Modern Foreign Languages

Introduction

The SWTT Consortium has been training Modern Foreign Language teachers since 1996. The partnership comprises of 20 successful Secondary Schools in the South West. The majority of these schools have been awarded Technology School status. The Lead School is West Exe Technology College , a Triple Specialism Technology College which has undergone a multimillion pound total redevelopment.

Course Details

The School Centred Initial Teacher Training PGCE programme in Modern Foreign Languages sets out to introduce students to a range of strategies for teaching Modern Foreign Languages. It is envisaged that students will join the Course from a diverse range of academic and industrial or commercial backgrounds, with Modern Foreign Languages skills. The Course will audit and build upon these skills to produce teachers capable of delivering MFL courses from 11 to 18 years. The programme will also enable the teacher to become familiar with the many forms of MFL in schools.

Students will acquire knowledge about key concepts in teaching and learning Foreign Languages, as well as the current formal arrangements for the assessment of Foreign Languages within the context of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3, 4 and Post 16. They will be able to see progression from Key Stage 2, through the secondary years, to the continuing development at Post 16. A key feature of the PGCE programme is an emphasis on action learning and on the use of local resources to provide learning contexts for Foreign Languages. To help develop these skills and place them into a real world context, there is a short community placement to support the development of a second language. This may be in France , Germany or Spain .

Students will develop and record their personal skills, knowledge and capability in Modern Foreign Languages. This will be used to help establish areas of expertise and areas for personal development. As with other aspects of the PGCE programme, the materials used will be progressive and build upon the skills of each student and their experiences in two school placements.

The PGCE programme aims to produce reflective teachers who are able to evaluate and further develop their own subject and teaching skills.