape and task will contain only items which the student has already
studied and can be expected to recognise. The student may be told the task in advance
with time to review and revise the language which she feels might be on the tape.
Since this is a listening test, she should be encouraged to use a revision strategy which
involves recognising the sounds of the words and phrases which might occur.
The assessment: The task will be carried out by the student without prompting or
support other than encouragement. There is no time limit, except that the task must be
completed in one sitting. The student can listen to the tape as often as she likes.
Support may include ensuring that the student knows what to do. An alternative way
to organise this task would be for the teacher to read the tapescript. Some students
may find that easier, others harder.
When updating the assessment record, details of topics covered would depend upon
the items the student managed to answer successfully.
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APPENDIX D3 Summary of assessment at Access 3
Personal Language
Content:
Both Themes, all four Topics
O1
Convey information in the target language
Task types:
Role play, simulation, presentation, Q/A, etc.
Criteria:
a) Communicates items of information in the target language in such a
way as to be understood by a sympathetic user of the target language.
b) Uses language sufficiently clearly to convey required information,
despite inaccuracies in language use.
Makes at least 6 successful contributions to the dialogue.
Minimum number of assessments: 2
O2
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in oral and
written form in the target language.
Task types:
Listening and Reading
Criteria:
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in oral or written
form in in the target language
In Listening, shows evidence of understanding at least 6 items in one
sitting.
In Reading shows evidence of understanding 60% of items.
Minimum number of assessments: 1 Listening, 1 Reading
Minimum number of assessments overall: 5
At least 2 of these should be for Speaking; 1 for Reading; 1 for Listening; plus 1
other. All 4 topics must be covered in the course of assessment.
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Transactional Language
Content:
All four Topics
O1
Request information in the target language
Task types: Role play, simulation, presentation, Q/A, etc.
Criteria:
Requests information in such a way as to be understood by a sympathetic
speaker of the target language
Makes at least 6 successful contributions to the dialogue.
Minimum number of assessments: 1
O2
Demonstrate understanding of information presented in oral and written
form in the target language
Task types: Listening and Reading
Criteria:
Identifies correctly items of information
In Listening, shows evidence of understanding at least 6 successful items
in one sitting
In Reading, shows evidence of understanding 60% of items.
Minimum number of assessments: 1 Listening,1 Reading
O3
Use the basic language required in making a purchase.
Task types: Role play, simulation, presentation, Q/A, etc.
Criteria:
a) Indicates clearly item or items to be obtained
b) responds appropriately to the seller
c) uses language sufficiently clearly for the purchase to be concluded
Makes at least 6 successful contributions to the dialogue.
Minimum number of assessments: 1
Minimum number of assessments overall: 6
At least 3 of these should be for Speaking, 1 for Listening, 1 for Reading; plus 1
other. All 4 topics must be covered in the course of assessment.
Access in Modern Languages
91
Language in Work
Content:
All four Topics
O1
Demonstrate understanding of requests in the target language for
information.
Task types:
Listening or Reading
Criteria:
Responds to requests in such a way as to demonstrate understanding.
Minimum number of assessments: 2
O2
Provide information in the target language
Task types:
Role play, simulation, presentation, Q/A, etc.
Criteria:
a) Gives requested and relevant information in such a way as to be
understood by sympathetic speaker.
b) uses language sufficiently clearly to convey required information
despite inaccuracies.
makes at least 6 successful contributions to the dialogue.
Minimum number of assessments: 1
O3
Use the basic language required in providing a service.
Task types:
Role play, simulation, presentation, Q/A, etc.
Criteria:
Provides the service requested as appropriate to the situation.
Makes at least 6 successful contributions to the dialogue.
Minimum number of assessments: 2
Minimum number of assessments overall: 6
At least 4 of these should be for Speaking and 2 for Listening or Reading.
All 4 topics must be covered in the course of assessment.
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ACCESS IN MODERN LANGUAGES
E. RESOURCES
NATIONAL CURRICULUM RESOURCES (SQA, LT Scotland)
Key documents, references, sources
The Access CD distributed to centres in session 2001-2002 includes the Arrangements
documents for modern languages at Access 1, 2 and 3, and the Curriculum
Descriptors for Access 1. Most of the documents listed are available online from SQA
or LT Scotland.
