• Diploma Programme Subject Brief

    Language ab initio (Arabic, Chinese, French & Spanish)

    First assessment for SL—2020

  • I. Course description and aims

    Language acquisition consists of two modern language courses— language ab initio and language B—designed to provide students with the necessary skills and intercultural understanding to enable them to communicate successfully in an environment where the language studied is spoken.

    Offered at SL only, language ab initio is a language acquisition course designed for students with little to no exposure to the target language.

    Language 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 themes are common to both language ab initio and language B, the language ab initio syllabus additionally 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.

    The following language acquisition aims are common to both language ab initio and language B.

    • Develop international-mindedness through the study of languages, cultures, and ideas and issues of global significance.
    • Enable students to communicate in the language they have studied in a range of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
    • Encourage, through the study of texts and through social interaction, an awareness and appreciation of a variety of perspectives of people from diverse cultures.
    • Develop students’ understanding of the relationship between the languages and cultures with which they are familiar.
    • Develop students’ awareness of the importance of language in relation to other areas of knowledge.
    • Provide students, through language learning and the process of inquiry, with opportunities for intellectual engagement and the development of critical- and creative-thinking skills.
    • Provide students with a basis for further study, work and leisure through the use of an additional language.
    • Foster curiosity, creativity and a lifelong enjoyment of language learning.

  • II. Curriculum model overview

    The curriculum is organized around five prescribed themes with which the students engage though written, audio, visual and audio-visual texts.

    Students develop into successful, effective communicators by considering the conceptual understandings of context, audience, purpose, meaning and variation.

    Communication is evidenced through receptive, productive and interactive skills.

  • III. Assessment model

    The language acquisition assessment objectives are common to both language ab initio and language B.

    • Communicate clearly and effectively in a range of contexts and for a variety of purposes.
    • Understand and use language appropriate to a range of interpersonal and/or intercultural contexts and audiences.
    • Understand and use language to express and respond to a range of ideas with fluency and accuracy.
    • Identify, organize and present ideas on a range of topics.
    • Understand, analyse and reflect upon a range of written, audio, visual and audio-visual texts.
    Internal Assessment

    Individual oral (25%)
    Oral response to a visual image (SL) that is clearly relevant to one (or more) of the themes of
    the course

    External Assessment

    Paper 1 (25%)
    Two written tasks–each from a choice of three.

    Paper 2 (50%)
    Separate sections for listening and reading (25% each).

  • Students enter language acquisition courses with varying degrees of exposure to the target language(s). It is, therefore, important that students are placed into a course that is most suited to their language development needs and that will provide them with an appropriate academic challenge. Placement guidance can be drawn from the study Benchmarking Selected IB Diploma Programme Language Courses to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This study suggests that students already at CEFR A2 or B1 in the target language can comfortably take language B SL. Students already at CEFR B1 or B2 can comfortably take language B HL.

    Excerpt from the Language B guide (first exams 2020)

    CEFR A1: Student can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. Placement: ab initio
    CEFR A2: Student can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. Placement: ab initio or Spanish B
    CEFR B1: Student can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Placement: Spanish B