Notes
OCR Modern Foreign Languages Consultative Forum
Meeting held on 8 March 2012
OCR, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge
1.
OCR updates
a. Policy/National Curriculum Review update (John Plunkett, Partnerships, OCR)
John gave a presentation (slides attached 1) which provided an overview of Government
policy and an update on the National Curriculum Review.
b. OCR Higher Education Engagement Research programme (Sally Brown,
Partnerships, OCR)
Sally provided a presentation (slides attached 2), which focussed on two of the research
activities that we have commissioned our parent organisation, Cambridge Assessment, to
conduct to build on the findings of our ten subject forums and our Higher Education
strategic forum in relation to what university lecturers want to see in A Levels. Sally
shared the very early findings of the Design of A Levels road shows held in January 2012
in Bristol, Leeds, London and Birmingham with around 50 academics. Sally also made
reference to the questionnaire project which has been completed by over 600 academics.
Post meeting note: This research was referred to in the extensive press coverage at the
beginning of April given to Education Secretary Michael Gove’s letter to Ofqual. In his
letter, Gove made real, in policy terms, his long-held belief that Higher Education should
be in the driving seat in the creation of the next generation of A Levels.
http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ca/News_Room/Latest_News/News?id=139383
c. Cambridge Assessment ARD Project - French/German/Spanish OCR Speaking
component (Martin Johnson/Sanjana Mehta)
Martin and Sanjana gave a presentation (slides attached 3), which provided an overview
of the research project currently underway to evaluate the impact of the changes that the
new format GCSE speaking component has had on teaching and learning. The project
will also explore any effects on preparation for assessment. Very tentative emerging
themes were shared.
2.
Discussion and task 1
What should a course aimed at developing the knowledge and skills previously
identified include?
See appendices 1-3 for the flipchart summaries.
Key points:
•
•
A post-16 course needs to be looked at in the context of the progression from primary
teaching to KS3 and KS4
The focus should be on skills development (acknowledgement that this should start
as early as Year 7) to help them become independent learners and make the
transition from GCSE to GCE, and GCE to Higher Education, e.g. critical thinking,
reading widely, writing an academic essay, research skills (engaging with multiple
perspectives).
1
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In relation to skill building, students need opportunities to:
o help them to develop opinions (understand and be able to justify their opinion).
Suggestion that this can be achieved through teamwork activities where students
support one another. Assuming the role of another person can help them to
empathise with another person. Recognition that young people are increasingly
using social media to support one another with their studies. Recognition
however that teachers need CPD activities to promote collaborative working both
in, and particularly, outside the classroom.
o develop research skills– acknowledgement that the issue of information overload
means students easily get lost. Students need support to work in a more
focussed way. Reference made to the role of technology and software to aid this,
in particular lingro.com (http://lingro.com) an on-line environment that allows
anyone learning a language to quickly look up and learn the vocabulary most
important to them.
o develop the ability to learn how to learn.
o assess their own and their peers’ work in order to help them understand the
criteria they are being assessed against, to develop their ability to appraise and
make judgements.
o learn and understand grammar, not as a disconnected subject; it should be
integrated throughout the course and serve an obvious purpose.
Acknowledgement that the requirement to learn long vocabulary lists mitigates
against this. Reference made to the work of Professor Debra Myhill at the
University of Exeter looking at the impact of contextualised grammar teaching on
pupils' writing and pupils' metalinguistic understanding:
http://education.exeter.ac.uk/research_projects_detail.php?id=18http://education.e
xeter.ac.uk/staff_details.php?user=damyhill
o participate in group discussion to develop their confidence and speaking skills.
Reference made to screenr.com (http://www.screenr.com) a web-based screen
recorder that allows a student to, e.g. give a presentation without coming to the
front of the class.
o argue and debate (orally and in writing) in both TL and in English.
o develop language learning skills and language awareness (grammar, structure,
syntax, usage) so can translate in and out of TL and take on a non-European
language at Higher Education.
Focus should move away from topics. Suggestion that the focus is on semi-controlled
tasks, which would provide more realistic content and context and help develop a
range of skills (some ideas can be taken from the approach of the Diploma in MFL).
The course should support and encourage students to find reading meaningful, to
read a variety of texts types (economy, literature, culture, contemporary society), to
reflect on their reading so that they can express themselves in English at a higher
level.
Encourage links with schools/colleges in other countries; would help develop greater
cultural awareness and understanding; much greater use of new technologies should
be expected.
The course should speak to young people’s interests.
Importance of teacher training and support requirements particularly in relation to the
use of new technologies.
Assessment must reflect the skills, processes and behaviours that we want learners
to develop.
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3.
Discussion and task 2
In the last redevelopment of the A Level, knowledge of the target language country and
community was not a priority. We are at a point in time to reconsider that balance.
Should we be focusing on learning through content and should we specify that content or
should we be more content free (along the lines of the ASSET model) and focus on skills
development? The question of content is critical. There is a requirement to define content
that:
• attracts, enthuses and meets the needs of learners
• can be delivered in schools and colleges
• enables progression to the diverse range of language degrees in Higher Education
• meets the needs of the country.
Task
Skills acquisition and assessment of linguistic skills v assessment of content – discuss.
Group 1 feedback:
Proposal for a broad and short list of lightly specified optional study areas, eg (using
French in this example):
• Current affairs in France
• Important historical period in France
• Study of another country where French is spoken and how it interrelates to France.
