Advanced English 1 Course Description

Advanced English 1 Course Description

Advanced English 1 –Course Description –

Overview

Advanced English 1 (B2) is an advanced course of general English for adults both academic and non-academic settings, who are continuing on from the level of English presented in Everyday English 3 (B1).

Content Overview

Standards and Language Level

Standards

Advanced English 1 will be designed to meet the following standards:

  1. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
  2. 21st Century Skills including mastery of skills related to:
  3. Critical Thinking
  4. Basic Communication
  5. Community Resources
  6. Health
  7. Consumer Economics
  8. Learning and Thinking
Language Level

Advanced English 1has been developed at CEFR Level B2.

Vocabulary Profiling and Word Lists

Vocabulary and textshave beenreviewed for both general vocabulary and academic vocabulary levels. For academic vocabulary, there is a focus on thefirst five sublists and word families of the Coxhead Academic Word List (AWL). For general vocabulary, there is a focus on first 3000 words of accepted frequency lists.

Course Structure

The course containseightModules, each with seven Situations. The Modules are theme-based. Themes cover a range of topics of interest to the target audience, reflecting diverse disciplinary areas. Situations 1-5 for each theme are skill-focused, and incorporate a sub-topic of the general Module theme. Situations 6 and 7 are focused on review and consolidation.

Module Themes

Advanced English 1 will contain the followingeight modules:

  1. Community
  2. Career Trends
  3. Home Sweet Home
  4. New and Improved
  5. Clean and ‘Green’
  6. Finance Matters
  7. Safe and Sound
  8. Living Art
Situation Focus

Each module has the exact same structure. The skill focus is as follows:

  1. Situation 1: Introduction to the Theme
  2. Situation 2: Reading
  3. Situation 3: Listening
  4. Situation 4: Language Use
  5. Situation 5: Writing
  6. Situation 6: Sum It Up (Review)
  7. Situation 7: Put It Together (Review with focus on consolidation and higher order thinking skills)
Strategies

At this language level, it is important for students to begin to not only use language strategies, but to become metacognitively aware of their use. Situations 2, 3, 4, 5 of each Module focus on a language strategy for the particular skill of the Situation. For each strategy, there is a description of the strategy, examples of the strategy in use, and tips. The strategies are practiced in the activities following the text of the Situation.

  • Reading Strategiesinclude: reading for main idea and specific details, scanning, comparison and contrast, paraphrasing, and cause and effect.
  • Listening Strategiesinclude: listening for gist and specific details, identifying speaker attitude, and identifying audience and purpose.
  • Language Use Strategiesinclude both the grammar topics and functional language necessary for: emphasizing, giving and receiving advice, talking about desires, preferences and priorities, and expressing strong reactions.
  • Writing Strategiesinclude: using descriptive language, writing a narrative account, writing an opinion essay, and comparing and contrasting.

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In-Class Lessons

In-class lessons in Advanced English assume both teacher presentation and collaborative work on the part of students; they are generally not suitable for independent study.

Module / Activity Type / Activity Overview
  1. Community
/ Communication / Discussing community facilities and their uses in the community or the institution/school
Reading / Reading about civic organizations and public service groups in the community
Writing / Writing a short paragraph for school/community newsletter about a community event (focus on main idea/supporting details)
Grammar / Mixed Tenses
  1. Career Paths
/ Communication / Interviewing for jobs
Reading / Reading and interpreting charts and graphs of career trends
Writing / Writing resumes and cover letters
Grammar / Mixed Conditionals
  1. No Place Like Home
/ Communication / Selecting appropriate housing
Reading / Reading rental documents/loans/insurance
Writing / Comparing and contrasting homes – recommending the right kind of home for someone
Grammar / Passive
  1. New and Improved
/ Communication / Making recommendations – recommending gadgets that work
Reading / User manuals for a new appliance
Writing / Writing an email describing a new invention/gadget
Grammar / Reported Speech
  1. Finance Matters
/ Communication / Role plays at banking/financial institutions (asking for a loan/opening a bank account/etc.)
Reading / Reading and understanding bank statements and credit card statements
Writing / Filling in forms – bank forms, credit applications, etc.
Grammar / Relative Clauses
  1. Clean and Green
/ Communication / Rainbow debate about recycling (initial proposition, background info, sentence starters for pros and cons) (language use strategy: expressing strong reactions)
Reading / Pamphlet from green organization about community problems and recommended solutions
Writing / Narrative of the greening of my life (focus on all strategies of the module)
Grammar / Gerunds and Infinitives
  1. Arts in Different Cultures
/ Communication / Group presentations: art forms in your country
Reading / “The Blanket” – literary features of a short story? Dealing with age in different cultures?
Writing / Review of some art form
Grammar / Causatives
  1. Safe and Sound
/ Communication / Discussions: preparing for a disaster
Reading / First aid procedures (manual)
Writing / Writing a narrative retelling the story of coping with a natural disaster/disaster/accident
Grammar / Conjunctions

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