French Language Week Competition 2010

What is French Language Week?

“La Semaine de la Langue Française” (French Language Week) is an annual international celebration of the French language and French-speaking cultures initiated by the French Ministry of Culture. For this special occasion, 10 words are chosen as an emblem of the richness of the French language, inviting us to use our imagination and creativity in exploring them.

In 2010, French Language Week will take place from 15-20 March.

What is the competition about?

This competition is an exciting opportunity for schools. It provides pupils from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 5 with an original and stimulating approach to learning French.

It aims to help teachers get their pupils talking, writing and working in French, and discovering more about the French language and culture, by encouraging them to produce a creative competition entry based on the 10 words chosen for French Language Week.

This year, the 10 chosen words are crescendo, remue-méninges, mobile, variante, galère, baladeur, cheval de Troie, mentor, escagasser, zapper. These follow the theme of "dis-moi dix mots dans tous les sens". A definition of the words can be found below.

How can we take part?

You can download the competition flyer containing all necessary information, and Entry Form here.

Schools have 6 weeks to enter the competition, starting from Monday 14 December 2009.

The closing date for entries is Monday 15 February 2010. Entries submitted after this date will not be considered. A list of winners’ schools and wining entries will be available after Monday 22 March 2010.

Each institution can submit a maximum of 2 entries per category to the competition. We hope however that as many pupils as possible will have a chance to take part in this creative learning opportunity and enter the competition. Institutions are therefore encouraged to hold their own internal competition(s) before submitting their entry(ies) to the competition.

Why should we take part in this competition?

By taking part in this year's French Language Week competition and involving as many classes as possible, you will:

•Provide your French learners with an exciting approach to learning French and therefore increase their motivation. By doing so, you will fulfil the expectations of the National Languages Strategy.

•Sensitise non-French learners and potentially encourage them to take-up French

•Encourage KS4 learners to pursue with French at AS level

•Strengthen links and collaboration with colleagues both within and outside the MFL department, for example with colleagues and classes in Arts, ICT or Drama. This could lead you to develop cross-curricular approaches which you might have not previously considered.

•Instil an international dimension in your school, which is one of the objectives of the International strategy. By taking part in FLW competition, you will be eligible for the Foundation level of the International School Award, the official accreditation acknowledging schools’ international activities. To apply, visit the International School Award webpage : www.globalgateway.org.uk/isa/

•Raise the profile of your school among parents, governors and local authority representatives. Don’t forget to let them know what you are doing and invite them to any event you might hold in relation to the competition such as a selection panel, a prize-giving ceremony, or an exhibition.

Please tell other colleagues about this opportunity and promote the competition using our printable A4 poster downloadable here.

French Languague Week Poster

(The poster is provided in A3 format however if you wish to print them in A4 format please reduce the size in Adobe Acrobat to 71%)

How does this fit into the curriculum and into my scheme of work?

The entry requirements for each category have been designed according to the National Curriculum, in particular the nature and length of texts pupils must be able to produce.

The production of a competition entry can therefore be fully integrated to your scheme of work, and serve the same purposes as other activities you normally do. For example, it can be used to:

- introduce a new theme or unit (travel, home and foreign environment, characterisation), or a new language item (structure, vocabulary, tense)

- get pupils reinvesting the skills, grammatical structures and vocabulary they have acquired

It is also a means to encourage pupils develop strategies for production, both oral (they will have to communicate together to produce the group entry) and written.

Last but not least, the competition will provide your pupils with a stimulating opportunity to use their imagination and creativity, which constitutes an important factor for motivation.

Depending on how you choose to integrate the competition into your scheme of work, we suggest that you could dedicate 2 or 3 periods to the production of the competition entry.

Alternatively, should you have a French Language Assistant For similar in your school; you could choose to get your pupils working on the competition with him/her.

How will the entries be assessed?

Entries will be assessed according to the following criteria:

•originality (contents / ideas; interpretation of the words chosen; approach)

•creativity (form/format; presentation; use of materials)

•relevance of both text and illustration (with the words provided and type of entry required in the category)

•accuracy

Please consult the entry checklist before designing or submitting your entry to make sure it fulfils the required criteria.

Entries of all categories must:

•be written in French

•must be based on one or several words from the list provided: crescendo, remue-méninges, mobile, variante, galère, baladeur, cheval de Troie, mentor, escagasser, zapper

•include an art/illustration element as well as text as outlined in the entry description of each category. Both aspects will be considered during the assessment of the entry.

•be pupils’ own work

•be a paper submission (no electronic entries such as CDs, DVDs, podcasts, etc)

Please click here for some entry ideas.....

Can you give me more details on the 10 words?

To access definitions of each of the words, click here

And finally, are there prizes?

Yes!

The first prize for each category is a wounderful TRIP TO PARIS for the winning group and one accompanying teacher. This trip will take place during the summer term. Full details will be provided to the winners. We have many more prizes for the runners-up.

All category winners and runners-up will be invited to a prestigious award-ceremony at the French Institute in London which will be held during the French Language week. Travel expenses will be reimbursed retrospectively to schools.

The category winners’ and runners-up’ schools or colleges will each receive French books and resources for their modern language departments.

Certificates will also be sent to each and every participant, on the basis of one certificate per entry submitted.

A template certificate will be made available on our webpage for schools who wish to produce personal certificates for each of their participating pupils.

The list of all participants will also be published on our webpage.

If you have any questions about the competition please contact the French Embassy at the following number 0207 0731309

Bon courage!