Access 1
Type of document
Life in Another Country: national unit
specifications; descriptors.
Advice on implementation
Details and source
Details of Access Provision: Access 1
Navy-blue binder containing details of all Acc 1
provision. May be available in support departments,
otherwise, request ML documents only from your usual
local authority contact.
Modern Languages: Life in Another Country: Access 1/2.
Case study detailing one special school’s plans for a
cross curricular approach. From EA contact.
Modern Languages: Access Support Pack due 2001.
(This pack)
Access 2
Type of document
National Cluster: general information
and details. Unit specifications, statement
of standards and support notes for: Life
in Another Country; Personal Language;
Transactional Language; Language in
Work:
National Assessment Bank Support
Materials (NABs) for each of the three
units.
Teaching/learning materials.
Advice on implementation
Details and source
Details of Access Provision: Access 2
Navy-blue binder containing details of all Acc 2
provision. Available in all special schools. May also be
available in mainstream units and support departments,
otherwise, request ML documents only from your usual
local authority contact.
From school or local Education Authority contact.
The student support pack which supports Access 3 can
also be used to support the three linguistic units at Access
2. French, German, Spanish and Italian versions. Tapes
for French and German.
Modern Languages: Life in Another Country: Access 1/2
(Code: 7115). Case study detailing one special school’s
plans for a cross curricular approach. From EA contact.
Modern Languages: Access Support Pack due 2001.
(This pack)
Access in Modern Languages
93
Access 3
Type of document
National Cluster: general information
and details. Personal Language;
Transactional Language; Language in
Work: national unit specifications
(general information, statement of
standards and support notes).
National Assessment Bank Support
Materials (NABs) for each of the
three units.
Teaching/learning materials.
Details and source
Arrangements for Modern Languages
Navy-blue binder in all ML departments.
Can also be found in Details of Access Provision:
Access 3 which will be in all special schools and in
some mainstream units and support departments.
From school or local Education Authority contact.
Support for Access 3. Should be available in all ML
departments. (Also supports Acc 2 units.) French,
German, Spanish and Italian versions. Tapes for French
and German.
Advice on implementation.
Advice on effective approaches to
learning and teaching in modern
languages
Modern Languages: Access Support Pack due 2001.
(This pack)
Contained in: Subject Guide: Modern Languages
available in all ML departments.
SQA manages a telephone network of schools who offer National Qualifications at
Access 1 and 2 and who are willing to be contacted by other schools.
RESOURCES AND EQUIPMENT TO SUPPORT LANGUAGE LEARNING
NOTES
The following list is not meant to be exhaustive, nor is it likely that that any one
resource will cover all the topic. It is simply indicative of the range of materials
available which might be worth considering for use with your students. Items included
in the list have some or all of the following characteristics:
• content is carefully controlled, so that, for example, not too much vocabulary is
introduced at one time
• learning / teaching approaches are active multisensory
• materials are available in a range of formats, not just written text
• materials combine straightforward content with age-appropriate illustrations,
topics and tasks
• materials are flexible / photocopiable / suitable for use with students with a range
of abilities
• centres report that they have found them useful.
Copies of many of the materials listed, and others, can be examined at Scottish CILT.
Access in Modern Languages
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OK! published by Nelson Thornes.
Au Secours published by Nelson Thornes.
Rendez-vous published by Heinemann Educational.
Ici On Parle Français, Wir Sprechen Deutsch, Se Habla Español
Photocopiable resources on ‘in-school’ topics, which include support for teachers who
are not language specialists. Includes special needs-related vocabulary and foreign
finger-spelling systems. A range of other topics and resources including language
cards and dice. MLG Publishing.
Personal and Social Life, The World Around Us
Specials! series. Photocopiable. Available in French, German and Spanish. Published
by Folens.
Le Français, c’est facile! (also German and Spanish equivalents). Published by John
Murray.
Allez-y! A set of booklets each dealing with a different work-related scenario.
Published by Heinemann Educational.
