French AS/A Level

Studying French at The HENLEY College means developing your language skills and building on the knowledge you have gained during your GCSE course.  You will learn about contemporary France and French speaking countries in a topic based course using a variety of materials: texts, media files, films, TV programmes, the Internet and music.

You will have weekly lessons in the state-of-the-art multi-media language laboratory, and speaking practice in small groups with a native speaker.

There is the opportunity to participate in trips: a day trip to Lille and a longer visit to another destination in France (limited places on both).

The topics to be covered are as follows:

AS Level:

(a) Leisure and Lifestyles, including travel and tourism, sport, hobbies, entertainment, customs, traditions, healthy living – health and nutrition, diet and exercise; unhealthy living - drugs, aids, smoking, alcohol, etc

(b) The Individual and Society, including relationships and responsibilities, gender issues, youth culture (values, peer groups, fashions and trends etc.), education, vocational training and future careers.

A2 Level:

(c) Environmental Issues, including technology, pollution, global warming, transport, energy, nuclear energy, renewable energies, conservation, recycling, sustainability.

(d) Social and Political Issues, including the role of the media, racism, immigration, social exclusion and integration, terrorism, world of work (employment, commerce, globalisation, etc.).

Additional topics will be covered in more depth for the oral and writing papers, for example: the cinema (eg Amélie, La Haine), a region of France, or literary texts. These topics may change periodically.

Assessment

AS          Unit 1      Oral
Unit 2     Listening, Reading and Writing

A2           Unit 3      Oral
Unit 4      Listening, Reading and Writing

The Welsh Board specification is designed to encourage students to:

• derive enjoyment and benefit from language learning
• acquire knowledge, skills and understanding for practical use, further study and/or employment
• communicate with speakers of the language
• take their place in a multilingual global society.

It is also designed to:

• provide a coherent, satisfying and worthwhile course of study for students who do not wish to progress further than AS Level
• provide a sufficient basis for the further study of languages at degree level or equivalent if taken to AL.

For more information on French AS/A2 from EDEXCEL:

Tel: 0207 413 8427 Edexcel Customer Response Centre
Email: enquiries@edexcel.org.uk
Website: http://www.edexcel.org.uk