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Monday, 30 September 2013 11:56

Autumn Newsletter 2013

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New blog: Souris c'est lundi!

 We thought that it was time we did something to support the most widely taught and learned language in Ireland, French. Our language advisor, Frédérique Rantz, is enjoying preparing this blog, which has an emphasis on young people’s interests, on diversity in French, France and Francophonie as well as on easy access.The blog is video clip-based with reading ‘extras’. Students at all levels will get something from it whether just an infectious melody for some, or a lot more for others.

There is lots for young people to enjoy in French and Souris, c’est lundi! will present a weekly taste of what there is out there.

Every month, on successive Mondays, it will feature:

On 1st Monday: Chanson nouveauté, a song from recent charts

On 2nd Monday: Film du mois. a film

On 3rd Monday: Chanson nostalgie, a ‘retro’ song

On 4th Monday: En prime, something random - funny, thought-provoking, beautiful or just plain cool

Please let us know what you think, and we'd love to hear from you if you have any requests for future topics and features.

The new Junior Cycle Framework and new short courses in Modern Languages update


Work has been completed on the generic MFL Short Course Specifications and this document is available by clicking on the image above. The course has been created around four of the Junior Cycle Statements of Learning (2, 6, 16, 24). These translate into four strands: Communicative Competence, Intercultural Awareness, Language Awareness and Digital Literacy. In turn, these strands develop the six key skills of the new Junior Cycle. Examples illustrating how each key skill element can be addressed are given in the specifications. The four strands are further detailed in a set of 16 learning outcomes each. The decision to include ‘intercultural awareness’ rather than simply ‘cultural awareness’ and digital literacy make this short course very progressive and distinctive.
 
We are currently working on development of specific language courses including Japanese, Russian, and Irish Sign Language, and we are also planning to work on Polish, but if you think that you could offer an additional modern language as a short course in your school, please feel free to adapt the specifications for this language. Most of the work has already been done, and as well as the generic specifications, you will also find language functions, a learning journal, and self-assessment checklists by clicking on the image above.
 

Using the Target Language: Starting the journey

Presentation for those starting off trying to use the target language in the classroom. Includes great clips of teachers in Ireland already using the target language.
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Make sure and follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook (just click on the icons above) to be keep up with what's happening in post-primary languages and other material of general interest to anyone interested in Modern Foreign Languages education.

Competitions on the way!

This academic year we would like to organise more video competitions but we would like to give you more time to get them done. We would like the videos to be posted on our Facebook page and to award prizes on the basis of the number of likes your students' videos can attract. We would also like to get your ideas for a theme - for the general languages competition we have had 'Why learn foreign languages?' and 'Ireland: Many people many languages'. If you have a great idea please let us know in the next couple of weeks. For the Spanish one we have had students do an elevator pitch on why they should be chosen to go to Spain, and a promotion of Ireland targeted at Spanish students. Any ideas for this one? We would be particularly interested in hearing from teachers and parents who probably appreciate best what students would enjoy.

Leaving Cert Applied

In the PPLI we strive to support the teaching and learning of languages at post-primary level. With this in mind, and taking on board feedback received from teachers, we are working on supporting teachers and pupils involved in the LCA course. In order to ensure that what we do is absolutely relevant we would really appreciate if you would take a few minutes to complete one or more of the following questionnaires by clicking on the links relevant to the language/s you teach. Many thanks in advance for your help.

Don't forget these videos!

Don't forget this great set of short videos 'More Languages More Options', which focus on people working in Ireland (most of them Irish) who use foreign languages in their daily work. The videos do not focus on any language in particular but rather on the general value of learning any foreign language. They include people working in the IT sector, in the arts, in science, in sport, and in research. We made these clips in order to assist you with the promotion of foreign language learning in your school. We would appreciate it if you would remind language teachers, guidance counselors, and school managers, that they are there and are very useful when presenting foreign language options to parents and students.
 


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