Salut! published by Heinemann Educational.
Passe-partout published by Nelson.
Megamag A series of magazine-style workbooks with the emphasis on crosscurricular activities for students at Access level or primary age pupils. Themes include
Christmas, maths, music, art and crafts, etc. Detailed teacher's notes + cassettes +
interactive posters
Published by Nelson Thornes.
Treffpunkt published by Heinemann Educational.
Hilfe published by Nelson Thornes
Access to French / Access to German. Two volumes of materials for students with
special educational needs. Includes audio-tapes. Published by North Lincolnshire
Council Learning Services. Tel: 01724 297012.
SEN Module 1 (Kincorth) See under Former TVEI resources.
CILT produces Information Sheets listing different types of resources, for example:
Sheet 30: Some videos for the language classroom.
Sheet 74: Sources of posters, maps and wallcharts.
Sheet 76: Languages and special needs.
All the sheets can be viewed on-line at CILT’s website:
www.cilt.org.uk/infos/info0.htm
Access in Modern Languages
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Stile Trays An inexpensive resource often used to support pupils with special needs,
these can be used with younger students in modern languages, too. Worth trying the
LS/SEN department to see if they have any sets. You can order sets of French cards,
or buy templates to make your own. Marketed by LDA
Drake Language Master A recording and play-back machine that works with
customisable cards rather than audio-tapes. Again, often used as a support for learning
that can be exploited for language learning too. Some commercially produced courses
sell ready-made cards but it is probably better to buy blank cards and make your own.
Quite expensive, but there may be some in the centre already.
Am Stram Gram markets products which enhance multisensory aspects of foreign
language learning. Most of their products are for learners at the lower end of the age
range, but some ideas might be usable with older students. See their online catalogue
at www.amstramgram.co.uk
TV and radio
Top! Game show format. Basic subtitles in the target language. French, German and
Spanish versions (Channel 4).
Extra Sitcom format using simplified language which may be accessible to some
students at Access 3 (Channel 4).
Chez Mimi and Hennings Haus and Spanish Programmes for 9s to 12s are
programmes intended to support primary language but have been used successfully
with older age groups just beginning language study. Judge for yourself before
showing them, or ask your class/group to judge if they would be useful. (Channel 4).
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT STUDY UNITS
Centres using Life in Another Country as a stand-alone unit may explore life in any
country for which they have adequate resources and to meet the criteria. Materials
may come from a wide range of sources, including:
• realia / tapes / pictures collected during a visit to the country
• items and information gathered through a curricular link
• geography departments
• local libraries and resource centres
• local travel agencies
• embassies and consulates
• links with members of the local community who have lived in or visited the
country being studied.
TV and radio
It is worth keeping an eye on the Schools TV schedules for topics which contribute to
the notion of a context for language learning. A ‘stories from other lands’ series may
contain one from the country whose language your students are learning. Similarly,
geography, history and current affairs series may contain gems of particular interest to
you. Don’t just look under the Modern Languages heading, or at the series title, look
Access in Modern Languages
96
at the programme titles as well. It may be possible to borrow recordings of single
programmes from a local resource centre.
Most schools’ broadcasts are now subtitled, but you may need to make sure that you
have a VCR which can access and record the subtitles. Some advice is contained in
BBC and Channel 4 schools; catalogues. The hearing impaired service in your
institution or authority should be able to provide technical support and advice.
Access in Modern Languages
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ADVICE ON TEACHING APPROACHES
Subject Guide: Modern Languages: Learning and teaching (11 pages of sound
advice).
CILT publications:
Young Pathfinder Series:
Aimed at the primary market but containing much useful information on
course planning, methodologies and content. Current list includes:
Making the Link: Teaching languages to young learners in different subjects.
Let’s Join in! Rhymes, poems and songs.
First Steps to Reading and Writing.
Are you sitting comfortably: Telling stories to young language learners.
Games and Fun Activities.
CILT also publishes free information sheets and an annual SEN Bulletin.
(Address below)
Modern Foreign Languages for All. NASEN (1999).
Extending opportunities: modern foreign languages for pupils with special
educational needs. Published by NFER (1991).
