International Advanced Level Modern Foreign Languages ...

International Advanced Level Modern Foreign Languages French German Spanish Generic Essay Guide

MFL Essay Guide

Contents

Generic guidance

Introduction

3

Rationale

3

Key requirements of the essay

4

Getting started

5

Writing the essay

6

Hints for teachers and students

9

Possible essay titles

11

Appendices

Appendix 1 - Student checklist

13

Appendix 2 - Assessment criteria

14

Appendix 3 ? Support

17

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Introduction

This guide is intended to support teachers and students preparing for the essay section in Unit 4 of the Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Level in Modern Foreign Languages, French, German and Spanish. The guide should be used in conjunction with the appropriate Specification and Sample Assessment Materials. The first section contains generic guidelines and the second section contains sample essays for each of the 3 languages. The language specific section contain examples of students' work which have been assessed by senior examiners. Pearson acknowledges and thanks the schools, colleges, teachers and students who helped in the production of these materials. Rationale for Essays on set topics, texts and films This section of the specification is created to allow students to study a topic, film or text related to the target-language culture (French, German or Spanish) which is of genuine interest to them. It encourages wide reading, individual study and personal initiative. It offers an important intellectual challenge for students to acquire the skills of working individually, planning, selecting and organising material. Students will have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of a target language culture by exploring an aspect of that culture which interests them. They will have a choice of topics within the four areas of geography, history, literature and films. The Unit 4 essay should encourage students to develop analytical and interpretive skills, develop ideas on a range of issues and express these ideas critically.

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Key requirements of the Unit 4 essay Students must choose an area of research from the four areas detailed in each specification namely: Geography History Literature Films Students must answer one question which relates to a topic or a text/film chosen from the prescribed list featured in Section C of each specification. Students should write 300?400 words. The assessment rewards students for communicating relevant information effectively as well as for the quality of the language produced. The Geography or History topics must be firmly rooted in the target-language speaking culture. Preferably the chosen topic, text or film should reflect personal interest i.e. the essay should reflect the candidate's own ideas.

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Getting started

Teachers may wish to begin work on the essay at the end of the first year of a 2year programme.

There are various ways in which this section can be taught:

? A whole class project where all students study the same topic, text or film. ? A completely free choice for all students. ? An option of two topics, texts or films (or a combination of these), which could be studied together and/or individually. This offers the possibility of studying two texts or two films, although only one can be chosen in the examination. Some students like this option so they have a back-up if the questions in the examination are not to their taste.

Each of the above has its advantages and disadvantages.

A whole class approach may well be easier to organise and the progress of the students can probably be more easily monitored.

On the other hand, teachers may prefer to offer students a free choice of topic.

The third option would enable students to broaden their appreciation of the target-language culture and, as mentioned, would also offer them greater flexibility on the day of the examination.

Whichever approach is taken, teachers would be expected to direct and guide their students appropriately. This would include giving advice on how to access the full mark range. It is recommended that teachers discuss different choices with the students. This could mean, for example, providing students with brief descriptions of two texts to gauge where there is most interest. It would also be possible to undertake further research beyond the text or film that could be linked to another topic.

For example, International Advanced Level GCE German students may study the text `Zonenkinder' as well as aspects of the DDR in an historical context. International A Level GCE French students may study the film "Indochine" as well as aspects of the French involvement in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in an historical context. For International A Level Spanish students, the study of part of the history of Chile would fit well with working on "In?s del alma m?a".

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