THEME 20.

THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA IN THE CURRICULUM. CRITERIA TO BE

REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND THE CURRICULAR
PROJECT.

1. INTRODUCTION:

The Organic Act 1/1990 of General Organisation of the Educational System introduced
some important changes, aimed at improving the quality of education in Spain. Among
these changes we can mention:
- The extension of compulsory education to the age of 16 years old
- The establishment of new educational stages such as: Infant Education, Primary
Education, and Compulsory Secondary Education.
- These stages are organised in cycles, which is the period that should be considered for
teaching programs and promotion.
- The establishment of a curriculum which, in spite of having certain aspects which are
compulsory for all the country, is also open and flexible, as the different autonomous
educational services could adapt it to their real context. Then, each school should
adapt the official curriculum to their real environment by means of the design and
development of the Curricular Project.
- Besides, the Centres have the right to define their educational options, their
objectives and their organisational structure that will make possible the attainment of
such objectives. These aspects must be included in a document called the Educational
Project.

Then, taking into account these basic aspects of the educational reform, we are going to
deal with:
- The Foreign Language area, as it is reflected in the official curriculum.

- The criteria to be reflected in the Educational Project and the Curricular Project, in
relation to this area.

2. THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA IN THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM:

The teaching of a foreign language is included among the areas of Primary education, as
we can see in the articles number 14 of the Organic Act 1/1990, and also in the article
number 5 of the Royal Decree 1344/91, which established the national curriculum for
Primary Education.

According to these legal documents, the teaching of that foreign language starts in the
second cycle. However, in most autonomous regions of Spain, the teaching of a foreign
language has been brought forward to the first cycle.
In Extremadura, this introduction came into force from the beginning of the last academic
year, according to an Order of the 30th of August, 2000.

The importance given to the learning of a foreign language in current society has to do
with certain social, educational and psychological demands, which Brewster, Ellis and
Girard, in their book The Primary English teachers guide summarised as follows:

- Social demands: derive from the need of communicating with people from other
countries in a world, which is becoming a global village. The success in business
and international relations is closely linked to the learning of foreign languages,
especially in the context of the European Union, where goods and people can move
freely through the member states. Besides, the ability of communicating in a foreign
language (especially in English) is quite useful to travel abroad, and for the
transmission of news and knowledge.

- The Educational demands have to do with the development of cognitive and social
abilities by means of the learning of a new language and its culture. This knowledge
help children to overcome their natural egocentrism, as they realise that there are other
ways of living and seeing reality different from their own. At the same time, this
contact will help them to develop tolerance and respect as well as a better
understanding and appreciation of their own language and culture.

- Finally, the psychological demands refer to the need of introducing them to the
learning of a foreign language, as young as possible, because they are less distanced
from the age in which they learn their first language than teenagers or adults, and they
are still good at understanding and imitating what they hear. Besides, they realise that
the same functions and notions they have just learn in their native language, can be
expressed, equally well, using a different language.
Once we have seen the importance of teaching a foreign language in Primary education,
we are going to see how the foreign language area is reflected in the official curriculum
through the analysis of its different elements.

We are going to start with the analysis of the methodological principles:

1. First of all, we should consider that the foreign language area curricular purpose is
not to teach a foreign language but rather to teach how to communicate using it.
Therefore Royal Decree 1006/1991 of the 14th June, which establishes the teaching
requirements for Primary education, sees communicative competence as comprising
five sub-competencies:
- Grammar competence: the ability to implement rules and lexical items from
the language system.
 - Discourse competence: which refers to the ability to produce different types of
discourse organising them according to the communicative situation and the
interlocutors.
- Sociolinguistic competence: refers to the ability to adapt statements to different
contexts observing the usage of a given linguistic community.
- Strategic competence: implies being able to use verbal and non-verbal
strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication.
- Sociocultural competence: refers to the students knowledge of the cultural
aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken.

All these elements are part of the language, as language is not something abstract, but
a tool for effective communication.

2. Communicative competence acquisition is seen as a creative construction process.

Our pupils using their general cognitive strategies and linguistic input they receive
establish hypothesis to form the new rules about the foreign language system.

3. This new system is gradually contrasted and improved as new input is presented.
Therefore error is seen as an integral part of the learning process, as it is the
manifestation of the effort our pupils are making to acquire the new system.

4. This acquisition process may be fostered, especially at first, in ways that do not
require a linguistic response by using Total Physical Response techniques.

