Middle One to Middle Four—Second Language Study
In Middle One and Middle Two, students continue with the language studied in the Junior School: French or Spanish. The goals of the program remain the same; however, the emphasis on listening and speaking skills is expanded to include an equal emphasis on reading and writing skills. In order to facilitate this transition, we have introduced Book One of our Middle School textbook series in the Junior Four year. In this way, the Middle One and Middle Two students are not abruptly exposed to the study of linguistics which includes learning about and using the grammar and structure of the target language as a tool for gaining proficiency in the language.
In Middle Two, the June assessment is a comprehensive, four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) assessment that will be used for placement in the following year’s language class.
In Middle Three and Middle Four, students expand their knowledge and their proficiencies in all five strands of the curriculum. Students are given many opportunities to investigate, develop and use the communication strategies, learning strategies, critical thinking skills and technology skills, as well as the elements of the language system (grammar and structure) and cultural context.
In Middle Four, the June assessment is a comprehensive, four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) benchmark assessment that will be used for placement in the following year’s language class.
Middle Three and Middle Four—Third Language Program
-
At the Manhattan Campus, this refers to the mandatory study of another second language (Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese or Russian) beginning in Middle Three and continuing to Tutorial Two. Students may opt to use this language for the IB instead of French/Spanish or they may opt to use the two languages (French or Spanish and the third language) for the IB. At the Queens Campus, the third language program is limited to French or Spanish.
In Middle Four, the June assessment is a comprehensive, four-skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) benchmark assessment, based only on the curriculum dispensed over the past two years that will be used for placement in the following year’s language class.
Mother Tongue Study
All mother tongue classes in the Middle School are conducted entirely in the language and follow, generally, the specific national curriculum with some modifications in order to meet the mixed multi-level needs of the individual students in these classes. Although the national curricula of all eight languages are not identical, they all correlate, in broad terms, to the UNIS English curriculum for each grade level. For more detailed information on the Francophone program, please contact Mylene Giacobetti. For more detailed information on the Mother Tongue classes of the other seven languages, please contact Frank Bruno.