1. Sawtry Village Academy
A-LEVEL FRENCH Transition Pack

2. A level topics Social issues and trends Political and artistic culture
Current trends: the changing nature of family, the 'cyber-society‘, the place of voluntary work.
Current issues: positive features of a diverse society, life for the marginalised, how criminals are treated.
Political and artistic culture
Artistic culture: a culture proud of its heritage, contemporary francophone music,cinema: the 7th art form.
Political life :teenagers, the right to vote and political commitment, demonstrations & strikes – who holds the power? Politics and immigration. .
Literary texts and films

3. Paper 1: Listening, Reading and Writing 2hrs 30 mins, 50% of A-level
Listening and responding to spoken passages from a range of contexts and sources covering different registers and adapted as necessary. Material will include complex factual and abstract content and questions will target main points, gist and detail. Studio recordings will be used and students will have individual control of the recording.
All questions are in French, to be answered with non-verbal responses or in French (30 marks)
Reading and responding to a variety of texts written for different purposes, drawn from a range of authentic sources and adapted as necessary. Material will include complex factual and abstract content and questions will target main points, gist and detail.
All questions are in French, to be answered with non-verbal responses or in French (50 marks).
Translation into English; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks).
Translation into French; a passage of minimum 100 words (10 marks).
No access to a dictionary during the assessment.

4. Paper 2: Writing 2 hours, 20% of A-Level
One text and one film or two texts from the list set in the specification.
Either one question in French on a set text from a choice of two questions and one question in French on a set film from a choice of two questions or two questions in French on set texts from a choice of two questions on each text.
All questions will require a critical appreciation of the concepts and issues covered in the work and a critical and analytical response to features such as the form and the technique of presentation, as appropriate to the work studied (eg the effect of narrative voice in a prose text or camera work in a film).
No access to texts or films during the assessment.
No access to a dictionary during the assessment.
Students are advised to write approximately 300 words per essay.

5. Paper 3: Speaking Oral exam: 21-23 mins (incl
Paper 3: Speaking Oral exam: mins (incl. 5 mins prep) 30% of A-Level
Individual research project.
One of four sub-themes ie Aspects of French-speaking society: current trends,
Aspects of French-speaking society
current issues, Artistic culture in the French speaking world,
Aspects of political life in
the French speaking world.
Questions
Discussion of a sub-theme with the discussion based on a stimulus card (5–6 minutes). The student studies the card for 5 minutes at the start of the test (25 marks).
Presentation (2 minutes) and discussion (9–10 minutes) of individual research project (35 marks).
No access to a dictionary during the assessment (including 5 minutes preparation).
Students may take the assessment only once before certification.

6. Introduction What you need to do next
During the course of the year you will be sitting internal assessments as well as the external exams at the end of the course.
In order to help develop your skills in exam technique, the following pages have some hints on improving listening, reading, speaking and writing skills.
What you need to do next
You will need to complete a series of exercises that are listed at the back of this booklet.
You’ll also find a list of useful resources and web-links to look at before the course starts.

7. Reading Tips Read as much as you can !
Try and read at least one thing in French each day.
Use the internet to find articles.
Keep it short !
Try and attempt short stories and articles as they are easier than long texts or books.
Get the gist !
You don’t have to understand every word. See how much you can understand but don’t try to translate it all.
Make a note !
Make a note of any idioms or phrases you like. You may be able to use them in future writing or speaking tasks.

8. Writing Tips Imitate the language !
Try to imitate the language you’ve seen in your reading and in your French lessons.
Use new structures !
Incorporate as many new structures in all your writing as you can.
Use your previous work !
Learn from what you got right and wrong in your previous work.
Plan ahead !
Make sure to plan your work carefully, but don’t be tempted to write in English first or you’ll be tempted to do a ‘direct translation’.
Check your work !
Use a checklist to check for: agreement, tenses, the correct gender and all punctuation.

9. Listening Tips Get the gist !
You don’t have to understand every word. See how much you can understand but don’t try to translate it all.
Keep listening !
Listen to an extract several times; it helps to tune your ear and you’ll pick up extra words.
Use the news !
The news is often easier to understand than a DJ for example; the articulation is often better. Try
Select the French
language option at the top, listen to the videos with the transcripts

10. Speaking Tips Keep on practising !
Use French at every opportunity – in the classroom and with teachers, with native speakers and when you go abroad.
Communicate !
Speaking is about expressing ideas; you don’t need to know every word.
Don’t be shy !
It’s up to you to make the effort to speak French. Don’t be shy – try !!

11. Useful Links Useful websites to look at before the course begins:
(account Id: 3980, password fletcher) ( interactive and authentic resources).
(news items with a very useful ‘archives’ section, type a French key word et voilà!)
(grammar and vocabulary)
( vocabulary and grammar)
(radio station)
(news videos )
( national news site)
( language learning site)
( vocabulary learning site)

12. Exercises
You should complete the following tasks before the course begins in September.
You will be assessed on some of these.
Revise your GCSE vocabulary – you need to be sure of this before embarking on new topics.
You can also take a look at the KS5 section.
Revise the grammar and complete the exercises from the transition booklet.
Complete the following activities on print a copy or note down your answers and bring to your first lesson. (account Id: 3980, password: fletcher).
Click on register /login, enter the information then click on year 12/Families/Le fossé des générations. Complete all activities. Also, visit vocabulaire et prononciation-le fossé des générations section.
Find out about something that has happened in France over the summer. Write a summary in French (100 words) using the past tense, and bring it along to your first lesson to present to us.

13. Equipment Needed
You should have the following equipment before the course begins in September.
A good bilingual dictionary e.g. Collins big French/English.
An A4 folder with dividers.
A well organised file is key. You will need to keep all of your work across the two years for revision for your final exams. All work is done on lined paper or handouts.
It will be a good idea to label your file dividers as follows:
Social Issues and Trends
Political and artistic culture
Literary work
Film work
Individual Research Project
Grammar
Speaking preparation