5. Receptive skills (listening and reading) are very important at this stage, specially
listening, since oral communication is the most direct form of communication among
human beings.

6. We will try to familiarise the children not only with the target language from a
functional point of view, but also as a means of cultural and social transmission.

7. We should organise contents around topics connected to the students interest.

8. The four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) should be integrated
through meaningful communicative activities.

Then, the General objectives of the foreign language area are designed according to
the principles we have just mentioned. As we will see, these objectives refer to the
development of the four linguistic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing),
and also to the use of linguistic and extralinguistic strategies and the knowledge of
sociocultural aspects, in order to get communicative competence in the foreign
language.
There are nine general objectives, expressed in form of interrelated abilities:
1. To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and
events, using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific
purposes.

2. To use the foreign language orally to communicate with the teacher and students in
common class activities and in communicative situations created for this purpose,
observing the basic rules of interpersonal communication, and adopting a respectful
attitude towards the contribution of others.

3. To produce short simple texts about topics that the students are familiar with
observing the basic writing rules.

4. To read and understand short simple texts related to class activities, to their
knowledge of the world and to their experiences and interests, with the purpose of
obtaining general and specific information as desired.

5. To recognise and appreciate the communicative value of foreign languages and their
ability to learn them, showing understanding and respectful attitude towards other
languages, their speakers and their culture.

6. To understand and use the linguistic and non-linguistic conventions used by the
foreign language speakers in common situations (greetings, farewells, introductions,
congratulations...) in order to make communication easier.

7. To use in foreign language learning, previous knowledge and experience with other
languages, developing autonomous learning strategies.

8. To establish relationships between meaning, pronunciation and graphic

representation of simple words and sentences in the foreign language, as well as
recognising the characteristic aspects of sound, rhythm and intonation in that foreign
language.

9. To use non-linguistic expressive resources (gestures, body language, sounds, pictures)

to understand and be understood when using a foreign language.

In order to develop the abilities expressed in these objectives, we should work on

CONTENTS that in our curriculum are classified into:

- Concepts
- Procedures
- Attitudes

Conceptual contents refer to facts, events, rules and principles.

Procedural contents refer to the strategies, abilities, techniques and skills necessary in the
learning process.
Attitudinal contents are concerned with behaviour and values.
These three kinds of contents are set in blocks:

- Oral communication uses and forms.

- Written communication uses and forms.
- Sociocultural aspects.

The CONTENTS OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE AREA are also designed around
communicative needs and situations. We have summarised the three blocks of contents,
which appear in the RD 1344/91 of the 6th of September, as follows:
A. ORAL COMMUNICATION USES AND FORMS:
a.1) Concepts:
Basic communicative needs and situations in the spoken form: greeting, identifying
oneself, giving and asking for information expressing needs and requests...
Characteristics of communicative situations:
Number and type of interlocutors.
Moment and place.
Formal or informal communication.
Vocabulary and structures needed to express basic communicative needs in the spoken
form.
Topics related to the interests of the students and wide notions:
Colours, numbers, time, daily life, food, animals, time, sports

a.2) Procedures.:
Recognising sounds, rhythm and intonation patterns of the foreign language.
General comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) about familiar
topics.
Specific comprehension of spoken messages (face to face or recorded) in
contextualised situations.
Producing oral messages to satisfy common communicative needs.
Participating in linguistic exchanges for specific play purposes (simulations, role-play).
Recognising and using basic common strategies (linguistic and non-linguistic) to
overcome communicative difficulties.
Recognising grammatical forms to ask questions, state, deny, express possession,
gender and number, quantify, express facts in present, past, future and using them
effectively for communication.

a.3) Attitudes:
Awareness of the importance of oral communication in a foreign languages
Willingness to speak a foreign language by participating in group activities (games,
group work, role, play).

B. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION USES AND FORMS:

b.1) Concepts:
Basic communicative needs and situations in the written form.
Characteristics of communicative situations.
Topics of general use and wide notions
The names of the letters in the foreign language and their correspondence with their
written form.
Relationship between meaning, of the vocabulary studied its pronunciation and its
graphic representation.

b.2) Procedures:
General comprehension of written messages related to class activities, and common
communicative needs.
Specific comprehension of simple authentic material.
Recognising in written texts grammatical structures used to request, state, deny,
express possession, gender and number, state, deny, using them effectively for
communication.
Producing short simple written texts in response to oral or written stimulus aimed at
different readers.

b.3) Attitudes:
Appreciating the importance of knowing how to read and write in the foreign language.

C. SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS:

c.1) Concepts:
Social and cultural aspects of the countries where the foreign language is spoken which
may be interesting for our pupils such as:
Expression and gestures that go with speaking, such as: polite gestures, tone of voice,
symbols
Aspects of every-day life: schedules, habits of children of this age, food.
Games, popular songs, favourite meeting places and sports in the countries whose
language is studied
Presence in Spain of the foreign language studied by means of: products,
labels, songs, films, TV programs...

c.2) Procedures:
Using rules of behaviour and habits of the foreign language speakers in context.
Comparing the most relevant aspects of everyday life in those countries with the
corresponding aspects of the students native country.
Using authentic materials from different sources close to the learners in order to obtain
specific information.

c.3) Attitudes:
Curiosity and respect for the most relevant aspects of everyday life in theses countries.
Appreciation of the sociolinguistic behaviour as a means to improve communication.
 Interest in getting to know people from other countries.

After the contents which should be taken into account to develop the abilities expressed in
the general objectives, the Royal Decree 1344/1991, presents nine ASSESSMENT
CRITERIA, which should be understood as a tool to check if students have got the
abilities expressed in the General Objectives. These assessment criteria refer to abilities,
but also make a little reference to contents as well as a brief explanation.

According to the R.D. 1344/91, the attainment of the general objectives of the foreign
language area, will be assessed in relation to the following criteria:

1.- To recognise and reproduce characteristic phonemes of the foreign language as well
as rhythm and intonation patterns in words and sentences used in real language
situations.

This criterion tries to check if students are familiar with the sounds, rhythm and intonation of
the foreign language in listening and speaking. The texts they should listen to or produce must
make sense and be in context.

2.- .-To grasp the overall meaning of oral texts emitted in face to face communicative
situations supported by gestures, and miming and any necessary repetitions in which
combinations of previously studied elements appears and which deal with topics that
the learners are familiar with.

This criterion considers the ability of students to understand the global meaning of oral text
in the best conditions, which imply: direct communication, contextual support and topics
related to their previous knowledge.

3.- To extract specific information, which has been previously studied, from oral texts
with a simple structure and vocabulary, which deal with topics that, are interesting and
familiar to the students.

This criterion checks the students ability to understand, not only the global message, but also
specific details from simple oral texts, which deal with topics that are familiar to them.

4.- To participate in short oral exchanges related to common classroom activities,

producing comprehensible discourse adapted to the characteristics of the situation and
to the communicative aim.
This criterion refers to the students ability to express basic communicative needs in the
context of the class such as: asking something, asking for something, asking for permission
to do something, asking for help, greeting... These messages should be expressed correctly
enough to be understood. (for example, they should use the correct expression to ask for
permission such as: Can I go to the toilet, please?, or Can I open the window/door?, Can I
borrow your pen, please?
5.- To participate in simulated communicative situations, which have been previously
studied in class using common social formulas correctly in the foreign language.

This criterion checks the students ability to communicate orally in the most basic situations
of daily life using social relation formulas, especially those which are typical of children of
this age, such as: How are you? Fine, thanks.
Happy birthday!
. Many happy returns...
Hello!/Hi!
5.- To grasp the general meaning and extract specific information from short written
texts, with a linear layout, and simple structures and vocabulary, which deal with
topics that are interesting and familiar to the student
This criterion refers to the students ability to understand short written texts from the teacher
or other students, such as: informal letters or instructions, public advertisements, charts and
other written texts with visual support such as simple comics for children.
.
6.- To read, with the help of the teacher or a dictionary simple books for children with
redundant visual support and written in foreign language, and showing the level of
comprehension attained by performing specific tasks.

With this criterion, we assess if the student is able to read simple books written in the foreign
language, but with pictures that help them to understand. Then they have to show us what
they have understood by means of verbal on non verbal task, which could be done even in the
students native language, as we want to check comprehension, not expression.

7.- To produce short comprehensible written texts that are adapted to the characteristics
of the situation and to the communicative aim and reflect to the subject matter studied
in class.

This criterion means that students should be able to write short simple messages, related to
their interests and needs, such as: the list of things they need for an excursion, a short letter
giving basic personal information about themselves, or an invitation to a birthday party.

