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Program Overview

The regular Core French program is organized into three stages: elementary (grades 4 – 6), intermediate (grades 7-9) and senior high. This progression assures that students have an opportunity to develop their second language skills in a sequential and progressive manner.

Enabling students to communicate with others in French is the essential purpose of the Core French Program. The program includes the four main communication skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking - and encourages the use of viewing and representing in order to reach students with a wide range of abilities. Communication in French is used to establish and maintain personal relationships, to share ideas and opinions, and to accomplish tasks.

Language learning strategies are an important component of this program. They are recognized as an essential part of successful language learning. When students apply a range of specific strategies to their language learning, they are better able to understand information, clarify and negotiate meaning, and generally cope more effectively in situations where communication is needed - in French, English, and any other language. These strategies help students identify how they learn most effectively.

The Core French Program in Newfoundland and Labrador is organized to help students:

Senior High Core French consists of four courses: French 1200, 2200, 3200, and 3201. These courses are intended for students who are learning French as a second language. The Senior High Core French Curriculum Guide (1998) focuses on the learning outcomes that Core French students are expected to acquire in these courses. The curriculum outcomes are presented under five organizers:

  1. communicating - the French language is used in all classroom routines to establish and maintain personal relationships, to share ideas and opinions and to get things done;
  2. acquiring information - French is used to acquire information for a variety of purposes; authentic texts engage the students in thoughtful learning which may be relevant to their lives;
  3. experiencing creative works - French is used to listen to, read and view creative works in various formats and to respond to them in original ways;
  4. understanding cultural influences - the French language is used to learn about francophone cultures and to experience personally the ways in which cultural backgrounds influence one’s view of the world;
  5. using language learning strategies - the French language is the vehicle for students to learn about language learning; specific language learning strategies enable students to access information, clarify and negotiate meaning and cope more effectively in unfamiliar situations in English as well as in French.

These organizers focus attention on the most important purposes for studying French. In the classroom, however, they will be integrated in most activities, in the instructional process and also in the evaluation of student achievement.

French 1200

This course is designed to enable all students who have completed Intermediate Core French to experience success at second language learning at the high school level. It is accessible to a broad range of learners and is designed for a variety of learning styles. The focus of learning is the purposeful use of language to perform real life tasks through listening, speaking, reading and writing.

French 2200

This course is appropriate for all students who have completed Intermediate Core French. It consists of four modules: Music, Visual Arts, Drama and Movement. Each module also includes elements of media literacy, culture, technology careers and language acquisition. French 1200 is not a prerequisite for French 2200.

French 3200

This course continues the development of language proficiency in French by asking students to use the language in meaningful contexts to make sense of events, tasks, and activities. Topics explored include family relationships, school, career options, part-time work, media, travel, individual responsibilities, stress, and social concerns. This course includes a fifteen minute oral proficiency interview as part of student assessment. French 3200 provide the necessary language base to enable students to study French 3201.

French 3201

The most advanced course in the Core French program, French 3201 is structured around the study of content that reflects francophone culture, adolescent and global issues. Students discuss, read, and write about course themes.

Assessment and Evaluation

The Table of Specifications includes four components:

The listening component includes activities which involve a combination of listening and speaking, reading or writing, requiring responses ranging from simple recall to interpreting information. Some examples would include visual association, passages, etc. Every effort should be made to vary the types of activities and to use authentic language models and real-life situations.

The oral component (speaking/listening) is a very important part of the Core French Program. Throughout the year, students’ oral communicative skills are evaluated as they participate in routine classroom activities, give presentations, work in groups and interact with each other and the teacher. At various points of the year, a formal interview should be completed with each student.

The written comprehension and production component (reading/writing) may include activities such as word study, crosswords, cloze and authentic reading passages, poetry, creative and spontaneous writing, portfolios, and research-based projects. Opportunity is given for a range of responses from factual recall to interpretive explanations, points of view and supporting opinions.

The students’ work should be evaluated on organization, ideas, vocabulary and clarity. Just as linguistic elements are presented in the context of their communicative needs, so too should evaluation of the linguistic elements take place in context. Priority is given to the message rather than the form. This does not mean, however, that linguistic correctness is not important; communicative ability is measured by both message production and accuracy of expression.

A school’s evaluation policy may dictate the percentages allotted to each term and the final mark. Within French 1200, 2200, 3200 and 3201, fair representation should be given to unit assessments, projects, quizzes, compositions, journal writing, interviews, assignments and formal evaluations.