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T H E E N G L I S H N A T I O N A L P R O G R A M M E
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T H E E N G L I S H N A T I O N A L P R O G R A M M E
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This course is part of the OIB option which students in international lycées take as part of their baccalauréat examination. This option is, amongst other things, a way for bilingual students in France to integrate their level of proficiency in a language other than French into their school leaving qualification. As such, it is one of the main reasons for which National sections exist and is the culmination of seven years or more of bilingual education.
The course in Language and Literature within the English department at Ferney is offered to all students who are capable of benefiting from what it offers. An assessment of this capability is arrived at in conjunction with the History / Geography teachers who teach the other element within this option.
The course is designed and implemented by the teachers who deliver it at the various international lycées in France. In designing the course, however, the teachers must meet certain criteria laid down by the host French educational system. Thus, whilst recent developments within the evolution of the course have brought it nearer, both pedagogically and structurally, to the English Literature' A' level, it has characteristics which reflect its place within a French educational system and tradition, most notably the high emphasis given to the oral aspect of the course and to the detailed analysis of an unseen literary passage.
The course is divided into a written paper and an oral examination. Both of these exams are based on the detailed study of literary texts with, in the case of the written paper, the addition of an unseen passage of prose or poetry. Six set texts are studied over a period of two years (première and terminale) along with passages of prose and poems which prepare the students for the compulsory Critical Appreciation question on the written paper.
Three texts (one poetry, one prose and one drama) are studied in depth for the written paper. Students answer on two of these and on a Critical Appreciation question. The written paper lasts four hours and each of the questions carries the same weighting in terms of marks awarded.
Three texts are also prepared for the oral examination, one of which has to be a play by Shakespeare. The other texts can cover any two of the three main genres. The structure of the oral exam is divided between a formal presentation on a passage from the Shakespeare play followed first by a wider ranging discussion of the Shakespearian play in question and then of the two other oral texts. The part of the oral based on the Shakespeare text represents about half of the allotted time of 30 minutes. Students are not questioned about texts prepared for the written exam.
We feel that emphasising the coefficients of the exam (that is, their overall weighting within the grading of the various versions of the baccalauréat) is very important. These are set out below:
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WRITTEN-English | ORAL-English |
WRITTEN-HG |
ORAL-HG |
| Bac L | 4 | 6 |
5 |
3 |
| Bac S | 4 | 5 |
4 |
3 |
| Bac ES | 4 | 5 |
5 |
4 |
The set texts are taught in ways which draw on the experience and expertise of teachers who have taught' A' level, the British post 16 examination. The texts are taught over a period of two academic years. In Première, students on the OIB course in English are spread across three classes, with each class having a different teacher. These teachers meet in advance of and during the teaching of set texts in order to co-ordinate a common approach and coverage.
Note on première classes: we see this year both as preparation for the final OIB examination and, for those who have opted to take the LVI Baccalauréat, as a chance to further develop their analytical skills and language use. Texts prepared this year by this group of students may also form the basis of the collection of oral texts they may be required to prepare in terminale.
In teaching these literary texts, we aim to develop confident, autonomous reading skills in our students, ensuring that all respond to the range of issues and points of interest raised by the texts as well as to their literary features.
We also take careful note of the hierarchy of skills and types of responses prioritised in the examination assessment criteria, ensure that our teaching makes these explicit and uses them as the basis for target setting for individual students during the two years of the course.
Preparation for the oral exam takes place in the classroom. Set texts are studied in detail and students are encouraged to discuss these and talk about them in pairs, groups and as a whole class. In addition to writing essays, students are asked to prepare detailed presentations for the whole class. Poetry, especially, lends itself to hypothesis and the identifying of evidence during discussion. To balance this necessary exploratory approach, we ensure that teacher-led lessons bring together, rationalise and synthesize ideas raised during open discussions; this in turn enables the students to incorporate new knowledge into their subsequent writing and discussions. Organisationally we ensure that students have the opportunity to receive several mock orals during terminale, in which the conditions of the real exam are replicated. As all the teachers are also examiners, we are able to give the students accurate information about the format of the examination. Once again, explicit use of the examination oral assessment criteria is made, in order to help the students.
The general approach to the teaching of the Critical Appreciation element of the written paper is centred around the selection of passages and poems of literary merit to be studied by the students. In looking at and working on these passages we aim to ensure that students develop skills and strategies which enable them to have confidence in their own readings of texts and to articulate these in a format which fulfils the examination criteria. Stylistic and literary techniques are covered within this approach with the intention of ensuring that students accumulate mastery of language which positively reflects their literary understanding and appreciation.
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