Year 7 SyllabusTest
Year 7 Syllabus
Year Level Description
Students begin their study of French in secondary school with little to no prior experience of the French language and culture. Many will have learnt an additional language in primary school and bring existing language learning strategies, textual knowledge and intercultural awareness to the new experience of learning French. Skills in analysing, comparing and reflecting on language and culture in the languages are mutually supportive. Students may need encouragement to take risks in learning a new language at this stage in their social development and to consider issues of how the experience influences their first language and culture.
In Year 7, students communicate in French, interacting with peers and known adults to exchange information about self, family and friends, and interests. They engage in individual and collaborative tasks that involve making arrangements, inviting, planning, deciding and responding, or work together to highlight their language learning for family, friends and their school community. Students identify topic, gist and specific points of information from texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, convey the information and ideas and use them in new ways. They respond to imaginative texts by discussing aspects, such as characters, events and/or key ideas. Students create simple own or shared imaginative texts by reinterpreting or adapting familiar texts and/or using modelled structures and language.
Students become familiar with the systems of the French language when encountered in simple spoken and written texts. They use features of the French sound system to convey meaning with pitch, stress, intonation, rhythm and body language, and show recognition of the difference between statements, questions and commands. Students generate language for a range of purposes in spoken and written texts by recognising and using context-related vocabulary and elements of the French grammatical system, including word order, gender and number variation, regular and high-frequency irregular verbs in le présent and become familiar with l'impératif. They build a metalanguage in French to talk about vocabulary and grammar concepts. Students reflect on their and others’ responses to interactions and intercultural experiences, and use these reflections to improve intercultural communication.
In Year 7, students learn French through rich and varied language input, and the provision of experiences that are challenging, but achievable. English is predominantly used for discussion, clarification, explanation, analysis and reflection. To assist students in the language learning process, support is provided from the classroom teacher in the form of scaffolding, modelling and monitoring, explicit instruction and feedback, structured opportunities for understanding and practising new language, and the chance to revisit, recycle and review.
Communicating
Socialising
Interact with peers and known adults orally and in writing to exchange information about self, family and friends and interests, for example, Bonjour la classe. Je m’appelle Marc, et toi ?; J’ai quatorze ans. Quel âge as-tu ?; J’ai les yeux bleus et les cheveux bruns. Je suis de taille moyenne.; Je te présente mon copain, Henri. Il est intelligent et marrant !; Nous voici — la famille Mercier !; J’ai deux sœurs et un frère.; J’aime nager et le foot.
Engage in individual and collaborative tasks, such as making arrangements with a friend, planning for a class celebration or performance, or working together to create displays, presentations or performances to showcase their language learning for family, friends or school community
Participate in classroom routines and interactions by responding to teacher talk, following instructions, asking and answering questions, requesting assistance or permission, asking others how they are and offering wishes, for example, Écoutez !; Monsieur, s’il vous plaȋt ?; Je ne comprends pas.; Cliquez sur l’image du chȃteau !; Répondez aux questions !; J’ai une question. Comment dit-on … en français ?; Comment ça s’écrit ?; Qu’est-ce que c’est ?; C’est …; Ce sont …; Salut, Natalie, ça va ? Pas mal, et toi ?; Bonsoir, Madame Legrand, comment allez-vous ?; À demain, Mademoiselle.; À bientôt !; Bon courage !; Bonne fête, Solange !
Informing
Identify topic, gist and specific points of information from a range of spoken and written texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, and use the information in new ways
Convey information and ideas from a range of texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, using different modes of presentation
Creating
Respond to imaginative texts by describing aspects, such as characters, events and/or key ideas
Create simple own or shared imaginative texts by reinterpreting or adapting familiar texts and/or using modelled structures and language
Translating
Translate and interpret phrases and short texts from French to English and vice versa, noticing which words or phrases translate easily and which do not
Reflecting
Reflect on own and others’ responses to interactions and intercultural experiences, and use these reflections to improve intercultural communication
Reflect on experiences of learning and using another language, and share aspects of own identity, such as age, interests and family background, reflecting on how these impact on intercultural communication
Understanding
Systems of language
Use features of the French sound system, including pronunciation of nasal sounds, and convey meaning with pitch, stress, intonation, rhythm, using liaison in familiar contexts, and recognising the difference between statements, questions and commands, such as Vous écoutez la chanson.; Vous écoutez la chanson ?; Écoutez la chanson !
Use the French alphabet for spelling words aloud, recognising similarities to and differences from English and using correct terminology for accents
Generate language for a range of purposes in simple spoken and written texts, by recognising and using context-related vocabulary and elements of the French grammatical system, including:
- using definite and indefinite articles le, la, l’ and les; un, une and des
- recognising substitution of the indefinite article with de in negative sentences, for example, Non, je n’ai pas de frère. J’ai une sœur.
- using singular and plural forms of nouns, for example, le chien/les chiens, une femme/des femmes, including some irregular plural forms, such as l’œil/les yeux, le nez/les nez, l’animal/les animaux
- beginning to recognise that adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun, for example, des élèves intelligents, de bonnes étudiantes, and that des changes to de if the adjective precedes the noun
- understanding that most adjectives in French follow the noun, for example, un élève intelligent, and that common adjectives precede the noun, for example, une bonne étudiante
- understanding that subject pronouns je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils and elles determine verb conjugations and substitute for noun subjects, for example, Voilà le frère de Michel. Il est beau, n’est-ce pas ?
