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SHORT VERSION OF COURSE OUTLINES FOR MODERN LANGUAGES (FRENCH AND SPANISH)
MODERN LANGUAGES AWARD
- The Award consists of specific Employability and Language for Work Purposes Units.
- This French and Spanish combined Modern Languages Award would be the perfect asset to have in your CV to gain entry in the tourism or hospitality sector in Scotland.
- The Award builds on receptive skills, Listening and Reading and productive skills, Talking and Writing.
- The main aim of the course is to understand and use French/Spanish in the familiar contexts of citizenship, society, learning, culture with an especial emphasis on employability.
NATIONAL 3 LANGUAGES (FRENCH/ SPANISH)
- This course builds on the Language Experiences and Outcomes at levels 2 & 3 pupils would have covered during S1-S3.
- This course has two units based on receptive skills, Listening and Reading- Understanding Language; and productive skills, Speaking and Writing- Using Language.
- The main aim of the course is to understand and use French/Spanish in the familiar contexts of citizenship, society, learning, employability and culture.
NATIONAL 4 LANGUAGES (FRENCH/SPANISH)
- This course builds on the Language Experiences and Outcomes at levels 2 & 3 which pupils have covered during S1-S3.
- The National 4 course provides you with the basic Modern Language University entry requirement to any field of study (National SCQF 4).
- This course has two units based on receptive skills, Listening and Reading- Understanding Language; and productive skills, Speaking and Writing- Using Language.
- The main aim of the course is to understand and use French/Spanish in the familiar contexts of citizenship, society, learning, employability and culture.
- In addition, the students aiming for National 4 will have to do a cultural project related to an area of own interest of a Francophone/ Hispanic country.
NATIONAL 5 MODERN LANGUAGES (FRENCH / SPANISH)
- These courses build on the Language Experiences and Outcomes at levels 2, 3 & 4 that you would have mainly covered during S1-S3.
- The National 5 courses provide you beyond the basic Modern Language University entry requirement to any field of study (National SCQF 4).
- This course has two units based on receptive skills, Listening and Reading- Understanding Language; and productive skills, Speaking and Writing- Using Language. The main aim of the course is to understand and use French/Spanish in the familiar contexts of citizenship, society, learning, employability and culture. Some of the units are done through the study of films, such as Les Choristes for National 5 French or Planta Cuarta for National 5 Spanish.
- N5 assessments in Listening, Reading and Writing are external whilst Talking is internal and moderated by SQA.
HIGHER MODERN LANGUAGES (FRENCH / SPANISH)
Modern Languages Higher courses (French and Spanish) focus mainly on the skills of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing through the contexts of citizenship, society, learning, employability and culture. The course enable learners to communicate, develop cultural awareness and be creative, hence the reason why a Higher Modern Language is not only aimed at students willing to take languages to University level, but as a means to prove to Universities and future employers the wide variety of critical thinking skills achieved by students through the learning of a foreign language. Students at Higher level will have to pass internal assessments in the skills of Listening and Reading. The Speaking element accounts for 30% of the final grade for Higher.
Students taking Higher can take part in the French Exchange to Jarnac to practice their oral skills further.
ADVANCED HIGHER MODERN LANGUAGES (FRENCH / SPANISH)
The Advanced Higher qualifications in Modern Languages develop sophisticated abilities in using the language independently. The course offers learners the opportunity of developing their French/Spanish skills within the contexts of personal, social and cultural issues, topical and cultural issues, and environmental issues.
Learners further develop skills in expressing opinions and exchanging ideas, and begin to consider current affairs issues from the viewpoint of those living in Francophone and/or Hispanic countries. They learn to compare issues relevant in France/Spain and Britain, and to formulate opinions on these. Further options include engaging with the literature or an aspect of the country seen though texts and focusing on the use of French/Spanish at work. Advanced Higher French students have the opportunity to undertake work experience in Jarnac, France.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Modern Languages enable learners to communicate, develop cultural awareness and be creative, hence the reason why a Modern Language is not only aimed at students willing to take languages to University Level but as a means to prove to Universities and future employers the wide variety of critical thinking skills achieved by the pupils through language learning.
Furthermore, career opportunities exist for all sorts of specialists in language: translators, interpreters, teachers, bilingual secretaries, representatives, couriers and airhostesses / stewards; and increasingly, experts in the sciences, technology and economics find it desirable to have knowledge of at least one foreign language. This is reflected in the types of course now being run by many universities and colleges, where language study can be combined with almost any other discipline.
Britain’s membership of the European Community with its free market and its striving for political union means that communication in the principal European Languages becomes increasingly important as time goes by.