SYLLABUS
- 6 learning levels are taught throughout
the year. Course content is based on three manuals, which are the
starting point for the fundamental language acts:
- Beginners: Ici 1 unit 1
- Elementary: Ici 1 units 2 to 6
- Upper elementary: Ici 2 units 1 to 6
- Intermediate: Festival 3 units 1 to 6
- Upper intermediate: Edito units 1 to 10
- Advanced: no manual*
- Upper advanced: no manual*
* occasional use of "Cahier
d’activités C1-C2" by
Clé International.
- Each unit is made up of language skills (oral and written), grammar
and expression and cultural aspects.
EVALUATION
- Students who register at our school submit a written
level test with their registration form. This test is based on
self-assessment and grammatical skills as demonstrated by the level
of acquisition of verb tenses. A short letter is also requested
at the end of the test, explaining why the student wants to come
to BLS, in order to evaluate the level of vocabulary and the use
of connecting phrases. This test enables the Administration Coordinator to assign students initially to different level groups. An individual
interview or a teacher evaluation checks this initial group assignment
on the first day the student arrives. If students consider that
their assigned group does not suit their level,
they may speak to their teacher. The teacher refers to the
Administration Coordinator who accepts or refuses the request according
to objective criteria relating to the student’s actual skills.
- At the end of each week, teachers deliver a report to participants
on how well they progressed with the content of the teaching unit.
This report constitutes a check as to whether students
can continue in their initial group or should be moved to a group
that better suits their level.
Evaluation is therefore automatic:
- a
student enrolled as a “False Beginner” for a 12-week course
and who progresses regularly, starts on Ici 1, unit 1 and finishes
with Ici 2, unit 12, with learning being routinely checked at
the end of each week.
The final evaluation corresponds therefore
to the level reached by the student at the end of the course, taking
into account any level changes that took place during that time.
- The final evaluation leads to a certificate, which refers to
the six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
as follows:
- Ici 1, units 1 to 6 = Level A1 of the CEFR
-
Ici 2, units 7 to
12 = Level A2 of the CEFR
-
Festival 3, units 1 to 12 = Level B1 of the
CEFR
-
Edito, units 1 to 10 = Level B2 of the CEFR
-
Expression & Style
= Level C1 of the CEFR
-
Work without manual = Level C2 of the CEFR
- in this way, a student enrolled for a 6-week course
who joins an A1 Elementary course and progresses normally will reach
level A2 of the CEFR.
- The certificate also states the
number of ECTS credits gained by the student, depending on the
duration of the course. BLS and “SOUFFLE” members
(French as a Foreign Language training organisations) award 2 credits
per week of training, which take into account teaching hours,
private work and
the time spent living with a French host family. One credit corresponds
to about 33 hours of language learning and includes all learning
situations outside the language course itself.