Urdu

Why study Urdu?

The study of languages opens pupils’ minds to a whole world of opportunity. It develops their deep cultural awareness of how linguistic heritage links people of different cultures around the world. We enable all of our pupils to broaden their horizons, converse with other people from different backgrounds, learn about world cultures and strengthen their economic prospects by building for them a firm foundation in language learning.

There are three guiding elements which are brought to life through the MFL curriculum:

Educational excellence: MFL teachers engender a love of language learning and a thirst to become fluent in the spoken and written word. Pupils are well prepared to continue their language learning post-16 whether within a career or educational context

Character development: MFL teachers bring the country and culture into the classroom and support pupils’ broader personal development through appreciation of other countries and cultures. Enrichment opportunities include Year 8 Storytime, Year 9 film clubs, Ka Safar virtual trip to Pakistan, video links with schools abroad

Service to communities: MFL teachers promote teamwork and collaboration in the classroom. At GCSE, pupils grapple with social and global issues with the aim of developing pupils’ thinking around their civic duties.

How will I study Urdu?

Pupils learn to:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of carefully selected sources, including authentic audio texts where appropriate
• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
• read and respond to a wide range of textual sources in each target language, including authentic and literary texts; and to enhance their linguistics knowledge and fluency, an learn more about parts of the world where each language is spoken, through reading for enjoyment from an extensive MFL reading list
• write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
• discover and develop an appreciation of the countries and cultures where the language is used

What will I study in Key Stage 3?

At the beginning of Key Stage 3, we focus on securing a love of the language and culture, forming positive language learning habits and securing a strong linguistic foundation with a focus on knowing and remembering more. Fluency is key.

Pupils learn the Urdu alphabet and phonics. Through this, pupils learn to make links between sounds, words, and spellings. They develop their vocabulary and grammar through the topics they study resulting in them being able to introduce themselves and discuss different aspects of everyday life for example, free time activities.

At the end of Key Stage 3, we build on previous strong foundation by recycling some content in greater depth, practised, and extended through more complex linguistic structures and sustained listening, speaking, reading and writing. Some new topics are also introduced, as well as the past tense. Developing cultural awareness and active engagement verbally and in written form remain at the core of the curriculum.

At the end of Key Stage 3, pupils consolidate and deepen their language skills. They develop their vocabulary and grammar skills further by looking at different tenses and sentence structures. This enables them to speak and write about different topics such as food, hobbies, and celebrations.

What will I study in Key Stage 4?

At the beginning of Key Stage 4, pupils revisit topics studied at Key Stage 3 in more depth through the Key Stage 4 GCSE specification. They listen and read for gist and detail with increasing stamina. Pupils speak and write confidently in some detail. They use correct verb endings more consistently, develop greater confidence in combining time frames and learn a wider range of verb tenses. They offer and justify opinions on a range of topics. Pupils recall high frequency vocabulary and structures and now start to draw upon more nuanced and specialised vocabulary.

Towards the end of Key Stage 4, pupils continue to build upon a strong foundation of prior learning to tackle more complex content relating to future plans, healthy lifestyle choices and social and global social issues. They know how to synthesise learning across topics and recycle language more proficiently from memory. The simple future tense, subjunctive voice and passive voices are introduced. Pupils end the course well-prepared for the rigour of GCSE exams in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Pupils communicate competently and confidently in spoken and written Urdu and appreciate Urdu culture in different country around the world; they have a strong foundation to study A-Level Urdu or use Urdu proficiently in future.

Pupils study three themes at KS4: Identity and culture; Local, national, international and global areas of interest and Current and future study and employment. Through the study of these themes, pupils develop their language skills leading them to be independent and confident in their language skills.

At the end of the course, pupils will sit four papers to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding of the Urdu language.

Assessment

Internal assessments take place task place at regular intervals throughout both KS3 and KS4. Broadly, there are two types of assessment; fluency composite task and a composite test.

Composite fluency tasks are completed at the end of a topic and are used to check whether students are reaching curriculum related expectations.

Composite tests are used to assess the cumulative coverage of the curriculum and check whether learning is sticking over time and if students are reaching curriculum related expectations.

 External Examinations

Examination Board: AQA

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Enrichment

A wide range of extra-curricular opportunities are offered to pupils, catering for multiple languages across all Key Stages.

The MFL Faculty also organizes whole school language-related events:

In September, European Day Languages is marked with languages quizzes and competitions

In February, the #lovelanguages event provides a morning of creative activities for each year group; in 2022 for example, Year 7s created Arabic art; Year 10s ordered food and drink at a French café.

Careers

There are a range of career opportunities for pupils if they study modern foreign language to a higher level. The majority of employers prefer to recruit people with languages skills. Having a good GCSE or A Level grade in a foreign language and any degree will enable pupils to work for an international company anywhere around the world. A good GCSE grade in Urdu will allow pupils to study the language further or to combine with other degree subjects. This can then lead to careers in fields such as interpreting, teaching, languages and community services. Universities and employers value strong language qualifications.

Useful resources and revision support

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects
• https://www.wordreference.com
• https://www.quizlet.com
• https://www.memrise.com