SHSB Spanish Department
A Level Course Outlines
Year 12:
For the AS level, students work on the following skill areas: Listening comprehension; Reading comprehension; Writing on the course topics and Speaking and expressing opinions. Students work towards two modules for the AQA Spanish AS exam. The modules are SPAN1 which involves listening, reading, and writing a short essay on one of the course topics, and SPAN2, an oral exam consisting of a discussion about a topic card and conversation about some of the course topics. This oral examination is conducted by the class teacher. Topics covered are The Media (TV, Advertising and ICT), Popular youth culture (Music, Cinema and Fashion), Healthy Living (Sport, Diet, Drugs, Alcohol, Stress, Holidays) and Relationships (Family, Friendships, Marriage and Partnerships). Students have a fortnightly conversation session with a Language Assistant outside of lesson times and also dedicated grammar lessons to improve their writing and speaking.
Year 13:
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Environment: pollution, energy and protecting the planet
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The multi-cultural society: immigration, integration and racism
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Contemporary social issues: wealth and poverty, law and order and the impact of scientific and technological progress
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Cultural topic: the study of a region/community, a period of 20th century history, a novelist/dramatist/poet, or director/architect/musician/painter. The subject of the topic must be from a target language-speaking country/community.
The A2 specification has 2 units: SPAN3 reading, listening, writing on a chosen cultural topic and translating, and SPAN6, an oral exam in which candidates will present a point of view based on a target language stimulus card from one of the A2 topic areas and take part in a conversation covering two further A2 topics.