8.- To recognise some sociocultural features of the communities of foreign language

speakers that are contained in the language samples studied in class.

Finally, this criterion is designed to check if students are able to recognise some sociocultural
elements of the countries where the foreign language is spoken, especially those related to the
daily life of children such as: schedules, habits, subjects at school, games, greetings, favourite
meeting places, popular songs, festivals, food...

3.-CRITERIA TO BE REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND IN THE

CURRICULAR PROJECT:
Once we have analysed the elements of the official curriculum, which corresponds to the
first level of concretion, we must deal with the documents that each center should design
in order to:

- Define their educational options and structure through the Educational Project.
- Adapt the different curricular elements to their context by means of the Curricular
Project.

3.1.- The Educational Project:

First, we will deal with the Educational Project, which is a document that must be
designed and approved by the entire School Community, through their representatives in
the School Board. According to the Royal Decree 82/1996 of the 26 th January, which
establishes the organic regulations of the Infant and Primary Schools, the Educational
Project consist of:

1.- The analysis of the sociocultural context of the center, which is the first step to
establish the following elements.(identity signs and educational objectives)

2.- The identity signs refer to those educational options that agree with the educational
ideas of the school community.

3.- Taking into account these identity signs, the school community should establish the
educational objectives as well as reviewing the general objectives of every stage
established in the official curriculum to adapt them to their context, and to the identity
signs of the centre.

4.- To get these aims, the school community has to define the organisational structure they
are going to adopt including:

- A general guideline about the relations of collaboration among the different members of
the school community, and also the relations with other institutions.

-The organisational structure of the school, that should be reflected in a document about
the distribution of tasks among the different organs of the school community and also the
internal rules of the center.

3.1.1.- Criteria to be reflected in the Educational Project in relation to

the foreign language area:
Now, we are going to see how the foreign language area could be reflected in the design
of the Educational Project, by means of a practical example.

1.- Regarding the school identity signs the teaching of a foreign language could be
considered by the School community as a means to promote:
- Respect for all the cultures
- Development of democratical habits.
- Autonomous learning.

2.- Taking into account the identity signs we have expressed, we could include the
following educational objectives:
- Promote the learning of a foreign language as a tool for social
development.
- Learning a foreign language as a tool for social development.
- Learning a foreign language and its culture to increase tolerance and
being open-minded.
- Enlarging the psychological development of children learning a new
language and its culture.

3.- After establishing the identity signs and the educational objectives, we have to take
some practical decisions about the organisational aspects that will make possible the
attainment of our objectives. Following with our example we can adopt the following
decisions:

- Establishment of interchanges with an English speaking country

- Establishment of relations with different institutions, such as the British
Council in order to obtain material.
- Contact with parents or relatives of students that have visited English-
speaking countries.
- Participation in official programs related to Foreign language learning,
such as the experimental teaching of English in Primary Education.

3.2.- The Curricular Project:

According to the R.D. 82/1996, the Curricular Project should include the following
elements:

- The general objectives of the stage adapted to the socio-cultural context of the
school.
- The sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the different
areas per cycle.
- General methodological decisions that affect the following aspects:
Methodological principles, groupings, space, time and materials.
- General decisions about the attention to pupils with special needs.

3.2.1. - Criteria to be reflected in the Curricular Project in relation to the foreign

language area:

Now, we are going to analyse how the foreign language area could be reflected in the
Curricular Project of the Stage. We are going to resort to an example, as we did when
talking about the Educational Project.
Once the general objectives of the stage have been adapted to the socio-cultural context
of the school, the teaching staff should take decisions about the sequence of objectives,
contents, and evaluation criteria of each area along the different cycles. Since the
establishment of this sequence is a difficult task, the Ministry of Education published a
Resolution of the 5th of March 1992, that offered some criteria to establish such
sequence.

In relation to the foreign language area, this Resolution says that:

1. We must establish the sequence of objectives, contents and assessment criteria,

according to the principles of the communicative approach. This means, that we
should develop the four linguistic skills in an interrelated way as they are in real
communication., and also connect the different skills with our students interests and
needs.

