Context
Reigate Sixth Form College is an oversubscribed specialist sixth form college in South East Surrey. Students follow courses at: Level 2 (GCSE and BTEC First) or Level 3 (A Level, Applied A Level and BTEC National) involving study beyond GCSE level. Standards are high. It was graded as outstanding by OFSTED. In 2007 A level results were well above the national average, with 100% passes at A Level in French, German and Spanish and 100% Grades A – C in GCSE Spanish.

Key objectives
To offer a Spanish course for a small group of students of varying ability taking a Travel and Tourism BTEC award, or Leisure and Tourism, who may or may not have had a GCSE in another foreign language (usually French or German).  

How the programme is organised
'Our major reservation with this particular group was the pressure of time, as the students were aiming at GCSE from beginners in one year, with 3 hours class time a week.  However it proved possible to 'dovetail' the NOCN with GCSE requirements relatively easily and the lower ability students definitely benefited from the attention given to the speaking and listening skills.'

Due to changes in the courses offered at the college, last year (2006/2007) the Award in Speaking and Listening ran concurrently with the one year GCSE course. Students had 3 hours of contact time and more time given for study outside. In this particular group, some students had dropped languages at Key Stage 4, others had achieved D or above in another language. A number of students were studying Travel and Tourism, others were taking AS and A2 courses. In total there were some 14 students. Offering the NOCN course allowed them to provide all students with a course accessible to the range of abilities. Lower achievers were helped towards gaining a qualification, and higher achievers gained confidence and extra practice in the speaking and listening elements for the GCSE. All students worked hard on the reading and writing skills too, as most were aiming at GCSE in June.

'In previous years we have successfully taken lower ability students through the Speaking and Listening element of the qualification, giving them not only an extra qualification, but also a sense of achievement that they can learn a language, even when their earlier school experience of languages was not positive. Even at 14 students will see the relevance to real life of the language used in the qualification.'

Over a series of lessons new language would be presented with lots of oral/aural practice, using open and closed pairs, pairs meeting with other pairs and exchanging information, information gap activities, role plays etc. Relevant listening exercises would be included, as well as opportunities for reading and writing as reinforcement activities and to allow for a change of pace. Once students had gained confidence with the language being taught, similar activities were set up for assessment. Teachers took students into a quiet room in order to tape them for the speaking assessments and during the course they recorded each student at least twice. On both occasions students were given the opportunity to ask questions as well as answer. Other speaking activities were teacher assessed during communicative activities in class. Evidence of these activities was recorded by teachers signing off prompt sheets which were then kept in student portfolios. Students were made aware that they were being assessed, but the pressure was deliberately kept 'low key'. After the first couple of assessments students were noticeably more relaxed about the process, especially as they found the activities well within their individual capabilities, although some were obviously able to communicate with much more fluency than others.

Listening activities for assessment included taped material from published sources, as well as teacher-designed materials – eg worksheets on various topics which could used as portfolio evidence. (Obviously students were constantly responding to target language instructions in class time!)

Issues/tips
'The NOCN qualification lends itself particularly well to students who find a language examination demanding, especially the speaking element. A student is not judged on one day’s efforts.'

Each individual is adequately supported by lots of communicative practice prior to assessment, and the teacher judges when a student is ready to be assessed.

'One perceived difficulty with the NOCN qualification is that it requires the teacher to be rigorous in keeping proof of individuals’ progress (we kept students’ portfolios rather than leave them with the students to be “eaten by the dog”!). However, there is plenty of suitable published material to use for assessments (see below for some sources used), and many classroom situations can be turned into suitable assessment activities with very little effort (see attached examples). You just have to remember to take in the speaking prompt sheets/listening exercises and make sure they are signed off, and include copies of tape scripts where possible!'

Results/effect
'Was the course successful? Undoubtedly yes. The students were all able to participate to the best of their ability in the speaking element of the exam, and felt a real sense of achievement in their ability to communicate in a 'real life' setting. Listening and responding to their peers built confidence for the listening assessments, and as long as aural material is carefully selected, and tasks suitable for the material and the assessment level chosen, students were able to achieve a good level of accuracy (the qualification demands 85% accuracy on average for listening tasks)'

'All students entered for the award achieved their certification, and found the language they learned useful and relevant to their personal requirements and/or their studies. The actual assessment procedures were seen as non-threatening, and as a result students were less likely to under perform due to nerves, especially in the speaking tasks. The content of the Level 1 award is immediately accessible and meaningful to them, and the course can be taught in a lively, interactive manner, which in turn maintains the students’ interest.'

Resources
For resource suggestions for this course and materials produced by Reigate college (doc 335 KB).
For further information about NOCN courses visit the NOCN page.

Author: Rosemary Osborne, Teacher of Spanish