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National Open College Network (NOCN)
Principles of teaching
The main difference between teaching the NOCN course and a traditional course is that it is virtually content free, meaning that you are free to choose the context and lexical content for the assignments to suit the learning group. This would be advantageous to a sixth form (students must be 16+) looking for accreditation alongside the normal sixth form curriculum for native speakers of community languages. It also offers the flexibility to work at the students’ own pace with continuous assessment.
It is a structured accredited course which can lead to traditional qualifications such as GCSE and AS/A level, yet it also lends itself to being taught outside the normal curriculum, in a work-based setting. A trade union could, for example, request to have a language taught within the work context and it could be taught conveniently on site.
Kent offers primary school teachers across the county the opportunity to gain or refresh modern foreign language skills to gain a National Open College Network (NOCN) qualification whilst continuing their role in the school. Further education colleges and employers looking for a language element to accompany a vocational course might find this qualification suitable. It also offers a 'non-threatening' alternative progression routes for adult learners wishing to pursue, and be given credit for, their language studies.
At the moment the only Applied Languages GCSE is in French and is offered by Edexcel. NOCN is available in 12 languages: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Modern Greek, Gujarati, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Urdu and Welsh.
Course structure and progression
The qualification consists of four levels each containing units covering the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students need to produce a ‘portfolio of evidence’ showing achievement in either two or four skills. The portfolio is internally and externally moderated. Checklists help to monitor progress and achievements on a regular basis. Monitoring classroom activities might include role-play, pair work, group work, checking written tasks, homework, question and answer sessions, or feedback sessions after activities such as listening exercises.
The suggested time allocation for guided learning, directed assignments, assignments on the job, or supported study is 60 hours for the full certificate, excluding private study. Candidates must complete both units in their chosen language for a full certificate. Although it is possible to offer one unit for an Award qualification and bank that for conversion later into a full certificate, students need to be prepared in all four skills as the course progresses. There is no exam at the end of the course. As long as students have satisfactorily completed the tasks set and kept a record of how these were tackled, they will receive an Open College Network Credit Certificate showing the language, number of credits and the level achieved.
For more details on the content of each level:
