ENGLISH AS A SECOND FOREIGN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
OBJECTIVES FOR ENGLISH AS A SECOND
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Written Communication Objectives
GRADE OBJECTIVES
THEMES
Listening Comprehension Objectives
Reading Comprehension Objectives
Written Communication Objectives
In the spirit of
providing better educational opportunities and more
meaningful interaction with other cultures, The Plan for Educational
Reform (1994) and The New Framework for Education in
The curriculum for English as a second foreign language
which follows this introduction attempts to turn these objectives into a
working curriculum that is in line with the current theories and research
findings in the area of second language acquisition and with the recent trends
in foreign language curriculum design and teaching methodology.
The following principles are held to be true
and self-evident:
1.
Language learning is learning to
communicate. Any language is used by its speakers to express themselves, to
interact with others, to gain information (academic and otherwise), and to
learn about the world around them.
2.
Language varies. Speakers of a language
are aware of the need to vary language use according to the context of
communicative interaction, i.e. language varies with variation in topic,
participants, setting, purpose, and medium (verbal or written). Moreover,
language varies according to academic domains (content areas) and tasks.
3.
Learning a new language is becoming
familiar with a new culture.Learners of a new
language become aware of new values, norms, thought patterns, and beliefs. As a result of this cultural exposure and of the ensuing
analysis of similarities and differences with native culture, learners develop
understanding of, respect for, and appreciation of diversity of cultural
backgrounds.
4.
Language learning is most effective when
it takes place through meaningful, interactive tasks. Language learners will
thus learn most when they are engaged in meaningful, purposeful activities of
social and cognitive nature in the context of the classroom (content-based
instruction) and outside it (social settings).
5.
Language skills are interdependent. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills are not thought of by language users as independent
skills; they are rather perceived as interdependent where one skill often
activates the other skills as well as the paralinguistic skills required for
the achievement of effective communication.
Guided by the above basic principles,
the curriculum for English attempts to develop the use of English for three
major purposes: social interaction, academic achievement, and cultural
enrichment. We believe that the most effective way to achieve these purposes is
through the adoption of a thematic, integrated, content-based approach to
teaching and learning. The curriculum
embodying this approach is going to be spiral in nature. The same concepts and skills will be taught at various times across the grades, but with
increasing levels of complexity and sophistication as we move up.
The following features characterize the curriculum and set it apart
from, and hopefully above, the current curriculum and other EFL curricula
adopted in similar teaching/learning contexts:
1.
Students following this curriculum will
learn content-related information while acquiring English language skills in
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
The emphasis on teaching English for academic purposes entails the
development of thinking skills. It is
for this reason that the new curriculum, in addition to promoting the
development of traditional skills, has also emphasized the development of
thinking skills.
2.
The new curriculum attempts to develop
native-like proficiency in English. More
specifically, it stresses both fluency and accuracy, in that order.
3.
The curriculum has set realistic,
achievable objectives that the average teacher/material writer can relate to. Furthermore,
these objectives have been illustrated with samples of
clear, measurable performance tasks that can be easily implemented in the
classroom.
4.
Language will be
presented to students in its proper cultural context. Though language learning will start with
universal themes, the particular characteristics of the culture of
English-speaking people will be introduced gradually
and where appropriate. The purpose of
this is to develop cross-cultural openness, tolerance, and understanding. It is for this purpose that the proposed
curriculum highlights foreign language literature at all grade levels and
includes a special section on cultural awareness skills.
5.
The curriculum highlights the role of
group work in the development of communicative language skills. It thus stresses the need for the creation of
an interactive classroom environment.
Many of the objectives and performance tasks included in the curriculum
call for pair and group work in line with the cooperative learning model of
classroom interaction.
6.
Finally, the curriculum emphasizes the
development of the proper study skills which will help
students develop into independent learners.
Below, certain basic principles regarding learning a second foreign
language are presented together with their practical
implications for learners and learning environment.
1.
The younger learners are, the easier it
is for them to learn a foreign language.
As the introduction of the second foreign language comes after the
"critical age", the learning environment needs to be rich and varied
to allow for the most effective learning opportunities.
2.
Knowledge of the native language and of
the first foreign language may facilitate learning the second foreign language.
"Due to the universal characteristics of human language, adults who know
one (or more) language(s)* "know" much about the underlying structure
of every language" (Fromkin&Rodman,1988:390).
This implies that the
instructional materials and teaching methodology should take
this fact into account.
3.
Adult learners normally apply their
thinking skills to help them discover patterns in what they learn. Learning for adults is a conscious process;
therefore, the teaching of grammar is encouraged once a student has learned basic
communication skills.
4.
Learning English as a second foreign
language allows learners to follow university education through the medium of
English. As English is becoming the
international language of trade and communication and of science and
technology, students interested in future careers in these fields would be
better prepared for that through a content-based curriculum that familiarizes them with
the language used in such fields.
