French grammar qualification

[ConspicuouslyDifferent]

Hi,

I wondered if anybody might know if there is a MFL GCSE qualification that a person can sit that is mostly about grammar and not about topics (talking about facebook and parties and stuff)?

My ASD DS is top notch at grammar, but in the MFL courses at GCSE they spend all their time learning how to talk about parties and boyfriends and facebook and these things have no relevance for him (he doesn't do any of that stuff and feels totally marginalised by it).

He would like to study theoretical linguistics at University and I'm trying to work out if there is something that he could study at GCSE that would allow him to strutt his stuff at grammar and syntax without having to spend two solid years talking about social things he doesn't do.

French and Japanese are the two languages he is studying mainly.

Thanks!

I mean a GCSE level qualification rather than an actual GCSE.

https://register.ofqual.gov.uk/

you can search for qualifications here, although doesn’t look like there’s anything suitable for French.

You could look at courses at the Alliance Francaise.

https://www.alliance-cam.co.uk/diplomas-and-exams/delf-dalf/

He certainly chose he right language! We, French people, loooove to teach grammar. We spend all our primary school years doing practically only that...😅😅
Maybe have a look at : https://www.fle.fr/Les-Certifications-FLE and the Institut Francais? https://www.institut-francais.org.uk/french-courses/#/
Bonne chance!

Perhaps you could get into the philosophy of ‘why language exists’ with your DS. Why do we speak at all, if not to communicate with each other and to have our needs met? Grammar etc. is really interesting, but it’s not really ‘the point’ of languages. Equally, linguistics is about semantics and meaning, which don’t exist without other people.

Perhaps if your DS could understand the driving forces behind language acquisition, he could ‘pretend’/lie with the social stuff?

(Failing that, I did A/O level French back in the day and it was fairly old school. Not sure it’s still a thing).

I did an FLE course while in France, and concur it was heavily grammar based!

@TheOutlaws that's an extraordinarily good idea. I totally hadn't thought of that. Thank you.

Secondary school languages teacher here. I'd be extremely surprised if there were any qualification in French that was just grammar-based, especially at GCSE level. There is no GCSE exam of that kind. I always loved the grammar side of learning a language, but even I have to admit that grammar on its own is no real use. Without communication in the language, there is no grammar.

I have taught quite a few students with ASD who find the content of the GCSE infuriating and almost impossible to engage with, but I've seen no real way around it, other than to try to train them to fake it by thinking about it from a point if view of 'What vocab do I know that I could put into sentences about this topic?', rather than 'What did I do / what could I pretend I did at the weekend with my friends?'

Specialising later on in the linguistics side of a language is one thing. Trying to bypass the communication side of a language altogether from when you're 15 - I don't think that's really possible within the qualifications available at that age/stage.

(Failing that, I did A/O level French back in the day and it was fairly old school. Not sure it’s still a thing).

AOll level hasn't existed since about the late 1980s, I'm afraid.

Some good answers here already @ConspicuouslyDifferent .

I would say - is he in year 10 and just starting the GCSE topics? - that there are some other topics that are a bit more meaty for want of a better word - the environment, charity, your town and where you would like to live, school and what you want to do at university or work. He might have some opinions on these?

If he is great at the grammar then I am sure he will do well. He might not need to talk about Facebook or his future family life in the exam. Tho he might of course. Good points about thinking about language as being for communication.

And yy - can he create (with his grammar knowledge) some sentences which he can learn to say about the partner/social media/celebrations subjects. He could treat it almost like a puzzle - what would be a good adjective to use here (that is not amusant or intéressant!)?

Hi,

Thanks, yes this is really great.

I'm realising more and more that French is almost the curriculum for social communication that I need, and I just need to work out how to use it right. That had entirely passed me by.

I think we need to train a lot in how to explain things in English too, but if I use the hints in the French curriculum then we might be able to get the English speaking on a solider foundation.

Much head scratching.

Any chance of him taking up Latin, out of school if necessary? DD did Latin out of school (stopped just short of GCSE) and that appealed. Plenty of grammar.

If he hasn't already found the Linguistics Olympiad, he should have a look at that website and their links, and persuade the school to enter him.

DD's first topic in French A-level was contemporary music - her teacher put up a list of genres in French and asked if she knew what they were. She said she thought she could translate them, but had no idea what they sounded like, being very much more interested in classical music. She is now more able to talk about French pop music than British!