independent research project spanish a level edexcel

Spanish to Go

A Level Spanish Irp Ideas

1. Start by saying “ideas para el Trabajo de Investigación de Español A Level” 2. Use appropriate vocabulary and grammar to convey your ideas 3. Provide examples and evidence to support your argument 4. Use connective phrases to link your ideas together 5. Make sure to proofread and edit your work for accuracy and clarity

Introduction

A Level Spanish Individual Research Project (IRP) is an important component of the Spanish curriculum. It allows students to explore a topic of interest in depth and demonstrate their language skills and cultural understanding. Choosing the right IRP idea is crucial for a successful project. In this article, we will explore some engaging and unique A Level Spanish IRP ideas to inspire you.

1. Spanish Influence in Latin American Literature

Subheading: overview.

In this IRP, you can analyze the impact of Spanish literature on Latin American writers. Explore famous Spanish authors such as Miguel de Cervantes and their influence on renowned Latin American writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Discuss common themes, writing styles, and cultural elements.

Subheading: Methodology

Interview Spanish and Latin American literature experts, conduct surveys, and analyze literary works. Compare and contrast the literary movements in Spain and Latin America.

2. The Evolution of Flamenco Dance

Dive into the rich history and cultural significance of Flamenco dance. Explore its origins in Andalusia, Spain, and how it has evolved over time. Discuss the influence of different cultures and regions on Flamenco, such as Moorish, Gypsy, and Latin American influences.

Attend Flamenco dance classes, interview professional dancers and instructors, and analyze the development of Flamenco through historical records and audiovisual resources.

3. Environmental Challenges in Spanish-Speaking Countries

Focus on the environmental issues faced by Spanish-speaking countries, such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change. Analyze the causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Discuss government policies, NGOs, and community initiatives.

Research case studies, interview environmental activists, analyze reports from environmental organizations, and compare the approaches taken by different countries.

Choosing the right A Level Spanish IRP idea is crucial for an engaging and successful project. The above ideas provide a starting point for your exploration, but feel free to tailor them to your specific interests and goals. Remember to conduct thorough research, gather reliable sources, and present your findings effectively to demonstrate your language skills and cultural understanding.

43 Spanish Cartridge

The 43 Spanish cartridge, also known as the 11x59mmR, is a historical ammunition cartridge that saw use in various Spanish firearms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this article, we will delve into the details of the 43 Spanish cartridge, its history, specifications, and its significance during its time.

1. History of the 43 Spanish Cartridge

Subheading: origins.

The 43 Spanish cartridge was introduced in the 1860s for use in the Spanish military’s rolling block rifles. It was a rimmed, bottlenecked cartridge that replaced the earlier muzzleloading muskets and carbines. The cartridge gained popularity and was widely used by the Spanish army and civilians during its time.

Subheading: Military Service

The 43 Spanish cartridge saw extensive use in various conflicts, including the Spanish-American War, the Cuban War of Independence, and the Philippine-American War. Spanish troops armed with rifles chambered in this cartridge engaged in battles on multiple fronts.

2. Specifications and Performance

Subheading: cartridge dimensions.

The 43 Spanish cartridge had a case length of 59mm and a bullet diameter of approximately 11mm. It featured a bottlenecked shape, which facilitated smoother feeding and extraction in firearms.

Subheading: Ballistics

Depending on the specific load and bullet weight, the 43 Spanish cartridge achieved velocities of around 1,300 to 1,400 feet per second. It typically utilized a round-nose or flat-nose lead bullet, which had moderate stopping power for its time.

The 43 Spanish cartridge played a significant role in Spanish military history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its adoption and widespread use in Spanish firearms, particularly rolling block rifles, ensured its prominence on various battlefields. While no longer in active military use, the 43 Spanish cartridge remains an important part of firearms history, reflecting the technological advancements and military strategies of its time.

[Continue the structure for the remaining topics…] Shiloh Spanish Sara Baras Spanish Miguel Meaning in Spanish Miercoles

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Spanish A Level: How to succeed in your IRP

Part 2 of the AQA A Level Spanish Speaking Assessment consists of the presentation and discussion of an Individual Research Project, which students have previously prepared throughout the year.

It constitutes one of the most fascinating and exciting parts of the A Level Spanish course, as learners can link their own interests to the subject while developing not only their language, but also their research skills.

So, what steps do you need to take in order to prepare a successful IRP?

1. Don't be afraid to choose an original topic .

For the IRP, students must identify a subject or a key question which is of interest to them and which relates to a country, or countries, where Spanish is spoken.

The most successful students use this to their advantage and play to their strengths by choose a topic that they are really, genuinely interested in.

Don’t be afraid to choose something unique and original !

Since the AQA A Level Spanish syllabus includes such a broad variety of themes, it is worth taking your time to identify your area of greatest interest. Instead of going through lists of previous IRP topics for ideas, think about what inspired your interest in Spanish in the first place, and where you intend to take your studies in the future.

The IRP topics do not even have to be taken from the syllabus itself; this is a brilliant opportunity to broaden your knowledge by studying something that the AQA syllabus does not already cover, as long as it is appropriate in scope (not too broad or too narrow) and is based in the culture or history of a Spanish-speaking country. You can find further guidance on the choice of topic here .

