Self-taught langauges (Standard and Higher Levels)
What is this?
In line with the IB philosophy of ‘knowing yourself’, students may opt to take their mother tongue or first language (which is not English) as a self-taught option in order to study literature. This will have obvious benefit for students who have studied literature in their mother tongue before attending JESS or who may require a qualification in their own language in order to access a university in their home country.
It must be stressed that this course is not a language course but a literature course and it can only be taken by students whose first language is not English. Further to this, JESS does not currently have the resources or staffing to support self-taught courses fully. It will be up to the parents of a student who wishes to study a self-taught language to locate and pay for tuition and resources themselves. The school will support this process by contacting relevant embassies in advance to enquire about appropriately qualified tutors and resources, and we will also liaise with the IB regarding provision for that language. Students will be required to study independently in the Learning Resource Centre whilst the English programme is being taught.
As the self-taught language is a very demanding course upon students who wish to take it, the school will hold an interview with both the student and their parents beforehand to assess his/her suitability for the course. The school will reserve the right not to support a student if they feel that the course is not appropriate for him/her.
Whilst a self-taught language will involve an extra degree of pressure upon the students to organise themselves, find a tutor and resource appropriate texts to study, taking a self-taught language demonstrates a high degree of maturity and personal organisation and can look very impressive on a student’s university application.
Self-taught languages SL
A self-taught study can only be taken at Standard Level. The course mirrors that of the English A1 course, with the student studying eleven suitable texts, which will be sub-divided into Parts 1 to 4 as specified opposite. Six of the texts, however, must be written originally in the relevant language being studied and must be in three different genres. The remaining five texts should be World Literature texts in translation.
Assessment
Self-taught students must also complete the World Literature course and sit the written examinations Paper 1 and Paper 2. These are the same as those for the taught candidates in English Standard Level. The assessment criteria are exactly the same and there is no evidence to suggest that self-taught candidates are marked more leniently.
The major difference is that there is no Internal Assessment. The oral examinations which form part of the coursework for the taught course are externally set and moderated.
If you require further information about this course, please contact the IBDP Coordinator at JESS.