The faculty meeting on October 19, 2009, focused on improving student participation and communication skills in language learning, emphasizing the need for more spontaneous conversations and effective use of language. Concerns were raised about the transition from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4, where teachers fear a regression to less engaging methods. Recommendations included enhancing speaking opportunities and incorporating creative, thought-provoking tasks to foster better language acquisition.

1. Faculty Meeting, 19th October 2009

3. 80
75
70
66 66
60 63 GRADE
59
C
50
47 46
45
44
40
37
30
20
10
Foundation
0
Higher
L S R W All

4. Pupils learn to participate more spontaneously and extensively in
conversations and discussions about classroom matters, their work and
themes studied in class.
Construct and generate initiate and participate in make extended and/or
language, using a stock of unrehearsed pupil-teacher frequent contributions to
words, phrases and and pupil-pupil exchanges classroom talk
sentences for social
communication and to talk
about their work
Y7
make effective use of simple Y8
plan and carry out Y9
deal effectively with
verbal or visual prompts in unscripted conversations unexpected responses in
order to take part in and discussions, taking into order to sustain
conversations and account the conversations and
discussions views, preferences and ideas discussions
of each group member

5. By the end weaknesses inprecisestudents
Common of Key Stage 3 most provision for
Features that were often missing from SOWs were:
sound-spelling linksgiven less
However, they are
secondary modern languages included
feedback
on speaking. This feedback doesrange of
could usually understand a not often
speaking beyond the topic
A insufficient and engagedother skills
tenses opportunities to develop
the use of hindrance to speaking their
further readingthey could improvefluently
focus on how to stimulate in basic
creative speaking does not links not been
pronunciation and skills or independent
good writing
was that sound-spelling encourage them
conversations with peers or their
the use from memory quicklyStudents’
to work of ICT inand writing.toenough, which
speaking taughtpronunciation was
different ways raise
teachers, but their well.
achievement there are an area of particular
speaking skills were times when the most
means that accurate and they were
the use of not
often authentic materials
able weakness innot challenged enough.
students arewhen speaking.
hesitant both key stages. 
assessment.
July 2008

6. Personal
 independent enquirers
 creative thinkers
Learning and  team workers
 self-managers
Thinking  effective participators
 reflective learners.
Skills

7. But equally important seems to be the task of looking ahead
from Year 9 into KS4 and working to ensure that what
learners experience is really 'joined up'. I've talked to a lot of
teachers who are fired up but what they are now teaching at
KS3 but concerned that they will need to return to something
much more conservative and less interesting at KS4. So are
we resigned to it being a case of our KS3 learners being 'all
linguistically challenged and highly motivated with nowhere
to go' at KS4? Or can we make suitable links between the
learning to join both key stages together (without risking a
dip in the all too important performance indicators)?

8. Teach pupils how to:
 Think
 Suppose
 Estimate

9. 46 34
83
vielleicht = perhaps; ungefähr = about; älter als/jünger
als = older/younger than;

10.  Opportunitiesfor MFL pupil talk can be limiting in
scope and inherently finite.
 Theemphasis can often be misplaced on the
completion of a mundane task where only specific
language structures seem valid.
 Transactionalrole playing can build a false perception
of language in pupils’ minds.

11.  Only the target language is spoken
 Interaction between a small group of pupils
 Tasks demand opinion, conjecture and debate
 Language is often colloquial
 Responses are spontaneous
 There is no set finishing line

12.  Give pupils the linguistic skills and regular opportunities
to use:
 the language of conjecture
 disputational talk (arguments!)
 Plan for speaking activities in small groups as well as pairs
 Choose speaking stimuli which will engage and provoke
spontaneous responses (avoid transactional tasks)
 All of this will be achieved by implementing the Group
Talk project in your classroom and department

13. Ich mag (Deutsch) (Deutsch) ist cool
Was denkst du?
Nein, das stimmt
Ja, das stimmt!
nicht
Du spinnst!
Ich denke …