French

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This subtopic focuses on environmental issues and actions within French-speaking communities, including climate change, pollution, and conservation efforts. Learners analyze real-world examples from France and other Francophone countries, evaluating policy responses and individual initiatives. They develop advanced linguistic skills to discuss these complex themes, using varied grammatical structures and vocabulary.

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AS Units

The AS Units (Unit 1 and Unit 2) focus on two main themes: 'Being a young person in French-speaking society' and 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Assessment covers speaking, listening, reading, translation, and a critical response in writing based on a prescribed film.

A2 Units

The A2 units (Units 3, 4, and 5) constitute the second year of the A-level French course, focusing on advanced linguistic proficiency, independent research, and critical analysis of literature. The content is structured around two main areas of interest: social issues and trends (Theme 3: Diversity and difference) and political, intellectual, and artistic culture (Theme 4: France 1940-1950: The Occupation and the post-war years).

Grammar – AS Level: Discourse Markers

This subtopic equips learners with the ability to use a range of French discourse markers to organise and connect ideas coherently in both spoken and written communication. It covers logical connectors, sequencers, and contrastive markers essential for structuring arguments, narratives, and discussions at AS level. Mastery of these elements is vital for achieving fluency and achieving high marks in the WJEC A-Level French assessments.

Grammar – AS Level: Questions

This subtopic covers the grammatical structures for forming questions in French at AS Level, essential for both written and oral proficiency. It includes three main methods: rising intonation, the use of 'est-ce que', and inversion, along with the correct placement of interrogative words such as 'où', 'comment', 'pourquoi', and 'quand'. Mastery of these forms enables precise communication and is critical for success in comprehension and production tasks across the WJEC specification.

Grammar – AS Level: Commands

The imperative mood is used to give commands, instructions, or make requests in French. At AS Level, students must master the formation of the imperative for regular -er, -ir, -re verbs as well as key irregular verbs (être, avoir, savoir, vouloir). Understanding the placement of object pronouns (including direct, indirect, and reflexive) in affirmative and negative commands is essential for accurate and idiomatic expression.

Grammar – AS Level: Prepositions

This subtopic focuses on the accurate use of French prepositions, particularly in the contexts of expressing location, movement, time, and relationships between words. Mastery here is essential for constructing complex sentences at AS level, especially when combining prepositions with verbs, geographical names, and infinitive clauses.

Grammar – AS Level: Conjunctions

This subtopic focuses on the accurate use of French conjunctions at AS Level, covering coordinating conjunctions (et, ou, mais, donc, car) and subordinating conjunctions (que, quand, si, comme, lorsque, puisque, bien que, pour que, avant que). It explores how conjunctions link clauses and ideas, and the crucial distinction between those that trigger the indicative, subjunctive, or infinitive. Mastery of these structures enables precise expression of cause, consequence, condition, time, and concession in written and spoken French.

Grammar – A Level Additional: Word Order (Inversion after adverbs)

This subtopic covers the mandatory inversion of subject and verb after certain sentence-initial adverbs in French, such as 'peut-être', 'sans doute', 'ainsi', and 'aussi' (meaning 'therefore'). Mastery of this grammatical rule is essential for achieving a sophisticated written and spoken style at A-Level, enabling learners to express possibility, consequence, and emphasis with native-like fluency.

Grammar – A Level Additional: Verbs (Dependent Infinitives, Passive Voice all tenses, Subjunctive perfect and imperfect)

This unit focuses on advanced French verb constructions: dependent infinitives (e.g., après avoir/être + past participle, sans/avant de + infinitive), the passive voice across all tenses including compound forms, and the perfect and imperfect subjunctive moods. Mastery of these structures is crucial for achieving precision and sophistication in A-Level written and spoken French, enabling learners to express cause, consequence, and hypothetical situations with accuracy.

Grammar – AS Level: Verbs

This subtopic covers essential verb forms and tenses at AS Level, including present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional, and introduction to subjunctive. Mastery is crucial for accurate communication in both written and spoken French, as verbs underpin sentence structure and time reference. Practical application includes describing events, expressing opinions, and narrating experiences.

Grammar – AS Level: Adjectives

This subtopic covers the rules of adjective agreement in gender and number, positioning, and the formation of comparative and superlative forms. Students will learn to accurately deploy adjectives in written and spoken French to enhance description and expression. Mastery of these grammatical features is essential for success in the AS speaking and writing examinations.

Grammar – AS Level: Nouns

This subtopic covers the rules and exceptions for forming plurals, identifying gender, and using articles with French nouns. Mastery is essential for accurate written and spoken production, as errors in noun agreement can hinder communication and lower marks in assessments. Candidates must demonstrate both knowledge of grammatical rules and their application in varied contexts.

