This course is a language acquisition course for students whose best language is not English.
The three main aims of this course are:
language acquisition and development
exploration and development of intercultural understanding
preparation for the IBDP English B Higher Level course next year, with some preparation for IBDP English A courses
Course content
The exact content of the course will be negotiated according to the needs and interests of the group.
The course will include developing skills related to:
listening to the teacher, classmates, and recorded audio-visual texts such as songs, films, documentaries
speaking in a variety of contexts, rehearsed and unrehearsed, such as discussions, conversations, role-plays, debates and dramatised readings
reading a range of different texts and text types, with focus on their structure and purpose
writing or producing digital and non-digital texts of different types, with an emphasis on structure and purpose
The list of possible text types includes:
article, column
blog, diary
brochure, leaflet, pamphlet, flyer, advertisement
debate, speech, talk, presentation
essay
interview
news report
reasoned argument
report
review
short story, novel, poem
set of instructions and guidelines
written correspondence
The four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing will be practiced through the study of conceptual topics related to our five themes: Identity, Experiences, Human Ingenuity, Sharing the Planet, and Social Organization.
Students will complete three texts as a class for written and spoken analysis. Students are also required to read a book of their choice at home for 20 minutes or more every day to establish strong reading habits. Where it is apparent that students in the class may be suited to following an English A course in Grade 11, students will be asked to read from that book list.
Skills developed
As well as developing the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, the course will also promote:
understanding and construction of different text types
text handling skills
basic literary analysis skills
Assessment
Students will be regularly assessed, for both effort and achievement, on:
participation in class
oral performance in specific oral activities
understanding of readings
written work
Written work will be assessed against three criteria:
language – 40%
message – 40%
format – 20%
Oral work will be assessed against two criteria:
productive skills – 50%
interactive and receptive skills – 50%
Students will sit a final exam, which will test reading and writing skills related to a selected area of the course.