Modern Languages for All. David Fulton (2000).
Motivating Students at the Early Stages of Learning a Foreign Language. Published
by CILT (1998).
Europe, Language Learning and Special Educational Needs
SOEID (SEN Policy Branch) (1997) Should already be in your centre.
For information about European in-service training opportunities and grants visit
www.centralbureau.org.uk/socrates or contact the Central Bureau.
Access in Modern Languages
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OTHER RESOURCES WORTH CONSIDERING
Resources already available within the centre
Modern Languages department: In any institution which has been established for a
number of years, departmental and classroom cupboards will usually yield a hoard of
materials which may no longer be suitable for whole class work, but which can be
cannibalised to provide, for example, illustrations to accompany active language work
or to enhance wall displays.
Support for Learning department: Materials and equipment produced for the purpose
of encouraging literacy in the first language are often pictorially based and text free,
and so can be used to support learning in any language. Ask for a guided tour.
SEN department: Students who need additional specialised support from the SEN
department will have access to materials and technology with which subject
teachers/lecturers may not be familiar. Find out what is available and make use of it.
Primary school training and materials
Some teachers from special schools and units working with students over the age of
14 have been participating in the Modern Languages in Primary Schools (MLPS)
training. They report that there is much which is also relevant to their situation and
that they have found attendance at the sessions very useful.
There is some similarity between resources designed for use with students with
special educational needs and those being used for learners in primary schools. It may
be worth finding out what is available locally to see if the design of the materials
would be suitable for an older age-group. Students aged 14+ are justifiably offended
by materials which are obviously intended for a younger age group, but cartoon
visuals, for example, usually appeal to all age-groups.
Modern Languages in the Primary School Glasgow City
Glasgow City Council (2000) Education Services. Six large ring binders (three for P6
and three for P7) with highly structured course materials, including flashcards and
miniflashcards, listening, reading and writing activities, self assessments, audio tapes
and CDs for all units. CD-ROM prints copies of all materials, including flashcards in
colour. Detailed support for teachers who are not language specialists. As the
illustrations are cartoon-based, this would be a sound resource for older students and
their teachers in special schools and units. French only at time of writing, but German,
Spanish and Italian versions are in preparation. These materials should be available
free of charge to Glasgow City schools; other Education Authorities may have
arranged access.
Much of the advice contained in the Guide for Teachers and Managers which
accompanies the Modern Languages 5-14 Guidelines is likely to be relevant.
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Discussion forums
MFL and Special Educational Needs Forum
The mflsen-forum is an e-mail discussion forum to generate ideas and mutual support
for all those who are involved in teaching modern foreign languages to pupils with
special educational needs (SEN) in both special schools and mainstream classes.
The forum allows all those who are involved in teaching MFL to pupils with special
educational needs to:
• exchange ideas
• ask each other questions
• seek advice from peers
• comment on materials
• share problems & 'challenges'
• discuss issues and
• keep each other up-to-date with what's going on
To join, send an email as follows:
To: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
Subject: [Leave blank]
Message: join mflsen-forum firstname lastname
Type your own personal names instead of firstname and lastname
More information can be found on the mflsen-forum webpage at:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mflsen-forum/
The Internet
European schoolnet has a wealth of interesting material including an extensive
special needs section, ideas for curricular activities, calls for curricular collaboration
using ICT, information about events, competitions, interesting websites etc. Find it at
www.eun.org/
You can also subscribe to a teachers’ newsletter which will be delivered free to your
email box. Subscribe on-line at: www.eun.org/newsletter
There are many web-sites catering for modern language learners. Some contain
linguistic material, others cultural material. Russnet, for example,
(http://www.russnet.org/online.html) has a number of interactive Russian languagelearning modules as well as modules on Russian history, Russian women, life of
Russian high-school students, the Russian fairy tale. It is worth noting that, in the
experience of teachers of students with learning difficulties, although the level of
language encountered may initially seem to be to high, it is the use that teachers and
students make of that material which will determine its usefulness. The number of
sites grows daily. Several of the organisations listed below have websites which
display ‘resource lists’ comprising of links to other websites of interest.