Grammar – AS Level: Articles

At AS Level, a solid grasp of French articles (definite: le, la, l', les; indefinite: un, une, des; partitive: du, de la, de l', des) is essential for accurate written and spoken communication. This subtopic focuses on their correct use and omission, particularly in contexts like general truths, quantities, after prepositions, and with geographical names, which are key for achieving grammatical precision in coursework and exams.

Grammar – AS Level: Negation

This subtopic covers the formation and use of negative expressions in French at AS Level, including basic structures (ne...pas), advanced negative particles (jamais, rien, personne, plus, que), and their placement with simple and compound tenses, infinitives, and object pronouns. Mastery of negation is essential for accurate written and spoken communication, enabling learners to express absence, denial, restriction, and frequency with precision in both formal and informal registers.

Grammar – AS Level: Word Order

This subtopic examines advanced word order rules in French, including the placement of adverbs, adjectives, object pronouns, and the use of inversion in questions and subordinate clauses. Mastery of these structures is essential for accurate and sophisticated written and spoken French, particularly in analytical and argumentative contexts typical of A-Level assessments.

Grammar – AS Level: Adverbs

This subtopic covers the formation and use of adverbs in French, essential for adding detail to actions and modifying adjectives or other adverbs. Students learn to derive adverbs from adjectives, including irregular forms, and master their placement within sentences to express time, manner, and frequency. Mastery enables more sophisticated expression in both written and spoken French, crucial for achieving high marks in grammar-focused assessments.

Grammar – AS Level: Pronouns

This subtopic focuses on the accurate recognition and use of French pronouns, including personal (subject, object, reflexive), relative, demonstrative, and possessive, essential for AS Level grammatical competence. Mastery of pronoun placement, agreement, and selection is vital for achieving fluency and cohesion in both written and spoken French, enabling learners to avoid repetition and construct complex sentences correctly.

Grammar – AS Level: Quantifiers and Intensifiers

This subtopic focuses on the accurate use of quantifiers (e.g., beaucoup de, peu de, plusieurs) and intensifiers (e.g., très, trop, assez) in French, crucial for precise expression in both spoken and written A-Level tasks. It covers grammatical agreements, positioning, and the nuanced impact on meaning, enabling learners to convey quantity and degree effectively.

Grammar – AS Level: Numerals

This subtopic covers the accurate use of French numerals, including cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, fractions, decimals, and expressions of quantity. Mastery is essential for everyday communication, numerical data interpretation, and formal writing, ensuring learners can handle dates, times, measurements, and statistical information with precision and cultural appropriateness.

Grammar – AS Level: Fillers

This subtopic explores the use of fillers—such as 'euh', 'alors', 'donc', 'bah', and 'enfin'—in spoken French to manage discourse, maintain fluency, and express hesitation or buy thinking time. At AS Level, mastery of these fillers is critical for the oral examination, as they enable candidates to sustain conversation smoothly and demonstrate spontaneous language use, directly impacting marks for interaction and fluency.

Grammar – AS Level: Other Constructions

This subtopic covers a range of advanced grammatical structures beyond the basics, including impersonal expressions, the subjunctive mood in specific contexts, conditional clauses, and passive constructions. Mastery of these enables precise and nuanced expression in both written and spoken French, essential for discussing abstract topics and conveying complex ideas.

Theme 2 (AS) – Understanding the French-Speaking World

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

AS Unit 1: Speaking

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

Theme 3 (A Level) – Diversity and Difference

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

AS Unit 2: Listening, Reading, Translation and Critical Response in Writing

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

Theme 1 (AS) – Being a Young Person in French-Speaking Society

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

A2 Unit 3: Speaking (Independent Research Project)

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

Theme 4 (A Level) – France 1940–1950: The Occupation and the Post-War Years

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

Prescribed Films (AS Unit 2) – one film from prescribed list

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

Prescribed Literary Works (A Level Unit 5) – one work from prescribed list

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

A2 Unit 5: Critical and Analytical Response in Writing (Literary Work)

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.

A2 Unit 4: Listening, Reading and Translation

AS Unit 1: Speaking is a non-exam assessment worth 12% of the total A-level qualification. It lasts 12-15 minutes, preceded by 15 minutes of supervised preparation time. The assessment consists of two tasks: Task 1 (5-6 minutes) involves arguing a point of view based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Understanding the French-speaking world'. Task 2 (7-9 minutes) is a discussion based on a written stimulus card from the theme 'Being a young person in French-speaking society'.