French/German/Spanish BSc Including School Experience

This innovative new programme enables you to study one or two languages (French, German, Spanish) to honours degree level within three years, while acquiring a foundation of professional experience in schools in order to prepare you to apply for initial teacher training after graduation. The great strength of this programme is that it develops language skills and builds up knowledge of classroom and school practices throughout the three years of the degree.

In year one of the course you will study core modules in your chosen language(s), which develop your key language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing, and of course your accuracy and understanding of grammar – alongside thematic modules focused on politics and society, media, cultural studies and linguistics. In addition to your Language modules, you will also undertake a school-based module lasting eight weeks (roughly two hours per week), which aims to provide you with an initial experience of observation in the secondary school classroom.

In year two you will spend the first teaching period (September – January) at Aston, developing your fluency, accuracy and confidence in your language skills. You will also undertake another school-based module (two hours a week) designed to promote reflection about modern language teaching. The second teaching period (January – June) is then spent at one of our specially chosen partner universities: Tours, Montpellier, Paderborn, or Barcelona (Pompeu Fabra), followed by a work placement in the summer period (June – August.) Students who are taking two languages will normally undertake a University placement in a country where their first language is spoken, followed by a work placement in a country where their other language is spoken.

In the final year of your course, you return to Aston undertaking a range of core and optional modules in your chosen languages(s) and a French/German/ Spanish research dissertation on a subject of your choice. In this year, you will also undertake a final school-based module (two hours a week in the first semester), designed to promote reflection about teaching and especially about the nature of pupil progress.

It is also possible to opt to do a further work placement in your third year and return to Aston to complete the final year described above.