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Program & Admission Information - La Rochelle, France
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The instruction of functional language skills in an action-oriented approach that is at the heart of teaching methodology. Students will learn the skills needed to communicate in real life situations. Exercises to improve fluency and accuracy are combined with communicative small-group activities. Very close attention is paid to the degrees of control in the practice leading from initial presentation of the new language towards realistic communicative use of that language.
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The Framework of the individual programs is provided by the Scale of Levels, which is based on over 15 years’ research and development. They were further developed to produce the Common European Framework, and the related official European Language Passport.
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Placement test are used upon arrival to assig students to the appropriate level of language classes. Teachers analyze the results of placement tests against the language resources available and desired results of each level of instruction to reach an adapted plan of instruction for each class and student.
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Students need two components to achieve success in language learning:
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1. Language Resources: Knowledge of the grammatical structures, the vocabulary, the turns of phrase and pronunciation necessary in order to be able to communicate.
2. Communicative Interaction: Experiential learning to get used to formulating what he/she wants to say, reacting spontaneously, finding ways around difficulties of expression.
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Student progress is monitored through regular homework, a feedback session every Friday, which is used to discuss the previous week and the plans for the following week, and a weekly quiz on the language learned that week. At regular intervals, advisors talk to groups of students about their satisfaction, and progress in language acquisition. In addition, regular and end of course tests are given to each student to evaluate the language level reached. There are two tests:
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1. Language Resources
2. Communicative Abilities
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The Language Resources test is taken from a bank of questions testing knowledge of the grammatical structures, the vocabulary, and the turns of phrase necessary in order to be able to communicate at the student's level. This test may be taken on paper, or on computer in the multimedia learning center.
The Communicative Abilities test may not appear to be a st. Every week, the student has a longer communicative activity, which the teacher uses to spot strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the teacher uses a detailed set of criteria to evaluate the language level demonstrated by those students who are leaving that week. Teachers already have a good impression of what the student can do, but they follow a standardized assessment procedure, in order to ensure that their impression is fair. It is all part of the guarantee of quality teaching, based on proven methods and objective evaluation standards.
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The teaching of functional language skills in an action-oriented approach and is at the heart of the methodology. Students are taught the skills needed to communicate in real life situations. Exercises to improve fluency and accuracy are combined with communicative small-group activities. The school pays very careful attention to the degrees of control in the practice leading from initial presentation of the new language towards realistic communicative use of that language.
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Basic Course
20 lessons per week. Available for students at any level, beginning to advanced. Each lesson has a duration of 50 minutes. The courses take place in the morning, Monday-Friday. Self study in the multimedia learning center is available for all students, as are learning resources of all kinds: audio, video, and computer assisted language learning. These elements are all available for students to work independently.
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Intensive Course
25 lesson per week. Available for students at any level, beginning to advanced. Each lesson has a duration of 50 minutes. The courses take place in the morning, Monday-Friday. Self study in the multimedia learning center is available for all students, as are learning resources of all kinds: audio, video, and computer assisted language learning. These elements are all available for students to work independently.
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Day - At - A - Glance
9:00 - 10:10 Listening & Reading
10:30 - 11:35 Oral Skills
11:55 - 13:00 Grammar & Vocabulary
13:00 - 14:10 Lunch
14:10 - 15:00 Grammar & Phonetics
15:10 - 16:00 Elective & Social Programs; Learning Center
* Day-At-A-Glance is a sample day and will vary depending on enrollment, time of year, lodging, etc. It is designed to show content rather than precise scheduling
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Admissions & Academic Credit
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Students age 16 years and older are welcomed regardless of educational background, occupation or nationality. No previous knowledge of French is required except where otherwise indicated.
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Students seeking credit for study should check with their home school before registering. Generally, U.S. schools consider 15 hours of study to be equal to 1 semester credit.
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A School Certificate will be issued to students provided he/she has attended the course regularly. The Certificate describes quite precisely level of language competence the student has reached in language training in the following areas: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
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Preparation for the following exams is offered as an optional extra, at additional cost, and/or as guided self study in the multimedia learning center:
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1. Alliance Française: Certificat d'Etudes de Français Pratique 1 (CEFP 1) for unit A2, level 3
2. Diplôme d'Etudes en Langue Française I (DELF) for unit B1+, level 5.
3. Diplôme d'Etudes an Langue Française II (DELF) / Accès au DALF / Alliance Française: Diplôme de Langue Française (DL) for unit B2+, level 7.
4.Diplôme Approfondi en Langue Française (DALF) / Alliance Française: Diplôme Supérieur d'Etudes Françaises Modernes (DS) for unit C1+, level 9.
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