The ‘light specification’ would enable the study areas to be approached in different ways
(determined by teacher preference and learner needs) and it should be possible:
• to make a distinction between a fairly small but essential base of vocabulary for each
of the study areas that everyone has to generate and that would be utilised in
translation tasks
• to test sophisticated grammar using straightforward vocabulary
• to assess learners using semi unseen texts/listening extracts – noted that having an
educated guess is a legitimate linguistic skill; unrealistic to expect fluency
• for a written/oral assessment to take the format of, e.g. ‘Talk about key contemporary
issues in a country, other than France, where French is spoken . Explain the
continuing significance of French in that country.’ This format would allow learners to
respond using material learned in school/college and gained through their wider
reading. It would also enable learners to demonstrate core academic abilities, e.g.
write essays; make sustained, critical arguments; evaluate diverse sources of
information, cross-reference conflicting accounts.
Group 2 feedback
• Skills and content are integral; hard to separate; content motivates the development
of skills; learners want to find out about something that matters to them.
• In relation to defining content it should be possible to define locally what is
appropriate to the learners, e.g. the content for specialists of other subjects learning
German would be, e.g. science.
• Task/project-based learning, e.g. ‘compare the English and French perspectives of a
political/cultural event, e.g. the 2012 Olympics’ would require learners to do a range
of different tasks, e.g. read, understand and analyse the press reports in both
countries, carry out surveys/investigations collaboratively with others in both
countries, which would enable them to develop and evidence a range of skills
including linguistic skills and core academic skills.
• This approach would help learners to cope with an external assessment that
demands they respond to a task/s utilising unseen materials.
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Group 3 feedback
• View that there is a requirement for a prescribed core content and skills in order to
achieve a reliable national assessment
• View that this would be useful in delivering teaching and learning as aligned with
current model
• Cultural content should be part of the learning experience
Open floor feedback
• View that skilled learners are able to cope and respond to a range of
situations/contexts
• There is a need to debunk the myth around fluency; very rare that a good A level
student with a good grade is fluent; language isn’t just about linguistic fluency – it’s
also about understanding other cultures; the emphasis on accuracy stifles ‘bravery’
and confidence in speaking
• Issue for schools is that a learner needs to be very good at each of the components
(reading, writing, speaking and listening) in order to achieve an A* (note: consistent
high performance across all units is a requirement of all A levels).
Action:
Members were asked to provide their views and feedback in response to the following:
1. Should the AS comprise a common generic core? Should different routes be provided
at A2?
2. Skills testing:
i. Multiple or discrete? E.g. could listening be tested as a discrete skill?
ii. Could listening (or reading) be tested through the medium of English as
opposed to the target language?
iii. Could the stimulus for writing be in the medium of English with the response
being provided in the target language?
4.
Date of next meeting
Wednesday 19 September 2012 at the Pitt Building, Cambridge.
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Appendix 1
Flipchart 1
What should a course aimed at developing the knowledge and skills previously identified
include?
1. Critical thinking
2. Opps. for developing opinions.
Assume role of characters
• Understanding an opinion and giving a reason for that opinion – why is it
valid. Justify it.
3. Research important
• Could teamwork activities be appropriate at AS, leading onto more
independent learning for A2.
5. Internet based information – plenty available. Maybe too much? Help pupils to
research in a more focused way. Build up ICT skills in AS. Set tasks.
6. Teaching pupils to assess work, to understand the criteria, to appraise and make
judgements.
7. Grammar very important and leads to independence. Problem is the vocabulary.
Too much focus on topics and vocab list.
8. Opps for group talk use of authentic texts from earlier on.
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Appendix 2
Flipchart 2
What should a course aimed at developing the knowledge and skills previously identified
include?
A course that supports students to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Find reading meaningful, read a variety of texts types (economy, literature,
culture, contemporary society)
Express themselves in English (at a higher level about these texts)
Develop language – learning skills, and language awareness so can take on
a (grammar, structure, syntax, usage)
Non-European language at HE. Translate in and out of TL.
Argue and debate orally and written in TL and English
Speaks to young people’s interests
SKILLS
•
•
•
•
Critical thinking
Reading widely
Writing an academic essay
Research skills (engaging with multiple perspective)
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Appendix 3
Flipchart 3
What should a course aimed at developing the knowledge and skills previously identified
include?
Post-16 MFL course
•
cannot be considered by itself, needs to be looked at in the context of the
progression from primary teaching to KS3 and KS4
•
some ideas can be taken from the approach of the Diploma in MFL
•
focus should move away from topics, focus could be on semi-controlled tasks
instead, which would help develop a range of skills, including research, and
provide more realistic context and content
•
importance of meaningful and engaging team work to develop skills
•
encourage links with schools/colleges in other countries, much greater use of
new technologies should be expected; would help develop greater cultural
awareness and understanding
•
focus on learning to learn, including learning to learn /guess new vocabulary and
grammar
•
importance of learning and learning to learn grammar; if included in the
assessment in the form of manipulation of language, it would be included in the
teaching and learning
•
grammar/manipulation of language should be integrated throughout the course,
not taught separately, it should serve an obvious purpose
•
importance of teacher training and support - new pedagogical approaches, new
focus on grammar and greater use of new technologies would require more
intensive support for teachers
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