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Listening is externally assessed by an exam in June in year 11.
You can take either a Foundation Tier or Higher Tier paper.
In the listening test, you will answer questions on recorded material from different topic areas.
Some material will be formal (for example a telephone message) and some informal (for example a conversation between friends).

The listening exam is worth 20% of the full GCSE.
Foundation Tier: 25 minutes + 5 minutes reading time
Higher Tier: 35minutes + 5 minutes reading time

 

Listening strategy

1

Recognise the type of text; conversation/ advert/news programme

2

Recognise the topic – try and get the main idea.

3

Predict what is likely/unlikely in the situation i.e. Use common sense.

4

Use the tone of the speakers' voice for clues

5

Pick out cognates (words that sound like the English.)

6

Identify the unfamiliar passage, and focus on it when you hear the tape the 2 nd time.

7

Hold any unfamiliar sounds in your head saying them over and over.

8

Try and break down the stream of sounds into individual words.

9

Try to write the sounds down - you may recognise a word you know.

10

Listen out for clues e.g. Tense, word order…

11

Listen out for any clues – the age, sex of the speaker, any background noise that may help you recognise the setting.

TOP TIPS:
•  Write clearly – note form is acceptable.
•  Look at the example, and use it to tell you what to do.
•  Write down the most important words 1 st , you can always add information later, in between questions.
•  Check your answers – do they make logical sense?

> Try this self marking listening task set in a hotel.

PAST EDEXCEL GCSE QUESTIONS

2002 FOUNDATION
2001 FOUNDATION
2000 FOIUNDATION
1999 FOUNDATION
2002 HIGHER
2001 HIGHER
2000 HIGHER
1999 HIGHER
 
QN 1-4 QN 1-4 QN 1 QN 1 QN 1   QN 1 QN 1 QN 1  
QN 5-8 QN 5-8 QN 2 QN 2 QN 2   QN 2 QN 2 QN 2  
QN 9 QN 9 QN 3 QN 3 QN 3   QN 3 QN 3 QN 3  
QN 10-13 QN 10 QN 4 QN 4 QN 4   QN 4 QN 4 QN 4  
QN 14 QN 11-14 QN 5 QN 5 QN 5   QN 5 QN 5 QN 5  
QN 15-18 QN 15 QN 6 QN 6 QN 6   QN 6 QN 6 QN 6  
QN 19 QN 16 QN 7 QN 7 QN 7   QN 7 QN 7 QN 7  
QN 20 QN 17 QN 8 QN 8 QN 8   QN 8 QN 8 QN 8  
QN 21 QN 18-20 QN 9 QN 9 QN 9   QN 9 QN 9 QN 9  
QN 22 QN 21 QN 10 QN 10 QN 10   QN 10 QN 10 QN 10  

Online support:
There are some excellent online resources to help you develop your listening skills in French.

http://www.frenchrevision.co.uk News clips under advanced are superb.

http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang/videos.htm
Excellent video clips to practice listening in French for GCSE.

http://www.monjtquotidien.com/ Catch up with snippets of the news around the world.

http://www.francais-extra.co.uk/ More interactive activities with self correcting listening activities.

Make sure you know:
Family members School subjects Hobbies incl. sports Opinions Directions Animals
And especially:
Numbers Days Months Times


Be aware of the tricks that the examiners use, in particular their use of synonyms (words that mean the same) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite of each other).

Examiners also use grammatical tricks. Recognising these can help you to choose the right answers without necessarily understanding all the vocabulary.

Examiners like to use red herrings to deliberately fool you. Here are some examples:

What colour are Jean's eyes ?
“Ma mère a les yeux bleus mais moi j'ai les yeux verts.”
The information about his mother is there to catch you out. Listen for the “j'ai” before the eye colour.

What is Jean's favourite animal ?
“Je n'aime ni les chats ni les chiens. Cependant j'adore ma souris blanche parce qu'elle est très amusante.”
If it's a favourite animal, it's going to have a positive, not a negative, opinion in front of it. The cats and dogs are there to catch you out.

Higher Listening Paper 1. Paper. Track 1. Track 2. Track 3. Track 4. Track 5. Track 6