Frenchteacher updates

Following the recent survey I did with users of the site, I have added quite a few new answer sheets to go with A-level grammar exercises. I shall add some more in due course.

Other recent additions to the site:

Some silly Tommy Cooper jokes to translate back into English from French. (To save time I used Google Translate for my first shot, then imporved the translations myself. This usually saves time.) See Y10-11 section.
A place mat with beginners' phrases for the classroom. Teachers could edit it if they have other expressions they prefer. There are two columns: phrases the teacher will use and phrases the pupil will need to use. See Y7 section. This was also offered as a free sample.
A near-beginners' worksheet to practise time expressions with je vais/tu vas and au/à la/aux etc. I like sheets like this. You can use them for repetitive oral practice, then students can make up their own examples and write some up. This sheet could be displayed on the board.
A crossword with rugby terminology. This could be given out to boys or girls particularly keen on rugby. See Y10-11 section.
For A-level, a passage from Les petits enfants du siècle to translate into English.
Some paragraphs with various exercises on teenage fashions. A-level.
A number of intermediate reading tasks using the Taskmagic worksheet facility. I have used jigsaw reading and gap fill for these texts. See Y10-11 section.

Remember this terrible classic?

Je suis allé chez le médecin l'autre jour.
J'ai dit " Quand je fais ça, ça fait mal."
Il a répondu "Ne le faites pas alors."

Comments

What is skill acquisition theory?

For this post, I am drawing on a section from the excellent book by Rod Ellis and Natsuko Shintani called Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (Routledge, 2014). Skill acquisition is one of several competing theories of how we learn new languages. It’s a theory based on the idea that skilled behaviour in any area can become routinised and even automatic under certain conditions through repeated pairing of stimuli and responses. When put like that, it looks a bit like the behaviourist view of stimulus-response learning which went out of fashion from the late 1950s. Skill acquisition draws on John Anderson’s ACT theory, which he called a cognitivist stimulus-response theory. ACT stands for Adaptive Control of Thought. ACT theory distinguishes declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and concepts, such as the fact that adjectives agree) from procedural knowledge (knowing how to do things in certain situations, such as understand and speak a language).

The 2026 GCSE subject content is published!

Two DfE documents were published today. The first was the response to the consultation about the proposed new GCSE (originally due in October 2021) and the second is the subject content document which, ultimately, is of most interest to MFL teachers in England. Here is the link to the document. We are talking about an exam to be done from 2026 (current Y7s). There is always a tendency for sceptical teachers to think that consultations are a bit of a sham and that the DfE will just go ahead and do what they want when it comes to exam reform. In this case, the responses to the original proposals were mixed, and most certainly hostile as far as exam boards and professional associations representing the MFL community, universities, head teachers and awarding bodies are concerned. What has emerged does reveal some significant changes which take account of a number of criticisms levelled at the proposals. As I read it, the most important changes relate to vocabulary and the issue of topics

La retraite à 60 ans

Suite à mon post récent sur les acquis sociaux..... L'âge légal de la retraite est une chose. Je voudrais bien savoir à quel âge les gens prennent leur retraite en pratique - l'âge réel de la retraite, si vous voulez. J'ai entendu prétendre qu'il y a peu de différence à cet égard entre la France et le Royaume-Uni. Manifestation à Marseille en 2008 pour le maintien de la retraite à 60 ans © AFP/Michel Gangne Six Français sur dix sont d’accord avec le PS qui défend la retraite à 60 ans (BVA) Cécile Quéguiner Plus de la moitié des Français jugent que le gouvernement a " tort de vouloir aller vite dans la réforme " et estiment que le PS a " raison de défendre l’âge légal de départ en retraite à 60 ans ". Résultat d’un sondage BVA/Absoluce pour Les Échos et France Info , paru ce matin. Une majorité de Français (58%) estiment que la position du Parti socialiste , qui défend le maintien de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite à 60 ans,

Language Teacher Toolkit: Steve Smith's blog

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