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Spanish
A-Level Spanish is an integrated study of language, culture and society, set against the Department for Education GCE AS and A level subject content for modern foreign languages and delivered here through the dominant AQA 7692 specification. It is not a vocabulary course with a culture appendix: grammar, lexis and cultural substance are assessed together, and every mark in the qualification is earned in Spanish except the ten marks for translation into English. The content is organised as four themes, each with three sub-themes, and every sub-theme is named in Spanish in the specification itself. Aspects of Hispanic society covers los valores tradicionales y modernos, el ciberespacio and la igualdad de los sexos. Multiculturalism in Hispanic society covers la inmigración, el racismo and la convivencia. Artistic culture in the Hispanic world covers la influencia de los ídolos, la identidad regional en España and el patrimonio cultural. Aspects of political life in the Hispanic world covers jóvenes de hoy, ciudadanos del mañana, monarquías y dictaduras, and movimientos populares. Alongside these sit a prescribed grammar range, translation in both directions, the critical study in Spanish of two works (either one literary text and one film or two literary texts) from AQA's prescribed list, and an individual research project on a self-chosen subject relating to a Spanish-speaking country, presented and defended in the speaking test. Two scope rules are written into the specification and are easy to overlook: Spanish regional identity must be studied in relation to Spain, and monarchies and dictatorships in relation to any relevant Spanish-speaking country or countries; everything else may be studied in relation to any Spanish-speaking country. Students must work from authentic Spanish sources, including online media, and must know the Hispanic world beyond Spain, because across the listening passages and across the reading texts reference is made to at least two Spanish-speaking countries other than Spain.
0/81 Texts16 Chapters~398 min total
AQA 7692 3.1.1 - Los valores tradicionales y modernos: los cambios en la familiaDfE GCE modern foreign languages subject contentAQA 7692 3.1.1 - Los valores tradicionales y modernos: actitudes hacia el matrimonio/el divorcioAQA 7692 3.1.1 - Los valores tradicionales y modernos: la influencia de la Iglesia CatólicaAQA 7692 3.1.1 - Los valores tradicionales y modernosAQA 7692 3.3 Grammar+67 moreStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 16 ChaptersT·16
- Family change: los cambios en la familiaText L·01 · Recommended start6 min
- Marriage and divorce: actitudes hacia el matrimonio y el divorcioText L·025 min
- The Catholic Church: la influencia de la Iglesia CatólicaText L·035 min
- El léxico y los giros: talking about values in SpanishText L·045 min
- En el examen: the sub-theme in Papers 1 and 3Text L·055 min
- The reach of the internet: la influencia de internetText L·065 min
- Social media: las redes sociales, beneficios y peligrosText L·075 min
- Smartphones: los móviles inteligentes en nuestra sociedadText L·085 min
- El léxico y los giros: arguing both sides in SpanishText L·095 min
- En el examen: comprehension, summary and the stimulus cardText L·105 min
- Women at work: la mujer en el mercado laboralText L·115 min
- Machismo and feminism: el machismo y el feminismoText L·125 min
- Gay and transgender rights: los derechos de los gays y las personas transgéneroText L·135 min
- El léxico y los giros: the language of rights and discriminationText L·145 min
- En el examen: sensitive material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·155 min
- The balance sheet: los beneficios y los aspectos negativosText L·165 min
- Migration across the Hispanic world: la inmigración en el mundo hispánicoText L·175 min
- Life without papers: los indocumentados y sus problemasText L·185 min
- El léxico y los giros: writing about migration without slogansText L·195 min
- En el examen: migration material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·205 min
- Attitudes: las actitudes racistas y xenófobasText L·215 min
- What is being done: las medidas contra el racismoText L·225 min
- The law: la legislación anti-racistaText L·235 min
- El léxico y los giros: writing about racism with precisionText L·245 min
- En el examen: handling difficult material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·254 min
- Sites and pre-Hispanic civilisations: sitios turísticos y civilizaciones prehispánicasText L·415 min
- Art and architecture: arte y arquitecturaText L·425 min
- Musical heritage: el patrimonio musical y su diversidadText L·435 min
- El léxico y los giros: describing, dating and judgingText L·445 min
- En el examen: heritage material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·454 min
- Engagement or apathy: activismo o apatíaText L·465 min
- Youth unemployment: el paro entre los jóvenesText L·475 min
- The society they want: su sociedad idealText L·485 min
- El léxico y los giros: the language of politics and workText L·495 min
- En el examen: youth and politics in Papers 1 and 3Text L·504 min
- The Franco dictatorship: la dictadura de FrancoText L·515 min
- The monarchy: la evolución de la monarquía en EspañaText L·525 min
- Latin American dictatorships: los dictadores latinoamericanosText L·535 min
- El léxico y los giros: narrating history in SpanishText L·545 min
- En el examen: historical material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·554 min
- Do they work? La efectividad de las manifestaciones y las huelgasText L·565 min
- Trade unions: el poder de los sindicatosText L·575 min
- Case studies: ejemplos de protestas socialesText L·585 min
- El léxico y los giros: the language of collective actionText L·595 min
- En el examen: protest material in Papers 1 and 3Text L·604 min
- The verb system: conjugations, the present, and what regular really meansText L·615 min
- The past: indefinido, imperfecto and the compound tensesText L·625 min
- Future, conditional and the verbal periphrases AQA namesText L·635 min
- The subjunctive: the A-level discriminatorText L·645 min
- Ser and estar, the passive, and the many uses of seText L·655 min