- using regular –er verbs, and irregular conjugations of high-frequency verbs être, avoir, aller and faire in le présent
- becoming familiar with regular –ir and –re verbs in le présent
- recognising the function of irregular verbs, such as avoir, être and faire in expressions, such as avoir faim, avoir 13 ans and faire beau
- becoming familiar with l'impératif, for example, Asseyez-vous !; Dis-moi !
- recognising how grammatical choices shade meaning and establish register, for example, use of tu or vous to distinguish relationship; use of nous to suggest inclusivity or shared identity; use of on to suggest distance or to replace nous
- using singular and plural possessive adjectives, for example, ses cheveux, leur mère, mes copains
- forming and using cardinal numbers to 100
- using exclamations, for example, Zut !; Bien fait !
- using prepositions à, en and dans when describing where people live, for example, Jean-François habite à Montréal au Canada.; Ma copine habite en Australie.; La famille Maréchal habite dans une ferme.
- using the negative ne … pas in simple statements, questions and commands, for example, Je n’aime pas l’histoire.; Tu n’aimes pas le bifteck ?; Ne recommence pas !
- becoming aware of three ways of forming a question, including a simple sentence with rising intonation, for example, Tu as un animal chez toi ?; inverting the verb and subject, for example, As-tu un animal chez toi ?; and using Est-ce que … ?, for example, Est-ce que tu as un animal chez toi ?
Build metalanguage to talk about vocabulary and grammar concepts
Identify and use text structures and language features of common spoken, written and multimodal texts, and compare with structures and features of similar texts in English
Language variation and change
Examine linguistic features in texts to develop an understanding that languages vary according to elements, such as register
Understand that French, like all languages, varies according to participants, roles and relationships, situations and cultures
Recognise that French is a global language, spoken with a variety of accents and dialects in many regions of the world, as well as in France
Role of language and culture
Explore the relationship between language and culture
Achievement Standard
At standard, students use familiar language when participating in spoken and written interactions to exchange information about self, family and friends, and interests, and in classroom tasks and routines. They identify and use some information, including topic, gist and some specific points of information, in French texts. Students convey, in a variety of ways, simple information and ideas from texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds. They describe aspects of French imaginative texts, and use familiar and modelled language to create simple texts adapted from familiar imaginative texts. Students translate, with a satisfactory level of accuracy, familiar phrases and short texts, identifying some words or phrases that do not translate easily across languages. They reflect on aspects of language, culture, personal identity and experiences of learning a language, and how these may impact on intercultural communication.
Students apply with a satisfactory level of accuracy, most features of the French sound and writing systems when using familiar vocabulary, expressions and modelled structures related to self, family and friends, and interests. They use the rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation, with a satisfactory level of accuracy, to write short texts in French. Students use familiar grammatical terms to talk about how language works. They identify some features of French that may need to be adjusted to suit different situations and relationships, and use most features and structures associated with familiar text types, to make comparisons between similar texts in French and English. They identify examples of the relationship between language and culture, and the place of French in the local, national and global context.
Year Level Description
Students begin their study of French in secondary school with little to no prior experience of the French language and culture. Many will have learnt an additional language in primary school and bring existing language learning strategies, textual knowledge and intercultural awareness to the new experience of learning French. Skills in analysing, comparing and reflecting on language and culture in the languages are mutually supportive. Students may need encouragement to take risks in learning a new language at this stage in their social development and to consider issues of how the experience influences their first language and culture.
In Year 7, students communicate in French, interacting with peers and known adults to exchange information about self, family and friends, and interests. They engage in individual and collaborative tasks that involve making arrangements, inviting, planning, deciding and responding, or work together to highlight their language learning for family, friends and their school community. Students identify topic, gist and specific points of information from texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, convey the information and ideas and use them in new ways. They respond to imaginative texts by discussing aspects, such as characters, events and/or key ideas. Students create simple own or shared imaginative texts by reinterpreting or adapting familiar texts and/or using modelled structures and language.
Students become familiar with the systems of the French language when encountered in simple spoken and written texts. They use features of the French sound system to convey meaning with pitch, stress, intonation, rhythm and body language, and show recognition of the difference between statements, questions and commands. Students generate language for a range of purposes in spoken and written texts by recognising and using context-related vocabulary and elements of the French grammatical system, including word order, gender and number variation, regular and high-frequency irregular verbs in le présent and become familiar with l'impératif. They build a metalanguage in French to talk about vocabulary and grammar concepts. Students reflect on their and others’ responses to interactions and intercultural experiences, and use these reflections to improve intercultural communication.
In Year 7, students learn French through rich and varied language input, and the provision of experiences that are challenging, but achievable. English is predominantly used for discussion, clarification, explanation, analysis and reflection. To assist students in the language learning process, support is provided from the classroom teacher in the form of scaffolding, modelling and monitoring, explicit instruction and feedback, structured opportunities for understanding and practising new language, and the chance to revisit, recycle and review.