|
Edward Last, Headteacher
of Buckland CE Primary School, outlines their rationale for the choice
of language and the aims and policy of the provision of modern foreign
language in the primary classroom:
Rationale
Once the decision to provide a modern foreign language is made, then the
subsequent question is "Which?". So what was our situation at the time
of adoption? Buckland is a small (N.O.R. 75 - 80 pupils) rural school
and we felt it was sensible to adopt a European language.
We were partners in a Comenius European Educational Partnership (with
schools in Norway, Finland and Germany) at the time of decision. The headteachers
of our partners schools all spoke German with varying fluency.
As one of our partner
schools was in Germany we would have access to contemporary materials
and native speaker support. There would also be direct relevancy for the
pupils as they would, hopefully, be able to communicate with their peers
in Riethschule using e-mail and fax,albeit in simple terms. Certainly
we would be able to exchange work with each other that could be displayed
in our cooperating schools.
As German grammar
has both similarities and differences with English grammar it would allow
for a productive comparison with English through vocabulary, sentence
construction and grammar. This would make for a greater contribution to
the development of children's understanding and skills than the more Latin
based French, Spanish or Italian. In this way we can not only easily justify
the use of "Literacy Hour" time, but grammar can be made more interesting
and relevant to our pupils.
Finally, German is
the most widely spoken first language in Europe (Germany, Austria and
certain Swiss cantons), and is a second language in Luxembourg, in other
Swiss cantons and the Czech Republic.
Policy for the
teaching of German
The aim is to offer
pupils a useful and enjoyable early experience of hearing and using a
foreign language so that they are prepared for secondary school learning
of German (or of any foreign language) by:
- being well-disposed
to the concept of languages other than English as a means of communication
- developing a facility
to hear and make the sounds of a foreign language at an age when their
inhibitions for imitating sounds and speaking out are minimal
- exploiting the
facility which young children have for mimicry and memorizing
- encouraging use
of written language to communicate with peers in German partner school.
Methodology Guidance
Key Stage 1:
Introduction
of pupils to a "new way of speaking" using German in parallel with English
so that German is integrated into other elements of the curriculum, e.g.
when learning to count children should also use German, similarly when
identifying colours. The children should learn correct pronunciation through
songs and rhymes.
Lower Key Stage 2:
To provide Year 3 and Year 4 pupils with opportunities to hear and use
German through songs, rhymes and simple language games so that they can
associate a language other than English with enjoyment and self-confidence.
At this stage there is no intention to structure work so that pupils are
"trained" to retain cognitive knowledge of the language they have experienced,
rather it is absorbed intuitively through use and association, but they
will come to appreciate what is meant by "a language" through the careful
structuring of their experiences.
DELL
Projects
|
