1. INTRODUCTION
The present document is a syllabus designed for the academic year 2017-2018 and contains a specific
methodology, summarizing procedures which could be taken into consideration for the teaching task.
It includes contents and competences, as well as objectives to be achieved by students, and finally,
evaluation criteria. It considers the development of the curriculum in accordance with the following
legal documents:
Law 8/2013, of December 9, the Organic Law on the
Improvement of the Quality of Education
which establishes the requirements of the educative system in Spain. It defines
the curriculum as the regulation of the elements that determine the teaching-
learning processes for each of the teaching areas and stages in Education.
Crown Decree 1105/2014, of December 26
which establishes the basic curriculum in Compulsory Secondary Education and
Post-Compulsory Secondary Education.
Order 65/2015, of January 21
which describes relations between competences, contents and evaluation criteria
in Primary Education, Secondary Education and Post-Compulsory Secondary
Education.
Decree 111/2016, of June 14
which establishes the organization and the curriculum of Compulsory Secondary
Education in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia.
The Order of July 14, 2016
which develops the curriculum of Compulsory Secondary Education in the
Autonomous Region of Andalusia, as well as regulates aspects of attention to
diversity, and organizes evaluation of the learning process of students.
Law 17 on Education for Andalusia 2007 (LEA)
Teaching a foreign language (especially English) has become essential in the Spanish school
curriculum to fulfill the communicative demands posed by living in a community where a variety of
languages is spoken: the European Union. According to the Organic Law, knowledge and fluency in
a second language is an increasing social necessity. The study of English should provide the
necessary tools to be able to express oneself outside of the classroom, in daily life. Therefore, it is
important to learn English from a practical approach to teach how to communicate with people from
other countries. The role of foreign languages with regard to integration in the European community
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,is determined by means of communicating and also by understanding the cultural implications of
learning such language. Thus, the perspective adopted in this syllabus is focused on developing
receptive attitudes towards foreign cultures, as well as acquiring a communicative competence, in
line with the common reference for teaching foreign languages established by the European Council.
2. SOCIOEDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
This program is addressed to students in a public secondary school, located in a small urban
neighborhood in a city in Seville, where relatively few incidents occur. It is close to the city center
and well communicated with shops, public transports and supermarkets. It is mainly formed by
working class families of medium socioeconomic status. Most of the students’ parents work as
professionals, civil servants, administrators, teachers, etc. Despite the fact that the neighborhood is
not a troublesome one and the secondary school is not a problematic center, in general terms, quite
close by there is a conflictive low class area in the surroundings, home to most of the few disruptive
students in the school. Some of them are underage students living in a juvenile detention center;
others rarely attend classes either because they skip them or because they are expelled for their
aggressive behavior.
The center is a well-equipped school. It consists of a main building with three floors. All classes are
furnished with a Promethean interactive digital board and a marker board at the front of the
classroom and a traditional chalkboard at the back. There is also a computer with access to internet
on the teacher’s desk, connected to the digital whiteboard by means of a projector. The school has an
agreement with the area’s Leisure and Sports Club to be able to use their indoor multi-purpose room
when the weather conditions are unfavorable to hold events in the outdoor patio of the school. For
instance, for plays or special events requiring a large space with a stage, as performances held to
celebrate World Peace Day.
As a secondary school catering for diversity, it offers great facilities for disabled students: there are
two Pedagogy Therapists (PT) who attend the necessities of such students, an elevator, ramps and a
physiotherapist. Coordination among teachers and PTs is essential to ensure the best possible
education is provided to the students, hence the staff gathers once a week to talk about potential
problems and solutions. Furthermore, another concern of the school is treating all individuals in the
same way and constructing a peaceful environment, which is why it follows a Plan for Sexual
Equality and the My School a Place for Peace project. A Library Plan is also in the school’s
education program, to promote reading among students. Lastly, the department of foreign languages
is part of an E-twinning project to build a sense of community within the European Union by means
of communication in a different language.