* Parenthetical material is not part of original text; it has been added by authors.
In line with the principles and guidelines set by CERD for teaching a
second language in Lebanese schools and presented in The New Framework for
Education in Lebanon (1995), the following general objectives have been
suggested for the teaching of English as a second foreign language, starting in
the third educational cycle (grade 7).
1.
The development of communicative skills for the
expression of basic needs and for basic interactive skills, especially in the
academic context.
2.
The development of the ability to
communicate (with emphasis on effective reading and writing skills) about topics
related to subject matter areas, especially science and mathematics.
3.
The preparation
of students to pursue university education through the medium of English.
4.
The development
of the ability to work with others in a cooperative learning framework.
5.
The development of understanding and
appreciation of the similarities and differences between English language and
culture and other languages and cultures the students are familiar with.
|
CONTENT |
NUMBER OF HOURS |
|
|
Listening |
Content-based
illustrated |
2 x 30 = 60 |
|
Oral Communication |
thematic units in the |
|
|
Reading Comprehension |
curriculum |
|
|
Written communication |
Content-based
illustrated |
|
|
Thinking Skills |
|
|
|
Study Skills |
|
|
|
Cultural Awareness |
|
|
|
(INTEGRATED) |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL : 60 |
Upon completion of the prescribed years of study for English as a second
foreign language (grades 7-9 and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd secondary years, at the
rate of 2 hours a week), students are expected to be
able to do the following:
-
Understand and use
basic words and expressions prevalent in classroom language.
-
Respond to
instructions, commands, directions, and questions physically or verbally.
-
Identify the main
points and supporting details.
-
Match spoken
language to print or pictures.
-
Draw inferences
related to themes, characters, actions, and events.
-
Recognize and describe attitudes
and emotions.
-
Make predictions
about the conclusion of a story or the results of an experiment.
-
Distinguish between
fact and opinion.
-
Classify and
categorize elements in discourse.
-
Relate information
to personal experience and/or prior knowledge.
-
Memorize and recite
poems, jokes, riddles, tongue twisters, etc.
-
Sing along with
songs and rhymes.
-
Ask for
repetitions, clarifications, and explanations.
-
Identify dialectal
features (syntax, vocabulary choice, and accent).
-
Identify style and
register markers.
-
Identify key terms
emphasized, transitionals used, and turning points.
-
Identify methods of
development (narration, description, definition, argumentation, etc.).
-
Greet others
properly.
-
Use polite forms of
address and requests.
-
Ask for and give
directions.
-
Ask for repetition
and clarification.
-
Request and give
information.
-
Ask and answer
questions.
-
Speak in meaningful
utterances.
-
Speak with proper
enunciation, stress, and intonation.
-
Vary stress and
intonation to reflect various attitudes and emotions.
-
Speak with an easy
flow, especially when using recurrent classroom language.
-
Express and justify
point of view about a certain topic.
-
Make a presentation
on a researched topic.
-
Describe and
comment on events, behaviors, and actions.
-
Give a speech on a
special occasion.
-
Participate in
group games, surveys, dramatizations, storytelling, etc.
-
Observe turn-taking
rules.
-
Keep interruptions
brief and purposeful.
-
Take on different roles
in a conversation (initiator, developer, commentator, etc.).
-
Recognize
frequently used words at sight.
-
Infer meaning of
words and special expressions from context.
-
Use phonic, morphological,
and syntactic clues to get word meaning.
-
Skim and scan text
(references, textbooks, magazines, databases, etc.) for information.
-
Identify events in
a story, steps in a lab experiment, ideas in a text, etc...
-
Answer factual and
simple inferential questions about text.
-
Identify basic
terminology and concepts in specialized texts.
-
Make plausible
predictions of outcomes.
-
Relate information
to real life, experiences, and prior knowledge.
-
Suggest a different
conclusion to a story.
-
Identify bias,
attitudes, intentions, faulty evidence, false conclusions, etc...
-
Identify elements of
informal language (deviant structures, and slang).
-
Identify and
explain register markers.
-
Identify key terms,
discourse markers, transitionals, etc...
-
Explain how
knowledge varies to suit context, speaker, topic, purpose, and audience.
-
Report on extensive
reading highlighting points of interest.
-
Consult magazines,
newspapers, references, atlases, encyclopedias, and computer database for more
information on topics
read.
-
Learn by heart and read aloud
favorite poems, quotations, proverbs, etc...
-
Exchange stories,
magazines, computer discs, and books.
-
Supply biographical
information on forms.
-
Write short
messages, notes, and letters.
-
Explain opinion in
relation to a topic.
-
Paraphrase/translate
important messages and notices.
-