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Entry Level Certificate
Principles of teaching
Short term targets to motivate
Entry level certificate courses are generally a mixture of externally set tasks and teacher-devised assessments. This will vary according to which awarding body is selected. However, whichever course is followed, students on the course generally enjoy working towards short-term targets and building up evidence of competence at the level at which they are working.
The importance of organisation and presentation
Organisational skills are important with an Entry Level Certificate course as the students are building up a file of tasks which they have completed. It is essential that students take the process seriously and complete all assessment tasks in blue or black ink, writing as neatly as possible.
Developing speaking skills
Entry level students will benefit greatly from one to one attention when practising speaking and use of a foreign language assistant to help with the speaking practice. In addition, assessments will help to build their confidence. Ringwood school has put some suggested speaking outcomes for the Entry Level Spanish course on the VLE to which the students can have access from home.
Use of ICT
The delivery of entry level courses can be greatly enhanced by the use of ICT and timetabling some lessons in a computer suite is to be recommended. Students can use the computers to present written tasks neatly as well as using the internet for research to enhance the delivery of some topic areas. Teachers will need to identify appropriate websites in advance and set tasks based on them which are accessible to students operating at this level. Language learning games can also be played by using appropriate packages such as TaskMagic.
Making the course enjoyable by using games
It is good to encourage Entry Level students by using game activities to build on vocabulary. Students can produce their own PowerPoint presentations which they share with the group,thereby reinforcing the reading/vocabulary and helping them to feel proud of their own writing. A team of students can work together, to produce 'little tricks' for remembering spellings/sounds, including using cognates with other languages.
Preparing for moderation
Teachers should mark all of the work before any of it is submitted for moderation. The amount of work to be sent off to the moderator will vary according to the group size and in the case of small groups, the work of every pupil may be required. It is a good idea to spend time with individual students on a regular basis looking at the tasks which they have completd for the certificate and giving them feedback on what else is required. This gives students clear guidance on the requirements and helps them to feel that they are making progress towards the qualification.
Differentiation
It may be possible to co-teach a Certificate of Achievement course alongside a conventional GCSE course as the topics covered will be the same or similar. This may be especially helpful in schools where groups contain students with a very wide range of ability or where some students are absent due to extended work placements or illness and unable to keep up with the demands of a GCSE course.
Links with the target language country
Trips, exchanges and links by email with the target language country will add a further dimension to the Entry Level course, improve oral and written skills and help students to see the purpose of their studies.
Course content
The Certificate in Business Chinese course is focused on developing conversational skills on everyday and commercial matters, either in person or through communication channels. Students are introduced key skills in listening, speaking and cultural issues. Two course levels are currently being offered.
Entry Level Course
Unit 1: Exchanging Greetings/Business Cards
Unit 2: Enquiring about Availability for meetings/Conference calls
Unit 3: Confirming meetings
Unit 4: Arriving for meetings
Level One Course
Unit 1: Introductions and Cordial Exchanges
Unit 2: Changing Scheduled Meetings/Conference Calls
Unit 3: Directions, Instructions and Modes of Transportation
To add flexibility two optional units are provided. Students choose one of the following:
Unit 4: Checking into a hotel
Unit 5: Buying and Selling in a retail 0utlet
Although this course does not test writing, this does not mean that writing characters cannot be taught. If some students are interested writing can be taught as well. It is also possible to add anything into the platform in consultation with the course provider. If offered to post 14 students, it may be a good idea to combine the language with Chinese cultural topics.
The GoChinese multi media platform
The Course may be delivered via the GoChinese multimedia platform. Schools and colleges may also submit their own content into the platform.
The GoChinese platform provides a set of authoring tools that allow teachers to customise existing or create new web based lessons or exercises to tailor the course to any existing vocational area of study.
The platform provides a self-supported learning provision to reduce the need for additional teacher contact time and to ensure the reinforcement of knowledge and understanding between sessions.
Students are able to:
- Hear the spoken voice
- View definitions
- View Hanyu Pinyin phonetics
- View both character forms
In addition a full range of online exercises with score-keeping and performance feedback is provided. These units allow students the opportunity to follow an individual and progressive route. Visit the ICAAE website for more information and a demonstration of Go Chinese
More time
When compared with the GCSE Chinese course, teachers can devote more time to helping less able students because the more able ones can work independently on screen. Also it saves teacher’s marking time as all the exercise are marked by the platform automatically. Teachers can not only check students' log in record but also their record of exercises undertaken in the teacher’s account so it is much easier to track the progress of students through the course.
