Spanish A Level

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1. Personal Details (including Home Address, Email Address and Contact Number)
2. A full list of all of your predicted grades

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This A Level covers a range of social and cultural topics that relate to the countries where Spanish is spoken, such as changes in family; sexism and the rights of the LGBT community.

You will be using a range of skills to study both these topics and the film Volver as well as the novel Como Agua Para Chocolate or La Casa de Bernarda Alba. As a research project in your second year, you will be able to choose a topic related to a Spanish-speaking country to discuss in your speaking exam. Weekly speaking sessions with a native speaker will help build up your confidence and improve your fluency. We currently offer a residential trip to Seville.

Lessons are varied, with an emphasis on communication, but accurate grammar too. You will have access to online resources at home and in college in order to support your progress. Spanish can be studied in combination with any course. Graduates in Spanish are in high demand and languages students’ skills are highly valued by both universities and employers. Wyke students have gone on to university to read Hispanic Studies; Law with Spanish; International Relations and Linguistics.

Most of your lessons will be delivered in Spanish and half of them will take place in the computer room where online resources, such as Kerboodle are often used.

As well as 4×70 minutes lessons with your specialist teacher, you will have a 30 minute session with the Foreign Language Assistant each week. Topic booklets/handouts, based on the AQA recommended texts and materials, are issued throughout the course to every student.

As a Spanish student, you will study technological and social change, looking at diversity and the benefits it brings. You will also study highlights of the artistic culture of Spain, including music and cinema, and learn about political engagement in the countries where the language is spoken. In addition, you will explore the influence of the past on present-day communities. Throughout your studies, you will learn the language in the context of the country and the issues and influences which have shaped them. You will study a text and a film and have the opportunity to carry out independent research on an area of their choice. Assessment tasks will be varied and cover listening, reading, speaking and writing skills.

COURSE CONTENT:

• Aspects of Spanish society: current trends and issues

• Artistic culture in the Spanish-speaking world

• Aspects of political life in the Spanish-speaking world

• Individual research project ( based on a sub-topic of one of the above topics)

• One text and one film

• Grammar

ASSESSMENT:

This course is assessed by 3 examinations which take place at the end of the second year.

Paper 1 Listening, reading and writing (2 1/2 hours 50% of A Level)

Paper 2 Writing (2 hours 20% of A Level)

Paper 3 Speaking (30% of A Level)

100% Examination

Information on course specific and pathway specific entry criteria can be found on our website.

Studying languages can open up a wealth of opportunities. It can mean working in the more obvious fields such as translating, interpreting, tourism or teaching, but also in sales, marketing, law, journalism, IT and public relations, where a language, often combined with another expertise, really opens up doors for you. Many careers require language skills to cope with the global market place, international trade and e-commerce. The internet has made access to other countries and markets much easier, so effective communication with potential clients is vital for online companies. Language skills give students cross-cultural competence, enhanced employability and a lifelong skill. To employers they give added value, access to new clients and markets, high level communication skills, a wider perspective, open mindedness and a sensitivity to other cultures.