In this center, two stages of studies are taught: the first stage corresponds to studies of Compulsory
Secondary Education (CSE), which is composed by four courses. As regards the second stage, it
comprises two courses of Post-Compulsory Education studies, with the modalities of Social Science
and Sciences and Humanities. The school also has an association, which holds meetings one evening
a week with the students’ parents, to keep them informed about their children’s progress, upcoming
events and activities, news regarding the school, etc. Generally, most parents show interest in their
children’s education and come to the meetings whenever possible. Private parent-tutor reunions are
also possible if any parent requests them.
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, 3. ANALYSIS OF THE GROUP
The students for whom this teaching program is designed belong to the 2nd year of Compulsory
Secondary Education. Students in this first cycle of CSE are between 13 and 14 years old, which is
a rather difficult age as regards the physical and psychological changes they undergo during this
period of adolescence. As far as their knowledge of the language is concerned, the majority have a
high level of English and very good marks, considering some go to an English academy in the
afternoon. If needed, fast finishers are given extension worksheets to complete. However, others
have a quite basic level and therefore need reinforcement sheets to work on instead. There are three
students who failed the subject in the previous year and will be provided with extra material to pass
the subject in the present course. Although working with a mixed-ability group may be quite a
challenge, all learning styles and necessities try to be catered for as best as possible.
English is a compulsory subject in this year and is taught three days a week in sessions of one hour
each. All students in this group are Spanish, expect for one female student who is Portuguese
(although she speaks Spanish perfectly and has been living in this country for several years). She is
without a doubt one of the most noticeable ones of this group in terms of behavior. Her rebellious
attitude reflects a difficult upbringing and results from family issues she has confronted throughout
her life. In the previous year, she is said to have had various episodes of attempt to commit suicide or
hurt herself, even in the classroom with sharp items. This student does not have any type of
Curricular Adaptation, although she is under medical treatment at a psychiatric center. Many days a
week, she brings doctor’s notes to justify her absence. However, she is able to keep up with the level
of the class in general. Another conflictive student in this group is 17 years old and is resitting this
course for the third and last possible time. He is one of the aforementioned pupils who lives in a
juvenile center, as he threatened to stab his mother. Since he is turning 18 this course, education will
no longer be obligatory for him according to the law and he will most likely abandon school.
On the other hand, there are two students who do have a Non-Significant Curricular Adaptation,
as one is diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and the other is visually
impaired. These two students require a special help from their teachers and Guidance Department
with regard to the methodology used for them and the organization of non-basic curricular elements.
They sometimes need a particular exam adapted for them with a lower level, according to the
difficulty of the topic for them.
4. CURRICULAR DEVELOPMENT
4.1. OBJECTIVES
Objectives or Goals are referents for the evaluation of capacities; hence, they can be defined as
capacities to be developed at the end of the learning process by studying a foreign language. They
are assessed by considering evaluation criteria (references of the capacities expressed in the
objectives to evaluate) and by considering key competences – and their corresponding subject
profiles – as practical capacities that together with curricular capacities must be assessed at the end
of each year and each stage. They must also be considered in any standard as the observable and
evaluable realizations of criteria. In other words, standards are used to evaluate capacities, and at the
same time, objectives are evaluated through criteria. We can distinguish two types of objectives:
stage and subject.
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, Using readers both in the classroom and at home to develop reading
Subject Goal: 41 Working on inferring particular details from oral texts that are
skills. Using digital media to search for information on the Internet.
StageGoals:
Stage Goals:b,b,c,c,e,g,g,i,i,j,j,k,k,l l reproduced, e.g. specific information on personality of two speakers
Not only books, but magazines, posters, flashcards and various are
(unit 1), distinct abilities of animals in a documentary (unit 5).
used in the class.
