Glasgow Schools Modern Languages Newsletter
31 March 2014 (Glasgow City Council)
The latest Modern Languages Newsletter from Glasgow schools has been published. This issue contains:
- Interdisciplinary Projects at Celtic Learning Centre
- Eurozone Crisis IP at Bellahouston Academy
- Louis Pasteaur languages / science project
- Euroquiz 2014 in Thornwood Primary
- Bannerman High's Chinese events
- Italian events at St Charles' Primary
4 February 2014 (SCILT)
Along with her Spanish and Italian colleagues, Caroline Verdier, Teaching Fellow in French at the University of Strathclyde, challenged 3rd Year students to work in groups on a research project. The groups had 'carte blanche' to research any aspect of life or identity in a country where the target language is spoken. Subjects included independence movements in Spain and Scotland, the representation of Ancient Rome in cinema and on television and the status of Paris in the world of fashion. There were also some case studies about businesses such as of Renault, Zara and Veuve Cliquot.
Information about the rationale, the research process and the findings were distilled and displayed in a poster. The posters were very creative, many were interactive and had 3D elements. An exhibition to showcase all the posters took place in the McCance Conservatory in April 2013. During Spring 2014, posters and abstracts from this year’s 3rd Year students will be added to the blog.
This blog would be a good tool to support pupils involved in research for the IP strand of the Languages Baccalaureate.
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4 December 2013 (Speak to the Future)
Just at a time when employers are calling more strongly than ever before for better language skills, and hard on the heels of the British Council’s recent report on Languages for the Future and the British Academy’s Lost for Words research on the need for languages in UK diplomacy and security, the Welsh Assembly Government is putting forward proposals which remove the compulsory languages element from the Welsh Baccalaureate.
Unlike the English Baccalaureate, the Welsh Baccalaureate is an actual qualification for 14-19 year olds which may be taken at 3 levels. A 20 hour language module is currently compulsory for all students within the ‘Wales, Europe and the World’ strand. Speak to the Future deplores this development, which sends the wrong message to young people in Wales about the importance of language and intercultural skills in today’s world. It is a message which will work against efforts to persuade more young people to take a language to GCSE and will have the effect of dumbing down the qualification rather than making it more rigorous and more relevant. We call on everyone who supports our campaign to respond to the online survey the Welsh Government has launched with regards to its proposals, which closes on 20 December.
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