IB Group 2 Subjects - Language B SL and HL

Language B SL and HL

Language B is intended for students who have a previous background of 2–3 years in the language, and focuses more on learning to communicate in the language in written and spoken form.

Curriculum

Students study a variety of topics such as the environment, famous people, current and historical events, immigration, music, art, cuisine, fashion, film, etc.… to develop their skills in listening, reading, writing, speaking and cultural interaction. Types of texts studied include: news stories, short stories, brochures, advertisements, poems, informal and formal letters, excerpts from plays, editorials, debates, reviews and interviews.

Assessment

Internal Assessment — (30% of total grade) for a Language B consists of the average of two oral presentations, one of which is to be given to the teacher, recorded and sent out for moderation. The other is an interactive oral activity and can be individual or group.

External Assessment — (70% of total grade) for Language B includes paper 1, consisting of 3–4 reading comprehension texts and paper 2, consisting of a 250-word (SL) or 400-word (HL) written response, in the form of a journal entry, formal or informal letter, newspaper or magazine article or brochure.

For the oral and written components of the assessments, students receive marks based on their level of competency in use of language, cultural interaction and message.

For reading comprehension, students receive a grade based on a markscheme (answer key) for questions that are multiple-choice, short-answer, true/false/justify, matching and extended response.