Follow up No.1 – KS2/3 Transition Module
The document below outlines ways in which primary schools can prepare their pupils for transition to secondary
school. It is based on the new Programme of Study for Languages for KS2 and is not language specific. ALL is
extremely grateful to Darryl Bailey and Karen Murray-Hall of Brighton University for allowing ALL to include this
document in their Transition Module.
You will see from the statements below that there is no reference to the content or context of pupils’ learning. The
focus is on the knowledge and understanding pupils have gained during KS2. It describes how pupils’ experience at
KS2 can be harnessed to support language learning in Year 7.
As you read through this document you might like to consider the following:
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The new POS for languages at KS2 has only been in place since September 2014 so it is likely that there will
be statements that cover areas of language learning not yet taught. Which statements, therefore, are
currently relevant to Year 6 pupils in your area?
Looking to the future, do you think these statements describe the language experience you would expect for
Y6 pupils?
Is there anything else you would include?
We know that many Y6 pupils will not continue with the same language in Y7. Can secondary colleagues use
this document if this is the case?
If you could only include 10 of these statements, which would you choose?
How would you use the suggestions in this document?
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Helping Primary Language-learners to be ‘Secondary-ready’
Suggestion: it would be helpful if Primary learners …
- learn that sound-spelling relations change across
languages - spellings can look the same as English,
but be pronounced differently. E.g., 'ai' and 'ou' have
different sounds in English and French; 'w' makes
different sounds in German and English; 'z' makes a
different sound in Spanish and English. Some letters
and letter combinations make sounds that do not
exist in English e.g. ‘j’ and 'rr' in Spanish, 'on' in
French.
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learn that symbols such as accents, cedillas and
umlauts exist in the foreign language, why they are
Justification: so that Y7 already …
 understand that some sounds and letter
combinations need to be said differently to
English
 know that making accurate sounds in
another language necessitates making
different mouth movements
 are not embarrassed to do this and feel
confident in tackling the pronunciation of
new and unfamiliar vocabulary
 know that sounds are written in different
ways in different languages
 are familiar with the idea that a foreign
language might differ from English in this
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used and what they do
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have seen, heard and said the alphabet in a foreign
language. Practise spelling their name in a foreign
language.
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are used to talking about English and a foreign
language using simple grammatical terms such as
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and
connectives/conjunctions
recognize that word order is different in different
languages (e.g. adjectives before or after a noun),
and understand that word order changes the
meaning of sentences e.g. to make a question or a
negative.
experience working with a bilingual dictionary, know
what it is, how it is constructed, what it contains, and
how to use it effectively to support learning the
language and about the language
understand that online dictionaries, translator
websites and Apps may not be trusted to translate
accurately, why this is the case and what language
problems can be caused as a result
have heard and understand the term ‘cognate’ and
‘near-cognate’ and use knowledge of these to work
out meanings
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practice using strategies to help them when
language is difficult such as using other words and
the situation to guess meanings; looking at the end
of words to work out meaning e.g., gender,
singular/plural, tense, case
Suggestion: it would be helpful if Primary learners …
- know where at least one foreign language is spoken
around the world and some facts about the culture,
people, and places
- know why it is good to learn a language other than
English
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way
understand the role of these symbols
recognise that the vowel and consonant
sounds of a foreign language may sound
similar or different to English
are not embarrassed to do this and feel
confident in tackling the pronunciation of
new and unfamiliar vocabulary
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understand that these terms are useful for
learning a new language
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understand that words are arranged in
different ways in different languages and
that this can affect the meaning of a
sentence
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know how to find new words in a foreign
language by using a bilingual dictionary
effectively
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know how to use online sources effectively
to support their learning
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understand this terminology and feel
confident in using it to discuss vocabulary in
a foreign language
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be able to use these strategies to help learn
other languages
Justification: so that Y7 already …
 understand that learning a language also
involves learning about its context in the
world
 understand and appreciate the value of
learning a foreign language
have heard the term ‘gender of nouns’ and
‘adjectival agreement’, can talk about what this
means, and understand that English can be seen as
the ‘odd one out’ compared to many European
languages such as, eg, French, Spanish, German and
Italian.
have seen a few verb tables, compared these to the
English layout of the same verb, noticed and
discussed any patterns
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understand that nouns having a gender is a
normal idea in lots of other languages and is
important in trying to learn and speak a
foreign language accurately
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know that verb tables exist and be able to
talk about why they might be useful to look
at when learning a language
have heard the word ‘tenses’ used in connection
with verbs, noticed how the verb endings may differ
in some examples and compared these with the
English versions
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understand that verb endings can change, in
both English and a foreign language, when
talking about the present, past or the future
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have some experience of listening to spoken
language for specific items such as a particular word,
phrase or phoneme
have experience of reading a few simple phrases and
understanding particular words, phrases and
meanings.
have some experience of looking for specific items
such as a particular word or phrase, capital letters,
specific phoneme, same pronoun, etc., in a variety
of foreign language texts (eg, story, song, weather
report, newspaper article, letter, post card)
have lots of experience of talking in the foreign
language to each other, even if with very little
language
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are familiar with listening to spoken foreign
language for details and gist
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are familiar with reading a foreign language
for details and gist
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are familiar with the idea of skimming and
scanning text to find details
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are familiar with the idea of role-play
conversations as a language-learning
strategy
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have used peer and self-assessment strategies to
support language learning
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feel confident in knowing how to talk
positively about own progress and how to
help peers
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have been exposed to the foreign language being
used in peripheral and incidental ways during their
school life (for instructions, praise, questions,
comments, greetings), including during language
lessons
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are familiar with the ‘target language’ being
used in lessons
are familiar with the idea of being able to
respond or speak the foreign language
spontaneously
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know and describe some strategies which help to
remember key words and phrases
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know some strategies for memorising new
vocabulary in a foreign language
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have had some practice in using scaffolded phrases
and sentences to create their own, using a variety of
resources such as text cards, vocabulary lists and
dictionaries to help them replace words
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feel confident in knowing how to use some
resources to support creativity and
independence in using the foreign language
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Daryl Bailey and Karen Murray-Hall, University of Brighton
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