Languages Faculty

Language Acquisition is studied by all IB Diploma candidates. The language selected in Year 11, continues in the final year of the IB Diploma Programme. All Language B subjects are available to SACE students.  

Prerequisites: Students continue with their chosen Year 10 language either: French B, Italian B, Chinese B or English B (EAL in Year 10). Students who are new to the College and have no or limited background in any of the above languages, may select Spanish Ab Initio as their Language Acquisition option.   

Course Description and Aims:   

Language B is a language acquisition course designed for students with some previous experience of the target language. Students further develop their ability to communicate through the study of language, themes and texts. There are five prescribed themes: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. The Language B course prescribes two topics for each of the five themes, for a total of 10 topics that must be addressed over the two years of the course.    

Both language B SL and HL students learn to communicate in the target language in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. The distinction between language B SL and HL can be seen in the level of competency the student is expected to develop in receptive, productive and interactive skills.  

Higher Level Distinction  

The Higher Level course covers the same core material as the Standard Level course, with the addition of a literature component. The study of two literary works originally written in the target language is required and students are expected to extend the range and complexity of the language they use and understand in order to communicate. Students continue to develop their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, as well as their conceptual understanding of how language works, in order to construct, analyse and evaluate arguments on a variety of topics relating to course content and the target language culture(s).   

Please note, English B is only offered at Higher Level at the College.   

Students who select English B in Group 2, also select a Language A from Group 1, usually Language A Literature: Chinese.   

Assessment:  

External Assessment (75%)  

Examination Paper 1: (productive skills) Writing (25%): The paper consists of a choice of 3 tasks from the five themes. Students select one task and write a response in the target language.  

Examination Paper 2: (receptive skills) (50%): Separate sections for listening comprehension (25%) and reading comprehension (25%). Responses are in the target language.     

Internal Assessment (25%)  

An individual oral that is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course. The oral consists of a presentation, followed by questions. The stimulus at language B SL is a visual image that is relevant to one of the themes of the course. The stimulus at language B HL is an excerpt from one of the two literary works studied.  

Language Acquisition is studied by all IB Diploma candidates. The language selected in Year 11, continues in the final year of the IB Diploma Programme. This subject is available to SACE students.    

Prerequisites: Offered at SL only, Spanish ab initio is a language acquisition course designed for students with no previous experience in—or very little exposure to—the target language.     

Course Description and Aims: Spanish ab initio students develop their receptive, productive and interactive skills while learning to communicate in the target language in familiar and unfamiliar contexts. Students develop the ability to communicate through the study of language, themes and texts.     

There are five prescribed themes: identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organization and sharing the planet. While the five themes are common to both language ab initio and language B, the language ab initio syllabus prescribes four topics for each of the five themes, for a total of 20 topics that must be addressed over the two years of the course.    

Assessment:  

External Assessment (75%)  

Examination Paper 1(productive skills) (25%): Two written tasks, each from a choice of three.  

Examination Paper 2 (receptive skills) (50%): Separate sections for listening comprehension (25%) and reading comprehension (25%). Responses are in the target language. 

Internal Assessment: (25%)  

An individual oral that is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course. The oral consists of a presentation of the selected image, followed by a variety of questions.  

Course Description and Aims:
The language A: literature course explores the various manifestations of literature as a particularly powerful mode of writing across cultures and throughout history. The course aims at developing an understanding of factors that contribute to the production and reception of literature—the creativity of writers and readers, the nature of their interaction with their respective contexts and with literary tradition, the ways in which language can give rise to meaning and/or effect, and the performative and transformative potential of literary creation and response. Through close analysis of a range of literary texts in a number of literary forms and from different times and places, students will consider their own interpretations as well as the critical perspectives of others, to explore how such positions are shaped by cultural belief systems and to negotiate meanings for texts. 

Prerequisites: This Language A course (Group 1) is for students who are native speakers of Chinese and who undertake the Language Acquisition English B course (Group 2).  

Higher Level Distinction 

At Higher Level, students also complete a written coursework component that forms a part of the external assessment.  

Assessment: 

External Assessment (70% SL, 80% HL)
 Examination Paper 1: Guided literary analysis (35%) 
Examination Paper 2: Comparative essay (35% SL, 25% HL) 
HL Essay: written coursework component (20% HL only)   

Internal Assessment (30% SL, 20% HL)
 An Individual oral that is internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB at the end of the course.