http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/study/preCourse
All policies are regularly reviewed and this is accurate as of the 16th January, 2015
MODERN LANGUAGES (French, German, Spanish, Urdu, Mandarin)
Dear Trainee,
Congratulations on being offered a place on the Modern Languages PGCE here at
Edge Hill University! We are looking forward to meeting you again and working with
you during the next academic year. We would like to offer you some advice and
guidance so that you can prepare yourself well for the demanding yet stimulating
year ahead. Once the PGCE year starts you will probably find that it is very intensive
so we recommend that you do some preparatory work beforehand.
GENERAL GUIDANCE
You should keep yourself well informed about general educational issues by reading,
for example, the Times Educational Supplement and the Guardian’s Tuesday
education section. Please also consider joining the Association for Language
Learning (ALL), a national body for language teachers. You will also be given the
opportunity to sign up for this body early in the course or you can contact ALL via
email.
Currently the English education system including the language teaching and learning
is undergoing a great deal of change and development. This will be discussed in
greater depth during your course. Accessing the DfE website is a way of increasing
your awareness of national trends and future developments.
Here are some other ways to prepare for the course:
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If you are travelling abroad this year start collecting authentic materials:
menus, tickets, maps, timetables, tourist information, hand-outs from
supermarkets, magazines, empty packets and so on. You will find these
authentic materials invaluable for your teaching experience.
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If you have limited recent experience in school, try to arrange further
observations in secondary schools. Please access the nctl website for
guidance. This is particularly important if you did not go through the English
educational system yourself.
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Remember that Modern Language teachers nowadays are often expected to
teach two languages. If possible start learning or work on your second
language. Keep your first foreign language up to date, and ensure that it is
grammatically accurate. As a language teacher you are the model from
which all your learners will take their example. Can you give clear classroom
instructions in the language(s) you are going to teach? Can you explain how
to form the present, past and future tenses? The BBC website is a good
starting point for self-study. Offering two languages will certainly increase your
employability.
http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/study/preCourse
In order to qualify as a teacher you are required to have a range of Information
Technology (IT) skills. There will be sessions at Edge Hill devoted both to helping
you to consolidate your own skills and to preparing you to use IT in the classroom for
language learning. If you are inexperienced in IT we strongly recommend you
develop your skills before the course begins. If you’re not sure what to do, see what
courses your current university or college offers. Alternatively you could contact your
local FE College and see what courses they have on offer. All your assignments
must be word-processed. Typical, useful IT skills include:
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digital recorders / audacity
using the internet
using a video camera, digital camera
using e-mail
video-conferencing
using the interactive whiteboard
word-processing – including clip art, images, tables, formatting
using PowerPoint / prezi
using spread sheets (Excel)
Our communication during the course will be via email and our VLE. This is
especially the case when you are on school placement. It is therefore essential for
you to have reliable access to the internet throughout the course.
THE COURSE IN BRIEF
The Modern/Community Languages course at Edge Hill University consists of four
interrelated modules which examine different aspects of modern language teaching
and learning. You will be given a detailed reading list once you get to Edge Hill but
we expect you to do some pre-course reading. For the first part of the course we will
be focussing on how languages are learnt, on the National Curriculum, on how to
plan lessons and how to put those plans into practice. In order to prepare for this
you may like to buy (and read!) a copy of the following publications:
Burton, N., Brundrett, M. and Jones, M. (2014). Doing Your Education Research Project. 2nd
ed., London: SAGE
Byram, M (ed.) (2004). Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.
London: Routledge
Cajkler, W. and Addelman, R. (2000). The practice of Foreign Language
Teaching, 2nd ed., London: David Fulton
Pachler, N., Barnes, A. and Field, K. (2009). Learning to Teach Modern Foreign
Languages in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience. 3rd ed., Oxon:
Routledge
Ur, P. (1999). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/study/preCourse
During your Curriculum Studies at Edge Hill University you will spend time
consolidating your own linguistic skills for teaching purposes and exploring ways of
making language learning accessible to your learners. You will be assessed at the
beginning of the course and an individualised language programme will be agreed
with you. This will include seminars in your language(s). If you do not have a
second foreign language we suggest you follow a beginners’ course. At other times
you will be in a mixed group of trainee teachers of French, German, Spanish,
Mandarin and Urdu, looking at issues of teaching and learning methodology which
are common to all languages. You will be required to complete a range of
assignments relating to aspects of your course in the first two terms. These will, on
the whole, have both a theoretical as well as a practical focus and give you the
opportunity to reflect on the nature of your experience in schools. During the year
you will spend much of your time in at least three different settings: one primary and
two post-11 institutions. Post-16 enhancement will either be covered in one of your
placement schools or by attending a post-16 setting during one of your professional
practice blocks. You will be given the opportunity both to observe and to teach. The
amount of teaching you do will increase as the year progresses. In this way you
should find that there is a balance between your opportunities for reflective thought,
practical teaching and individualised target-setting to enable you to meet the national
professional standards for qualified teacher status.
We hope that this pre-course information has given you an insight into the nature of
the PGCE Modern Languages course. We also hope that we have given you some
ideas about preparing yourself for the PGCE year so that you come to Edge Hill
confident in your subject knowledge and feeling enthusiastic about the course. In
the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact Edge Hill if you have any queries.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Best wishes
Monika, Helen and the course team
Monika Reece
PGCE Secondary MFL Course Leader
(Full-time Route)
Tel: 01695 650 962
Email: reecem@edgehill.ac.uk
Helen Thomas
PGCE Secondary MFL Course Leader
(Flexible Route)
Tel: 01695 650 829
Email: Helen.Thomas@edgehill.ac.uk