English First Additional Language

The English First Additional Language curriculum in the Intermediate Phase is designed to equip learners with the necessary language skills to effectively communicate in a variety of social and academic contexts. This level emphasizes the development of both basic interpersonal communication skills, which are essential for everyday interactions, and cognitive academic skills, which are crucial for learning across the curriculum. The curriculum places significant focus on the key language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, ensuring that learners can engage with and understand the world around them.

The curriculum is structured around four main language skills:

Listening and Speaking:
Listening and speaking are foundational skills that play a critical role in all areas of learning. Through active listening and effective speaking, learners gather and process information, construct knowledge, solve problems, and express their ideas and opinions. Critical listening skills help learners identify biases and understand the deeper meanings within texts. In the classroom, these skills are practiced both informally, through discussions, and formally, through structured activities like debates. The integration of listening and speaking with reading, writing, and language practice is essential for developing well-rounded communicators.

Reading and Viewing:
Proficiency in reading and viewing is vital for successful learning across all subjects. Learners are exposed to a variety of literary and non-literary texts, including visual media, helping them to understand how genre, audience, and context influence the meaning of texts. The curriculum encourages both classroom and independent reading, fostering critical and creative thinking. By engaging with different types of texts, learners improve their ability to analyze and interpret information, which is essential for their academic progress.

Writing and Presenting:
Writing is a key form of communication that allows learners to articulate their thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively. The curriculum provides opportunities for learners to practice writing in a variety of contexts and for different purposes, enabling them to develop both functional and creative writing skills. With appropriate support and scaffolding, learners become competent writers capable of producing coherent written, visual, and multimedia texts. These skills are not only crucial for academic success but also for effective communication in the wider world.

Language Structures and Conventions:
Understanding the structure and conventions of language is fundamental to developing effective communication skills. Learners are taught to analyze and use language critically, allowing them to evaluate their own and others' texts for meaning, effectiveness, and accuracy. This knowledge also empowers learners to experiment with language, helping them to build meaning from the word and sentence level up to whole texts. Through interaction with a variety of texts, learners expand their vocabulary and apply their understanding of language structures and conventions with increasing confidence and precision.

Grade 4

Link to resources >>

Term 1:

• • • Short story and personal recount

    • Poetry

    • Folklore

    • Instructional text

    • Newspaper or magazine text

Term 2:

• • Information text - weather

  • Short story

  • Folklore

  • Procedures, instructions

  • information text with visuals e.g. charts/ tables/ diagrams/pictures/graphs.

Term 3:

• • Novel

  • Information text e.g. factual recount/news article/report; visual text e.g. poster/ notices; conversation

  • Poem

  • Information text with visuals e.g. charts/ tables/ diagrams/pictures; descriptions of places/plants/animals/objects procedures

  • Drama

Term 4:

• • Newspaper or magazine article

  • Short story

  • Information text: advertisement

  • Drama

Grade 5

Link to resources >>

Term 1:

• • • Short story and personal recount

    • Information text with visuals e.g. charts/tables/ diagrams/mind maps/maps/pictures/graphs; conversation; factual recount

    • Newspaper / magazine article

    • Folklore

    • Poetry

Term 2:

• • Information text: instructions

  • Information text with visuals e.g. charts/tables/ diagrams/mind maps/maps/pictures/graphs; descriptions of object/s/plants/animals/places

  • Poetry

  • Folklore

Term 3:

• • Novel

  • Information text with visuals e.g. charts/tables/ diagrams/mind maps/maps/pictures/graphs;

  • Folklore

  • Information text – weather report

  • Drama

Term 4:

• Short story

• Information text with visuals e.g. charts/tables/ diagrams/pictures

• Information text with visuals

• e.g. charts/tables/ diagrams/mind maps/maps/graphs;

• Information text – procedures/instructions

Grade 6

Link to resources >>

Term 1:

• • • Newspaper / magazine / radio article

    • Folklore

    • Persuasive text – advertisement

    • Drama

    • Poetry

Term 2:

• • Information text: instructions

  • Novel

  • Short story

  • Information text: weather chart

Term 3:

• • Novel

  • Folklore

  • Short story, letter, diary

  • Visual text

  • Drama

Term 4:

• Information text 

• Descriptive essay

• Instructional text

• Short story

• Poetry