Scottish CILT’s website carries links to sites which may be of interest to those
teaching modern languages at Access levels (www.stir.ac.uk/scilt). Go to the contents
page and click on <Links> or <SEN Links>.
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The SALT newsletter regularly carries list of interesting sites. On Learning and
Teaching Scotland’s website you can join a forum for discussion on any aspect of
modern language teaching. http://forums.ltscotland.org.uk
SPECIALISED RESOURCES AND ADVICE
Visual impairment
Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) supports the curriculum in a number
of ways.
• markets Collins’ large print bilingual dictionaries – available in French, German
and Spanish. (However, you can also use CD-ROM dictionaries which can be
accessed by all students in the class. Software can be added to enlarge the text on
screen – see under ICT, below.)
• produces a School’s Catalogue which may be in your SfL/SEN department;
• produces Curriculum Close-Up which highlights a different area of the curriculum
in each issue. (Issue 8 is about Modern Languages. If you would like to obtain a
copy or be added to the mailing list for future copies, contact the Curriculum
Information Officer or visit the website at www.rnib.org.uk/curriculum
• produces One of the Class: advice, references, resources (1999), which has a
chapter on modern languages
• holds a database of MFL textbooks available in large print, braille or on tape
• has a modern languages curriculum group.
Contact the RNIB Curriculum Information Officer on 0121 631 3372 or at PO Box
173, Peterborough PE2 6WS. Email Suzy.McDonald@rnib.org.uk
Website: http://www.rnib.org.uk
RNIB's Education Officer in Scotland can give advice on education and visual
impairment. Contact at 0131 311 8500.
Braille Students who use braille to access written English will know the rules of
braille as stated in the standard reference British Braille (1992) compiled and
authorised by the Braille Authority of the United Kingdom, published by RNIB. For
foreign language transcriptions, limited braille codes apply. In its modern languages
question papers, SQA has in the past used only Grade 1 braille, with the use of braille
codes for capital letters and accents only. From 2002, SQA will adopt the use of
braille codes normally used in foreign language transcriptions in the UK. These codes
are available from RNIB. Fully contracted (Grade 2) braille is not used. For further
advice, see the document on arrangements for candidates with special educational
needs issued by SQA from 2001 onwards. You should also consult the VI specialists
who support your student to discuss how the codes should be handled in school.
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ICT Many standard mainstream products can be accessed by all students, including
those with partial sight, so that fewer additional ‘special’ resources are required.
Developments in speech technology now allows students to hear the text on the screen
‘read aloud’. Find out if the speech technology software used in your school have
extensions which allow them to be used for foreign languages, too. Your ICT
specialist should be able to advise on this. Working with a sighted partner may make
valuable aspects of standard software packages available to visually impaired students
as well.
Modifying the Windows environment for visually impaired computer users Contact
John Ravenscroft, VI Scotland, Scottish Sensory Centre, Moray House Institute,
University of Edinburgh EH8 8AQ; phone 0131 651 6078; fax 0131 651 6502; e-mail
viscotland@ed.ac.uk; website http://www.viscotland.org.uk John Ravenscroft can
also provide advice on customising Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer and
other software for pupils with visual impairment.
Students with visual impairments will have been provided with, or have access to,
equipment which enables them to access all areas of the curriculum. ML teachers
need to be familiar with the opportunities provided, for example, by pocket
Dictaphones, CCTV enlargers, and machines capable of producing braille output from
standard text or vice versa. It may also be worthwhile finding out what equipment the
student has access to at home.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia and Inclusion in the Secondary School: The Subject of Success Chapter 10:
Dyslexia and the Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages. Edited by Peer and Reid.
David Fulton (Due out in April 2001)
Europe, Language Learning and Special Educational Needs Section 3D: ‘Modern
Languages and pupils with specific learning difficulties.’ (See above)
Abstracts and articles from various sources: Scottish CILT.
Advice on language learning and dyslexia can be found at the University of Hull
website at the following location: www.hull.ac.uk/langinst/olc/dyslexia.htm
Hearing impairment
“Accentuate the visible” is the rule of thumb, so look out for resources which are
visually rich.