Producing different types of writings, e.g. an email (units 1 and 10),
Subject Goal: 5 Expressing oneself orally by means of role-play and dialogue
Subject Goal: 2 a review (unit 2), a survey (unit 2), a blog entry (unit 4), a letter of
Stage Goals: a, b, c, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, activities (units 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) and presentations in class
Stage Goals: a, b,A c,Ad, e, g, i , j, k, l suggestion (unit 5), a biography (unit 6), a narrative (unit 7), a text
a ,b (individually in unit 1 and in groups in units 5, 7, 10, 12).
message (unit 9), a Facebook status (unit 11), a report (unit 12).
Working on texts of different topics, completing exercises with
information
Being extracted
in contact fromvarieties
with two them. Forof instance,
the Englishfilling in yes/no
language
Subject Goal: 36
questions (unit
(American and 2)British),
or doingso aasjigsaw readingtoactivity
for students be able to foment
recognizepair
Stage
StageGoals:
Goals:b,b,c,c,e,e,g,g,i,h,j, i,k,j l
workdistinguish
and (unit 3). Also,
theirusing
main digital
features.texts and learning to do selective
reading for projects.
STAGE OBJECTIVES
For Compulsory Secondary Education, they are found in Article 11 of CD 1105/2014 and in Article
4 of Decree 111/2016. The assessment of their acquisition is to be done through standards and
evaluation criteria, which is why they are integrated with the latter, as shown in the table in Chapter
10 of this syllabus. Article 3 in Decree 111/2016 adds two more objectives related to the reality of
Andalusia, represented below as aA and bA.
SUBJECT OBJECTIVES
These goals refer to linguistic capacities of the English subject. These fourteen capacities are
included in Annex I of the Order of 14th July, 2016 and are intended to be developed in the teaching
of the foreign language. Below there is a description of what will be worked on to achieve each goal
and the connection of stage objectives with subject goals.
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, Subject Goal: 7 Activities promoting autonomy and initiative are favored in
this syllabus, as well as self-reflecting tasks to consider the
Stage Goals: a, b, e, f, g, h, i, j, aA,
learning process. Comparisons with the Spanish language
bA
are also established.
Role-plays are useful to encourage respecting others and
Subject Goal: 8 rejecting any type of phobia, such as the final task of unit 3
Stage Goals: a, c, d, i, j, k in which students adopt the roles of foreigners they have
met at their school.
The interactive whiteboard is used daily, for the correction
Subject Goal: 9 of exercises, videos (music video in unit 8), games… and
the use of computers and internet is required for completing
Stage Goals: b, e, g, i some tasks (both in class and at home), e.g. slideshow
presentations (units 10 and 12).
Real life situations simulated in the classroom so students
can apply their knowledge of the language to different
Subject Goal: 10 contexts, e.g. ordering at a restaurant (unit 9) or meeting
Stage Goals: a, b, c, d, e, g, i, j, k students from a foreign country (unit 3). English is used as a
tool for communication in units 1 and 10 to communicate
with others via e-mail.
Some tasks in this program involve searching for
Subject Goal: 11 information in English to learn about and extract new
Stage Goals: a, b, e, f g, i, j, k, l information, e.g. about an important figure in the History of
English who made a special contribution (unit 6).
All role-play activities serve to incite students to use their
Subject Goal: 12 imagination as they invent the dialogues. In addition, their
creativity is developed with tasks such as the final one in
Stage Goals: b, e, f, g, i, j, l unit 5 (where they create an art gallery) and the second final
term task in unit 8 (they make a Wall of Fame).
Elements from the Andalusian culture are present in all
Subject Goal: 13 teaching units, as students establish relations with the
Stage Goals: a, c, h, i, j, l English one and contrast differences, e.g. ways of
celebrating Halloween in each culture (unit 2).
Valuing the importance of tourism especially in unit 9,
Subject Goal: 14 where students have to create a menu for their new
Stage Goals: a, b, c, d, h, i, j, l, aA, restaurant, and in unit 3, which deals with nationalities and
bA how they can be contrasted with their own, and establishing
social relations with foreigners (transmission of culture).
Being in contact with two varieties
of the English language (American 5
and British), so as for students to be
able to recognize and distinguish
their main features.