2. Combine your choice of topic in Spanish with other subjects you enjoy.

Are you also taking an A Level in art? Then why not research a Spanish-speaking artist and the impact of their work, or the role of art in education in Spain? Taking an approach based on your other A Level subjects means you will be on solid ground and have plenty of existing knowledge and ideas. An added bonus is that you will gain relevant insight into your other A Level subject, too.

Researching something that you really want to learn about, and that may be related to your personal interests, your other academic work or your further studies, will mean that you genuinely enjoy the preparation of your IRP and are in a strong position to make it a success.

💡 Tip: You can also base your research on one Spanish or Latin American literary text or film, but it must not be the same one that you are going to refer in Paper 2, your written assessment.

🔍 Further reference: The A Level Content Advisory Board has published these illustrative examples of individual research topics .

3. Select an appropriate key question for your IRP.

Once you’ve decided which topic you’re going to explore in your project, you can then think of what key question will guide your research.

Why is this important?

If we look at AO4, one of the assessment objectives, it says that, in order to achieve highest marks, students must give an "excellent critical and analytical response". It is therefore important to find an appropriate question that will allow you to analyse the impact and/or evaluate the importance of the aspect you are researching.

Let’s look at an example.

The question “¿Cuáles son las pinturas más famosas de Frida Kahlo? / What are Frida Kahlo’s most famous paintings?” leads to a more descriptive / narrative answer, whereas “¿Cuál es el impacto de la obra de Frida Kahlo? / What’s the impact of Frida Kahlo’s paintings?” requires an analytical answer .

A question that leads to analysis and evaluation is what will set you up to gain the most marks under the AO4 criteria, putting you in a strong position from the outset.

4. Only use high-quality, Spanish-language sources.

The AQA specification states that students must select relevant information in Spanish from a range of sources , including the internet.

You should therefore use a wide variety of sources (not only online information, and not Wikipedia!). These must be reliable and high-quality; it’s better to use information from reputable news sources instead of online tabloids, and documentaries instead of Youtube influencers.

In summary, your sources must be:

reliable: from a reputable author, newspaper, etc;

in different formats : articles, podcasts, books, TV news, etc;

up-to-date : check that the information is recent and correct;

directly relevant to your question or title : not superfluous.

5. Prepare thoroughly for your 2-minute IRP presentation.

In the assessment for the AQA Spanish A Level, students will need to give a presentation with their key findings, speaking for up to two minutes. According to the assessment criteria, "thorough knowledge and understanding of the area of study" must be evident in the presentation in order to gain full marks.

To make sure that all the relevant information is summarised in those two minutes, you can follow this structure:

Initial information.

Background / Context.

Examples / Evidence / Observations.

Consequences / Impact.

Opinions / Conclusions.

Once you’ve prepared the presentation, record yourself reading it to make sure you don’t exceed the 2 minutes. Then, practice many times to learn the overall structure by heart so that you can present it confidently in the exam.

6. Anticipate some of the questions that the examiner might ask you in the discussion.

The presentation of your research will be followed by a 9- to 10-minute discussion with the examiner. These will be based on your presentation and the headings you have chosen (these headings are entered on your Candidate Record Form, which is submitted in advance of the exam). You can’t know the questions in advance, but there are ways to anticipate some of them. Here are some examples of prompts that examiners use frequently:

¿Por qué has elegido estudiar este tema?

Háblame un poco más de….

Cuando hablas de…..¿qué quieres decir exactamente?

Algunas personas piensan que….¿qué piensas tú al respecto?

¿Cómo reaccionas ante esto?

¿Piensas que esto es verdad/ mentira?

¿Qué piensas si te digo que…?

¿Tienes algún ejemplo que pueda justificar tu idea?

¿Y qué dirías si…?

¿Y si te dijera que…..que dirías tú?

En tu opinión, ¿qué impacto ha tenido…..sobre…?

¿Qué es lo que te ha interesado/chocado/marcado/sorprendido más a raíz de tu investigación?

¿De dónde has obtenido tu información?

¿Qué es lo más importante que has aprendido de tu investigación?

¿Cómo ha cambiado tu visión de [nombre del país] o del mundo hispanohablante después de este proyecto individual?

The choice of topic and the way you prepare for the Individual Research Project can make the difference between a good exam performance and an outstanding one. The key is to find what you really love to talk about. This will make the research process, and the assessment itself, a highlight of your Spanish A Level course.

The Kate Maria Languages Academy teaches immersive online A Level courses in Spanish , following the AQA syllabus. The course develops all four key skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, with live lessons taught by experienced A Level tutors. For further information and enrolment details, you can contact us here .

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The IRP in Spanish A-level: the student’s perspective

By Alexander Evers, new undergraduate at Trinity College, Oxford, reading Spanish and Portuguese.

The Independent Research Project, or IRP for short, is an exciting opportunity for Year 13 (school-leaving) students such as myself to further their interests in Hispanic culture and develop independent research skills – something that I found hugely rewarding.