For advice on making the modern language classroom more ‘deaf-friendly’ see
Europe, Language Learning and Special Educational Needs Section 3E: ‘The
European dimension, modern languages and pupils with hearing impairments.’
(SOEID 1997)
Many DVD discs allow you to select subtitles in a wide range of languages. This
could offer useful support for hearing impaired students, and many others as well.
De@fax UK has a Deafchild International website which may be worth exploring:
www.deafchild.org or contact team@deafchild.org for information.
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The International Deaf Children’s Society runs a major global online forum for deaf
children and their teachers: www.idcs.info
Most schools’ broadcasts are now subtitled, but you may need to make sure that you
have a VCR which can access and record the subtitles. Some advice is contained in
BBC and Channel 4 schools; catalogues. The hearing impaired service in your
institution or authority should be able to provide technical support and advice.
Speech and Language Impairments
Language and the Curriculum: Practitioner Research in Planning Differentiation
Chapter 5 deals with Modern Languages. D Martin and C Miller. David Fulton
(2000).
Many speech synthesisers and communication aids can be customised to operate in a
foreign language. If your students already use a system or device, it may be worth
exploring the possibilities with your technical and therapeutic support staff, or
contacting the supplier for information.
Some switches, such as the Big Mac, and other speech output devices can be
customised so that they ‘speak’ a language other than English. The same applies to
software applications. Clicker, for example, can be programmed in languages other
than English. In principle, if you can record your voice, you can record in any
language you know.
Learning Difficulties
Enabling Access: effective teaching and learning for pupils with learning difficulties
Edited by Carpenter, Ashdown & Bovair. David Fulton (2001 edition). Chapter 10 is
a description of how a symbol system already familiar to the student can be used to
support foreign language learning.
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CONTACTS AND ADDRESSES
Organisations
Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (Scottish
CILT), SEED-funded, provides in-service events and a collection of print and ICT
resources, including an SEN section. Contact the Information Officer at Scottish
CILT, Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA. Tel: 01786
466268. Email: s.a.kelly@stir.ac.uk Website: www.stir.ac.uk/scilt
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research Information:
Produces a range of useful booklets (see above) and information sheets.
Support: Hosts an online discussion group for teachers of ML to pupils with special
educational needs (see mflsen in the ICT section below) and an annual Languages and
Special Educational Needs Bulletin.
Training: In co-operation with the French Embassy, CILT organises and annual
residential course in France for non-specialist teachers of MFL. The main costs of the
course are covered by EU subsidies. Details from CILT or from the Central Bureau
(see below)
CILT, 20 Bedfordbury, London WC2 4LB. Tel: 020 7379 5101. Fax: 020 7379 5082.
Central Bureau for International Education and Training 3 Bruntsfield Crescent,
Edinburgh, EH10 4HD. Tel: 0131 447 8024. Fax. 0131 452 8569
Head office: Seymour Mews House, Seymour Mews, London W1H 9PE. Tel: 020
7725 9411. Web site: www.britishcouncil.org/cbiet or www.centralbureau.org.uk
Council of Europe Publishing and Documentation Service, F-67075 Strasbourg,
CEDEX. Email: publishing@coe.int Website: http://book.coe.fr
The Scottish Association for Language Teaching is a professional organisation run
by modern languages teachers themselves. The Executive committee include
representation covering the five main languages, community languages, support for
learning/SEN and contexts. They produce three newsletters a year, run workshops and
an Annual Conference. For membership and other details visit their website
www.saltlangs.org.uk.
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Embassies and cultural institutes
Foreign embassies usually have libraries of books, tapes, CD-ROMs and video
materials which can be borrowed by schools and colleges. Contact details for some of
these are given below. Others can be found through directory enquiries.
Goethe Institut 3 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6AX. Tel: 0141 332 2555. Email:
goetheglabib@cqm.co.uk. Web: http://www.goethe.de/gr/gla/enibib.htm
Institut Français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TT. Tel: 0131
225 5366.
Italian Consulate 32 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7AH. Tel: 0131 220 3695.
Spanish Embassy 63 North Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3LJ. Tel: 0131 220 0624.
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