Students become familiar with the sound systems of the French language, including pronunciation, rhythm, pitch and stress. They learn to pronounce individual letters and letter combinations, including unfamiliar sounds such as -eau, -u, è, é, ou, r and g. They recognise and use the intonation patterns that distinguish between statements, questions and exclamations. They use simple...
Students become familiar with the sound systems of the French language, including pronunciation, rhythm, pitch and stress. They learn to pronounce individual letters and letter combinations, including unfamiliar sounds such as -eau, -u, è, é, ou, r and g. They recognise and use the intonation patterns that distinguish between statements, questions and exclamations. They use simple basic sentence structure and learn to write single words and simple phrases, noticing the use of accents and how these change the sound of letters. They become familiar with the idea of grammatical gender and know how to use singular and plural forms. They notice similarities and differences between French and English and begin to develop curiosity around the idea of difference and culture.
French is learnt in parallel with English language and literacy. Learning in the two areas progresses at very different levels but each supports and enriches the other. Oral language is developed through listening to the sounds, shapes and patterns of French through a range of activities. Students experiment with simple formulaic expressions and one- or two-word responses to prompts and cues. As they progress to using French for interactions such as greetings or asking and answering questions, they notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that French speakers communicate in some ways that are different to their own. French is used for purposeful interactions, for example, asking for help, sharing ideas, challenging each other or expressing surprise.
By the end of Level 2, students interact with teachers and each other through action-related talk and play. They exchange greetings such as Bonjour! Comment ça va? Très bien, merci and respond to question cues with single words or set phrases: Qu’est-ce que c’est? Un éléphant. Tu veux un croissant? Non, merci. They choose between options when responding to questions such as Tu veux le rouge ou le bleu? They rely heavily on visual, non-verbal and contextual cues such as intonation, gestures and facial expressions to help make meaning. They mimic French pronunciation, approximating vowel sounds and consonant combinations with some accuracy. They identify key words in spoken texts, such as names of people, places or objects. They use modelled examples and formulaic language to convey factual information at word and simple sentence level, such as making statements about themselves, their class and home environment, the weather or date. They write simple texts such as lists, labels, captions and descriptions. Students use some pronouns, prepositions and simple present tense forms of regular verbs.
Students recognise that French sounds different to English but that it uses the same alphabet when written. They recognise that some words are written the same in both languages but pronounced differently. They know that French is the language used in France and also in many other regions of the world. They recognise that language is used differently in different situations and between different people. They identify differences and similarities between their own and other’s languages and cultures.
The VCAA has recently published the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0. To view the revised curriculum, familiarisation resources and support material, go to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 website.
