MFL Curriculum Intent
‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world’
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Languages open doors – professionally, personally and socially. Establishing and maintaining links with other places and cultures is essential in creating an open and prosperous world. At Toot Hill, we foster and develop a desire to communicate with and understand the wider world around us. We recognise that students join us with varying experiences with foreign languages, and may have preconceptions about the relevance and transferability of their foreign languages. Our curriculum in MFL provides students with challenging and developed linguistic and cultural knowledge which s ambitious for all of our students and promotes effective and fluent communication in our their chosen language study. Students develop the linguistic awareness to empower them to become ambitious, independent and engaged linguists with an ability to understand varied and authentic language and produce fluent written and spoken responses in a variety of contexts and for different purposes.
The curriculum fosters an interest in the wider world and a variety of cultures, going beyond the prescribed National Curriculum through embedded cultural study in the target language. It therefore shapes students who will challenge their own thinking and traditions, whilst confidently discussing the differences between countries and cultures, and confidently analysing a wide variety of interests and issues which are important personally, locally, nationally and globally.
The MFL curriculum develops our students’ ability to:
- Be creative in descriptions of themselves and discuss their relationships in detailed and mature ways;
- Discuss, explain and evaluate their options, ambitions, hopes and dreams for the future;
- Talk about a variety of important aspects of different societies and cultures, including festivals, the arts and cultural customs and differences;
- Narrate creatively and expand description of significant events on a personal and broader level around their own interests and experiences;
- Express convincing and developed opinions and preferences around their areas of interest, studies and the world around them;
- Discuss the wider world and global issues and concerns, including the challenges around climate change, inequality and how to develop global citizens;
- To develop curiosity and independence along research skills to explore different cultures, languages and the wider world.