Early on in the research process I decided that I wanted to explore an aspect of Latin American culture, as this had been my primary focus in my Oxford application which I was working on in tandem with my IRP. Soon after, I decided that researching a film would be of most interest, as I had already enjoyed studying Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver as part of my A-level course, and wanted to develop the film analysis skills that I had picked up in class.

After watching a few films, I was immediately captivated by Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical 2018 Netflix film Roma , and began to explore it in greater depth. 

Before choosing an exact title for my project I found it useful to read online articles and film reviews in order to better grasp Roma’s key concepts and themes, so that I could then choose a balanced and well evidenced question that I also found interesting.

The most striking element of the film for me was Cuarón’s social commentary on 1970s Mexico, which led me to settle on the final question: ‘To what extent can it be considered that Roma accurately portrays social inequality in Mexican society?’ There was a vast amount of information online about this facet of the film, with some praising Cuarón’s exploration of the class divide in Mexico, while others felt that he had looked at it through a ‘white saviour’ lens, and did not do the Mexican indigenous community justice. For this reason, I wanted to delve deeper into the two opposing arguments and draw my own conclusions. 

In the end, I concluded that Cuarón sensitively and accurately depicted the class divide in Mexico in the 1970s, and offered a bold political statement about the Mexican government at the time – the most eye-opening moment for me being his detailed portrayal of the 1971 Corpus Christi Massacre – a clear act of unjust political suppression that Cuarón highlights in this film that many of the audience, including myself, had not heard of before.

However, Cuarón’s portrayal of the indigenous community struck me as underdeveloped in places.  Although the film centred around an indigenous woman named Cleo, it featured relatively little dialogue from indigenous characters, which unfortunately meant that their role in the film was lessened, as their opinions regarding the social climate of 1970s Mexico were not particularly addressed. 

The next step was preparing a spoken presentation for the examiner to last no longer than 2 minutes. This was a harder task than expected, as this 2-minute presentation formed the basis for 10 minutes of spontaneous questions from the examiner.  Therefore I had to include enough information about my chosen question, without making it too broad.  After this was completed, it was essential to memorise the presentation. I would highly recommend doing this early on in the process, as the pressure of the exam environment can make it harder to remember the presentation, so knowing it by heart is a huge help. 

The experience of the speaking exam was in some ways very different to any other A-level exam due to the fast-paced and spontaneous nature of the questions. Despite this, it was possible to prepare for many of the questions, as while the wording was not the same as the ones I had planned for, the themes that they dealt with were similar. This allowed me to draw upon knowledge from answers that I had previously planned, and made the exam less intimidating than I had expected. 

Another challenge of the speaking exam is using enough high-register language and complex grammatical structures, as these are essential for reaching the top marks, yet are often tricky to think of on the spot. What I found particularly helpful was pre-preparing a set of transferable phrases about the film that I would likely be able to use in the exam without too much effort, as I was confident knowing when and where it would be appropriate to use these structures as a result of trial and error from speaking practice. 

On reflection, the IRP is an element of the A-level course that I am very grateful for – the research skills and additional knowledge that I gained were invaluable, and are some of the many benefits of choosing to study languages at A level!

Further analysis of ‘Roma’ features on p14 of our February 2021 edition – available via the Past Editions tab above.

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A-level Spanish Independent Research Project (IRP) Guide

Subject: Spanish

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

9 September 2022

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teachingisgood is excited to offer a full and comprehensive guide on preparing for and partaking in the Independent Research Project (IRP) for A-level Spanish.

This guide is in PowerPoint format and is designed to make it clear and simple to students (and teachers) what the IRP is composed of, how it will run, and what you need to do to prepare. It includes lots of helpful hints to what makes a project successful.

While the information is specific to the AQA A-level Spanish syllabus, teachers teaching other exam boards may find this information to be useful also due to the similarity between different syllabuses.

This guide includes:

• A breakdown of the speaking exams - how long they are and what you need to do in each one
• IRP assessment criteria and questions you can ask yourself to see if you are doing everything you can to meet those criteria
• How the IRP (Independent Research Project) works - what you will be given and what you must to do to prepare, and also what you must do during the exam
• What you need to do - the steps you should take and when in terms of research and preparation for the IRP, as well as an explanation of the information required from you on the candidate form
• How to prepare - key tips on what you should be doing to prepare for the IRP in general, including vocabulary and key structures
• Detailed guidance on asking questions in the IRP, responding to questions posed by the examiner, and including Hispanic examples
• Key features of an IRP which makes it successful
• Detailed examples of IRPs which were successful for students in the past
• A breakdown of the presentation part of the IRP, including an example structure and information you should include
• A breakdown of the discussion part of the IRP, including how you should consider the task when preparing, and questions you could be asked by the examiner
• How to prepare an answer for the IRP, including top tips
• Sample IRP answer, including sample candidate form, sample introduction for “presentation” and key facts for “discussion”

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A clear structure however there area few mistakes in terms of content which can affect the marking of the IRP.

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Hi nieveslane, we couldn't spot the mistakes you're referring to. Please could you email us at [email protected] with the mistakes and we hope to correct any problems as soon as possible. Thank you!

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