RATIONALE

OF LEARNING MATRIX FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE

EDmerger is an examination support tool for students undertaking the GCSE course English
Language. The course is an online tool that helps students to master core skills, so teachers can use class time to teach more complex material, and ultimately teach towards higher grades. ALL five examination boards share identical aims and outcomes for students undertaking the English Language course. These aims and outcomes inspire the design of the EDmerger course for English Language. Aims: All specifications aim to encourage students to: demonstrate skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing necessary to communicate with others confidently, effectively, precisely and appropriately express themselves creatively and imaginatively become critical readers of a range of texts, including multimodal texts use reading to develop their own skills as writers understand the patterns, structures and conventions of written and spoken English understand the impact of variations in spoken and written language and how they relate to identity and cultural diversity select and adapt speech and writing to different situations and audiences.

Key language modes in which these aims are put into practice include: - the study of written language; - the study of spoken language; - speaking and listening; and - writing, both creatively and functionally. The following table of outcomes is common to all boards, and is employed to measure the attainment of these aims: AO1 COMMON ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES Speaking and Listening (i) Speak to communicate clearly and purposefully; structure and sustain talk, adapting it to different situations and audiences; use standard English and a variety of techniques as appropriate. (ii) Listen and respond to speakers ideas and perspectives, and how they construct and express meanings. (iii) Interact with others, shaping meanings through suggestions, comments and questions and drawing ideas together. (iv) Create and sustain different roles. AO2 Study of Spoken Language (i) Understand variations in spoken language, explaining why language changes in relation to contexts. (ii) Evaluate the impact of spoken language choices in their own and others use.

Document written by Paul Moss for edmerger.com

Sept 2013

RATIONALE OF LEARNING MATRIX FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE

AO3 Studying Written Language (i) Read and understand texts, selecting material appropriate to purpose, collating from different sources and making comparisons and cross- references as appropriate. (ii) Develop and sustain interpretations of writers ideas and perspectives. (iii) Explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, grammatical, structural and presentational features to achieve effects and engage and influence the reader. AO4 Writing (i) Write to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, using and adapting forms and selecting vocabulary appropriate to task and purpose in ways that engage the reader. (ii) Organise information and ideas into structured and sequenced sentences, paragraphs and whole texts, using a variety of linguistic and structural features to support cohesion and overall coherence. (iii) Use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate punctuation and spelling. In addition to these outcomes, it is necessary for students to strengthen: Outcomes for reading multi-modal texts analyse how language and structure varies according to audience; and purpose, and evaluate how texts may be interpreted differently depending on the perspective of the reader Outcomes for personal/creative writing use an appropriate writing form, and demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of the form; express ideas and information precisely and accurately; form independent views; select vocabulary to persuade and inform the reader; Outcomes for individual presentation for speaking and listening make a range of effective contributions; challenge what they hear where appropriate.

COURSE METHODOLOGY
For ease of viewing and reading, an overview of the course is provided at various levels: - module level, - individual lessons, - followed by the matrix.
Document written by Paul Moss for edmerger.com Sept 2013

RATIONALE OF LEARNING MATRIX FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE

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EDmerger is a course consisting of 12 modules, with 5 lessons in each module. Each module increases in difficulty, with the following estimated degrees: - Completing module 7 would indicate a students skills at the high C level; - End of module 10 indicates a students skills at the high B level; - End of module 12 indicates a students skills at the mid to high A level. Each module has a 5 lesson template: 1. text types and their conventions, 2. figurative language, 3. language features, 4. language structure, 5. a lesson synthesizing what has been taught. The frequency of specific skills is derived from the % represented in the actual exam itself. Assessment outcome Weightings descriptions A01 Speaking and listening 20% AO2 Study of spoken language 10% AO3 Studying written language 35% AO4 Writing 35% Each module is dedicated to a specific skill set or outcome, and the final synthesizing lesson dedicated to a specific bullet point from the relevant outcome. Each lesson is a video lesson of approximately 12-15 minutes in length. Each lesson has 10 questions: students participate in a quiz at the end of the lesson, and are prompted to upload examples of their understanding of the lesson to the site for others to rate, comment on, share and learn from. Questions in each lesson are predominantly based on Blooms taxonomy, with the exception of questions 9 and 10: - Qs 1- 3 represent comprehension and knowledge, - Q 4 represents application - Qs 5-6 represent analysis - Q 7 represents synthesis - Q 8 represents evaluation - Qs 9-10 represent inference Lesson 5 in each module is a synthesis or combination of text type, figurative language, language features, and language structures knowledge. Questions may rely on any combination of skills from within the module. Lesson structure: global perspective to introduce concept, then sequential instruction. Real life concrete examples dominate, but some abstract ideas are presented. All lessons end with summary, encouraging reflective learning, followed by active application of knowledge. Reports are clear and precise (emailed to parents), detailing specific areas of weakness in relation to the taxonomy, as well as skills from the 5 types of lessons above. Each answer becomes data the algorithm (computer program) uses to determine when quiz errors result in redirection to a more fundamental lesson. A pool of questions in each lesson ensures redirection is meaningful even if the same lesson is revisited.
Document written by Paul Moss for edmerger.com Sept 2013

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