- Pronouns, prepositions and sentence patternsText L·665 min
- What the exam actually asksText L·675 min
- Spanish into English: reading precisely, writing naturallyText L·685 min
- English into Spanish: every decision justifiedText L·695 min
- The traps: false friends, calques and structural mismatchesText L·705 min
- En el examen: timing, order of work and the checking routineText L·715 min
- Paper 1 - Listening, reading and writing (AQA 7692/1)
- 2 hours 30 minutes, 100 raw marks (scaled x2), 50% of the A-Level - the paper that decides most grades. Four blocks. Listening and responding to studio-recorded spoken passages from a range of contexts and sources, covering different registers, with individual control of the recording; at least one passage involves more than one speaker; questions are in Spanish and answered non-verbally or in Spanish (30 marks). Reading and responding to a variety of adapted authentic texts, contemporary and historical, non-fiction and literary, again questioned and answered in Spanish (50 marks). Translation of a passage of at least 100 words from Spanish into English (10 marks). Translation of a passage of at least 100 words from English into Spanish, supported by a text in Spanish that supplies some of the vocabulary and structures needed (10 marks). One listening question and one reading question require a summary in Spanish, marked independently for content (AO1 for listening, AO2 for reading) and for language (AO3); marking of a long summary stops at the first natural break between 90 and 100 words, and lifted language earns no AO3 credit. Across the listening passages and across the reading texts, reference is made to at least two Spanish-speaking countries other than Spain. No dictionary.
- Paper 2 - Writing (AQA 7692/2)
- 2 hours, 80 raw marks (scaled x1), 20% of the A-Level. Students write one essay in Spanish on each of the two works they have studied - either one literary text and one film, or two literary texts, taken from the prescribed list published in the current specification. There is a choice of two questions on each work. Every question requires a critical appreciation of the concepts and issues covered in the work and a critical and analytical response to features such as form and technique of presentation, as appropriate to the work studied - the specification's own examples are the effect of narrative voice in a prose text and camera work in a film. Each essay carries 40 marks, split 20 for AO3 (accurate manipulation of the language, range of lexis and structure) and 20 for AO4 (knowledge, understanding and critical response). Students are advised to write approximately 300 words per essay; everything written is marked and there is no word limit, but students who write the recommended number of words have access to the full range of marks. No dictionaries and no access to the texts or films.
- Paper 3 - Speaking (AQA 7692/3)
- 21-23 minutes including 5 minutes of supervised preparation, 60 raw marks (scaled x2), 30% of the A-Level. Part one (25 marks): the teacher-examiner offers two stimulus cards drawn from different themes, following AQA's sequencing table and avoiding the subject of the student's research project; the student chooses one card, prepares it for 5 minutes with notes, then discusses it for 5-6 minutes. The card carries images, text and three questions, which the examiner asks; the student must also ask the examiner two questions arising from the card that seek information or an opinion and that contain a conjugated verb - asking for repetition or clarification, or rephrasing a printed question, does not count. Marks: AO1 5, AO2 5, AO3 10, AO4 5. Part two (35 marks): a presentation of the individual research project of up to two minutes (5 marks, all AO4), followed by 9-10 minutes of discussion of the findings (30 marks: AO1 10, AO3 10, AO4 10). The student submits in advance a Candidate Record Form listing headings that indicate the scope of the research and the sources used - at least two sources, at least one of them online; apart from the names of published sources the headings must be in English, and beyond the two required sources any remaining sources and headings must not exceed 80 words. During Part two the student may consult only the completed form. No dictionary at any stage, including the preparation. Tests are held in a five-week window in April and May, are recorded in full, and are marked by an AQA examiner.
- Assessment objectives, weightings and grading
- Four assessment objectives, set by Ofqual and identical across all boards. AO1 - understand and respond, in speech to spoken language including face-to-face interaction and in writing to spoken language (20% overall: 12.5% in Paper 1, 7.5% in Paper 3). AO2 - understand and respond, in speech to written language and in writing to written language (30% overall: 27.5% in Paper 1, 2.5% in Paper 3). AO3 - manipulate the language accurately, in spoken and written forms, using a range of lexis and structure (30% overall, split evenly 10/10/10 across the three papers). AO4 - show knowledge and understanding of, and respond critically and analytically to, different aspects of the culture and society of countries and communities where the language is spoken (20% overall: 10% in Paper 2, 10% in Paper 3). Across AO1 and AO2 combined, no more than 10% of the total marks for the qualification may be used for responses in English, including translation into English - which is why the Spanish-into-English translation is the only English writing in the whole qualification. Papers are scaled to 200 / 80 / 120 for a total scaled mark of 400. The qualification is linear: all assessments are sat at the end of the course and in the same series, and it is graded A*-E, with U below grade E. AS Spanish (7691) is a separate qualification covering only the Aspects of Hispanic society and Artistic culture themes, one work rather than two, a shorter Paper 1 (1 hour 45 minutes, 90 marks) with translation into English only, a Paper 2 that pairs translation into Spanish with a single essay, and a 12-14 minute speaking test built on two stimulus cards with 15 minutes of preparation and no research project.