2.- To establish the sequence of objectives for the second and third cycles, we should
consider:
The psychological stage of development of children
Their previous knowledge
Their communicative needs
The degree in which the abilities expressed in the general objectives are
going to be developed in each cycle, For instance, starting from the objective
number one of the foreign language area:

To understand simple and oral written texts about known objects, situations and events,
using general and specific information taken from those texts for specific purposes.
 We can sequence the abilities expressed in this objective, for the second cycle of
Primary education, as follows:
At the end of the second cycle pupils will be able to understand the general meaning of simple
oral texts emitted by the teacher with a simple structure and vocabulary, in familiar contexts, and
with the help of gestures, mime and any necessary repetition

1. Regarding the SEQUENCE OF CONTENTS, the best way to promote the

development of communicative abilities is organising them around procedures. If we
decide to do it in this way, we should consider several criteria, to follow a logical
progression in the difficulty of such procedures. These criteria are defined according
to:
- The type of oral or written texts
- The channel
- The type of comprehension
- The interlocutor
- The level of correction

Now, we are going to explain these criteria in detail.:

- The type of oral or written texts

Here we must consider the length, vocabulary, the linguistic structures, and organisation of the
oral or written texts that we are going to use in class. Obviously, we must go from short simple
texts to more complex ones.

- The channel
As far as channel is concerned we should consider if the oral or written messages that our
students should understand or produce are going to be transmitted in a face to face
communicative situation, or by means of a cassette recording or a written text. In this sense, we
should start from face to face communication, because mime, gestures and expressions help pupils
to understand.

- The type of comprehension

The type of comprehension refers to the information we ask them to extract from an oral or
written message. This comprehension may be global ( if they should get the general sense of the
message) or specific (if they have to extract specific details). The most logical progression goes
from global to specific comprehension.

- The interlocutor
Regarding the interlocutor we should take into account if he/she is known or unknown for the
student, if he/she belongs to the school context or not. At the beginning we should work with close
interlocutors such as the teacher and the classmates.

- The level of correction

The level of correction deals with the demands about correction in the oral and written
production of students. Obviously such demands increase along the cycles. At the
beginning, they should produce language correctly enough to be understood.

3 .- Then, if we have decided to organise contents around procedures, we should not

forget that the three types of contents (concepts, procedures and attitudes) must be
considered in an interrelated way. Then we should relate them as in the following
example:
Recognising the characteristic sounds, rhythm and intonation patterns of the foreign
language, realising the importance of being able to communicate in a foreign language

To see this relation more clear, the Resolution of the 5th of March suggests that we can
display them in a chart, as follows

EXAMPLE OF SEQUENCE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SECOND CYCLE

Procedures Concepts Attitudes

-Characteristic sounds - Realising the importance of

-Rhythm and intonation oral communication in a
Recognising
foreign language.
patterns.
-Words and sentences in texts - Showing an optimistic
Identifying related to the context of the attitude towards their own
classroom and daily life ability to understand the
foreign language
- of messages with
the following
communicative
intentions:
*Greeting (hello!,good
morning...)
Global comprehension *Identifying oneself (I - Showing a receptive attitude
am. ,My name is...) towards people who speak a
*Giving and asking for different language.
basic personal
information (using
expressions such as:
Whats your name,
How old are you?...)
- These
communicative
functions should be
related to topics of
 general use and
wide notions,
which are
interesting for
children, such as:
*The school,
family, friends,
animals, body,
home, numbers,
colours...

- Of information - Showing a receptive attitude

Specific comprehension previously required towards people who speak a
in contextualised foreign language.
situations*

*For instance
, we ask children to fill a chart about the favourite sports of different characters
from the textbook. First, we tell them what they are going to listen to a conversation
where the characters talk about things they like and dislike and what information they
should pay attention to. Then, we play the cassette or read the text aloud and they
should complete the chart, with the specific information we have asked them for (sports,
in this case)
TENNIS BASKETBALL FOOTBALL

STEVIE yes yes no

LUCY yes no yes

ANNIE no yes no

As we can see this task ask them to extract specific information (about favourite sports),
previously required by the teacher, in a contextualised situation,( as they already recognise the
characters voices, and know what they are talking about).

If we do this with all the general objectives we will have a list of the contents of each
cycle including concepts procedures and attitudes.
These orientations are quite useful to establish the sequence of objectives, contents and
assessment criteria, in the second and third cycle, but we must not forget that English has
been introduced in the 1st cycle in our Autonomous Community. Then the Order of 30th
of August published by the Department of Education, Science and Technology of our
Autonomous Government says in its article number 3 that:
The centers must change and adapt their Curricular Project partially as the objectives,
contents and evaluation criteria of the foreign language area, should be sequenced for
three cycles, instead of two
Obviously, as we havent got our own curriculum yet, we must take as reference the
objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of the R.D. 1344/91 of the 6th of September,
which establishes the national curriculum for primary Education.

However, the Department of Education, Science and Technology of our Autonomous

Government, has published a document, made by foreign language teachers co-ordinated
by the Technical Inspection Service called English in the first cycle of Primary
Education. This document is not a law, it has been published just to help teachers.
Regarding the abilities, skills and contents which should be worked in this cycle this
document says that:

In the FIRST CYCLE:

- The most important skill in the first cycle should be listening.

- We must not force children to speak until they are ready to do it. Then at the
beginning they can show what they have understood by means of non-verbal actions
such as movements, gestures, drawing, cutting, pointing, colouring...

- Total Physical Response ( TPR) activities and songs are a good way to help them
link words and actions, and express themselves in English in a funny and meaningful
way.

- Written language should be avoided, especially in the first year of the cycle, because
they are learning to read and write in their native language and the complex English
spelling could be confusing for them.

- Contents should be taught by means of didactic units, organised around meaningful

topics as: Family, Friends, Christmas, Things of the classroom, The house, Food,
Toys, Clothes...

- Children must be already familiar with such topics in their native language. Then, the
co-ordination with the tutor-teacher is very important to establish the sequence of the
different didactic units along the cycle.
SECOND CYCLE:
According to the Resolution of the 5th of March, which establishes some principles for the
sequence of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria, during the 2nd cycle we must
consider that:

Listening is still the most important skill, and we must help children to:
Understand the global meaning of simple oral messages and extract specific information
previously required in contextualised situations.
- The oral messages they have to understand should present a simple structure
and vocabulary and deal with topics related to childrens interests and needs
(such as school, home, family, games, sports...)

As far as the development of speaking is concerned, pupils in the 2nd cycle must learn
simple linguistic structures, which can be applied to a great number of communicative
situations. These situations could be:

*Habitual communicative situations in the classroom such as: greeting,

identifying oneself, asking for permission, and asking for help.

* Situations created by the teacher to promote learning, such as: Identifying and
placing objects, people or places, expressing quantity, expressing likes and
dislikes, giving simple instructions... In these situations teachers should
promote pupils interest in oral communication by means of group activities
(simulations, games, and role-plays) where language is used with a
communicative aim

In spite of the importance given to oral language, the written code is also present in
the 2nd cycle from the first day. As far as reading is concerned, we should help students
to develop their reading abilities in the foreign language, working on words, short
sentences, class instructions, simple descriptions and very short stories, supported by
pictures.
Children must start just identifying the written form of words and sentences that they
already know in the oral form. Then, matching written words and sentences with pictures
is the typical reading activity at the beginning of the second cycle.

As far as writing is concerned, we must consider that at this age ( 8 to 10 years old) the
communicative needs related to writing are still very limited, even in their native
language. This implies that written texts in this cycle should consist of:

Very short descriptions

 Lists to perform tasks ( such as the list of things they need for a party, or a
shopping list)

Short messages between classmates (for example short orders in games: go to

the door, dance, stand on your chair, go to the left/right...)

Birthday cards, and invitations, Christmas cards...

Finally, socio-cultural contents in the 2nd cycle should refer to the daily life of children in
the English-speaking countries, including aspects such as: schedules, celebrations and
festivals, shops, traditional tales and songs.

IN THE THIRD CYCLE:

We must help students to go from comprehension to production. The development of

oral language is still the main objective. The oral texts they must understand in this
cycle will be more complex and longer than in the previous one, as children are already
familiar with the sounds of the foreign language, and they are able to use communicative
strategies to understand such as: listening for specific information or just to get the
general meaning of an oral text, predicting what they think may come next, inferring
opinion and attitude from the intonation of the speakers or deducing the meaning of new
words from context

The oral texts we must offer them must be also related to their interests and needs. For
example:

Descriptions of places or people.

Conversations between children about their daily life, hobbies, or opinions.
Fantastic situations based on traditional tales.

Regarding the oral productive skill (speaking) pupils in the third cycle are able to:

Use verbal and non verbal strategies to be understood (Verbal strategies could
be: using a word instead of another, replacing an specific word they dont
know for a more general one or explaining the meaning of a word they dont
know;
Non verbal strategies are: making gestures or sounds, drawing, or pointing to
objects, to solve communicative problems)
Use social relation formulas and expressions, which are used to satisfy basic
communicative needs such as greeting, congratulating, thanking, apologising,
introducing oneself.... In this cycle most children know what expression they
should use according to the communicative situation.
Then, by means to these abilities, they are able to participate in oral exchanges to express
their basic communicative needs in the context of the classroom or in real or simulated
contexts related to their daily life (dealing with topics such as: home, food, animals,
sports, holidays...) correctly enough to be understood.

Regarding WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, in the third cycle we must consider:

The development of intensive and extensive reading:

Intensive reading refers to understand every word of short texts (short

descriptions or stories, personal letters, advertisements or labels). Extensive
reading refers to get the global sense of longer texts, such as: tales, comics or
simple books for children with redundant visual support. To read this kind of texts
children can resort to the help of the teacher or the dictionary. The most important
thing in extensive reading is enjoying the texts.

Writing in this cycle will focus on the production of short simple texts in
response to oral or written stimulus, aimed at different readers and adapted to
the different communicative situations. These written texts will include: short
personal letters, descriptions and stories.

Finally socio- cultural contents in this cycle will deal with aspects related to daily life in
the English-speaking countries and also with other socio-cultural aspects of those
countries related to the students interests, for instance: cars, sport, famous people on pop
stars, cinema, environment, cities, famous buildings, sports...
Now, we are going to deal with the last decisions we must take in the curricular project:
the sequence of assessment criteria and the methodological options.

2. - The sequence of assessment criteria, depends on the sequence of objectives and

contents, since they establish the abilities that children should acquire at the end of the
Primary stage related to the contents they need to develop such abilities. Then,
according to the principles established for the sequence of objectives and contents, an
example of sequence of an evaluation criterion, taken from the curricular materials
known as Red Boxes ( Lenguas Extranjeras. Mec. 1992)

SECOND CYCLE THIRD CYCLE

3.- To identify simple details,
previously required from oral
texts related to topics which
have been studied in class,
and perform simple
instructions given by the
teacher in the context of the
classroom.
3.-- To extract specific
information previously
required from oral texts, with
a simple structure and
vocabulary, which deal with
topics which are interesting
and familiar for students
( daily life, likes and dislikes,
opinions and personal
experiences...)

Finally, THE LAST ELEMENT OF THE CURRICULAR PROJECT, that we are going
to consider, is the definition of the General Methodological Options we are going to
take into account . To define such options we must follow the recommendations of the
Royal decree 1344/1991, 6th September, which establishes the basic requirements for
Primary Education, and also the methodological principles established for the Primary
Stage in general, and particularly those principles established for the foreign language
area . As we have seen when talking about the different curricular elements, the main
aim of teaching a foreign language in Primary Education will be getting students to
communicate in such foreign language.

Then, grouping, space and time must be understood in a flexible way to

allow students to participate in real communicative interactions.

As far as materials is concerned, they should promote activity on the part of

students as well as being visual, attractive and as authentic as possible.

We also should pay attention to diversity, designing activities in which

everyone could participate according to his/her abilities.

And finally, according to this kind of methodology, assessment should be

used as a tool to improve the learningteaching process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
- Ley Orgnica 1/1990, de 3 de octubre de Ordenacin General del Sistema Educativo.
- RD 1344/1991 de 6 de septiembre, por el que se establece el currculo de la Educacin
Primaria.
- RD 82/1996, de 26 de enero que establece el Reglamento Orgnico de las Escuelas de
Educacin infantil y colegios de Educacin primaria.
- Resolucin de 5 de marzo de 1992, de la Secretaria de Estado para la Educacin, que
regula la elaboracin de proyectos curriculares y establece orientaciones para la
distribucin de objetivos, contenidos y criterios de evaluacin.
- Orden del 30 de agosto de 2000, por la que se establece y regula la imparticin de la
lengua extranjera en el primer ciclo de Educacin primaria, en el mbito de la
Comunidad Autnoma de Extremadura.
- MEC: Materiales para la Reforma, area de lengua extranjera. Madrid. Servicio de
publicaciones del MEC. 1991.
- MEC. Proyecto Curricular. Materiales para la reforma. Madrid. Servicio de
publicaciones del MEC, 1991.
- Brewster, Ellis and Girard. The primary English Teachers Guide. London. Penguin.
1992.