1 Autoridades Sonia Marta Mora Escalante Ministra de Educación Pública Alicia E. Vargas Porras Viceministra Académica de Educación Anabelle Venegas Fernández Directora de la Dirección de Desarrollo Curricular Rigoberto Corrales Zúñiga Jefe del Departamento de Tercer Ciclo y Educación 2 Comisión redactora Marianella Granados Sirias, Asesora Nacional de Inglés Departamento de Tercer Ciclo y Educación Diversificada Alfredo Ortega Cordero, Asesor Nacional de Inglés Departamento de Tercer Ciclo y Educación Diversificada Docentes de Inglés de Tercer Ciclo y Educación Diversificada Erika Barrantes Villalobos, Docente Colegio Tecnico Profesional Invu Las Cañas Christian Corrales Solórzano, Docente Colegio Tecnico Profesional Invu Las Cañas María José Espinoza Castro, Docente Instituto de Alajuela Gretchen Rojas Alvarado, Docente Colegio Tecnico Profesional Jesús Ocaña Cindy Saborío Rodríguez, Docente Colegio Tecnico Profesional Santa Eulalia 3 Eder Zamora Lizano, Docente Liceo Pacto del Jocote Peace Corps Volunteers Joan Nelson Zora Middleton Dominique Crisden U.S. English Language Fellows Program Chelsy Albertson, Philological Revision 4 Forward letter to the teachers Dear Teacher, This module focuses on supporting you as facilitators as you help your colleagues in the process of understanding and implementing the new English syllabus. Thank you for your commitment to the goal of transforming English Classrooms across Costa Rica through Action-Oriented Teaching and Learning. This document contains a range of resources and key elements to assist you in collaborative environments as you make your way through the four following stages (proposed by Patrick Moran, a respected authority in language teacher education): * Knowing about--by understanding the concepts and principles of the curricular English teaching and learning reform. * Knowing why--by internalizing the purpose of the English reform as a response to contributing to the formation of the new citizen the country requires. * Knowing how--by developing and implementing the action-oriented learning tasks when designing lesson plans, assessment instruments and follow up actions to best serve learners. * Knowing oneself--by reflecting upon and reviewing your personal beliefs and teaching practices. In conjunction with the materials in this module, we are encouraging you to build partnerships with other colleagues and to contextualize the material and ideas given according to your students needs and context. Furthermore, we invite you to develop your knowledge and skills as lifelong learners to improve mediation practices and to build confidence and motivation to teach. To assist you with this ongoing process, we will continue to develop and provide online digital resources and professional development opportunities. Asesoría Nacional de Inglés Departamento de Tercer Ciclo y Educación Diversificada 5 Table of Contents Forward letter to the teachers......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Summary of the Syllabus Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 The Learner as a New Citizen ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 What are the legal underpinnings and how are they related to language teaching and learning? .......................................................................................................................... 10 Which pedagogical trends influence the teaching practices? ................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Costa Rican general descriptors according to CEFR English proficiency bands .................................................................................................................................................... 13 The Action-Oriented Approach ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 16 Competence ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 General competences .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Basic Principles of the Action-Oriented Approach ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Communicative competence .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 How are lessons planned? ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Didactic Planning for Secondary ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Third Cycle and Diversified Education ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 Classroom Setting in the Action Oriented Approach ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Phonological Competence and the Use of RAP ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 27 How is learning assessed? ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 29 What is the teacher’s profile to implement this new curriculum? ................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Distribution of Scenarios Acedemic and Technical Diversified Education ............................................................................................................................................... 37 Sequence of Scenarios and themes in Third Cycle and Diversified Education ........................................................................................................................................ 38 Eighth Grade Exit Profile .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Eighth Grade Distribution of Domains and Scenarios by Term .................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Sample Weekly Plans and Materials for ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Units 1-6 for Eighth Grade ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 44 6 Summary of the Syllabus Theoretical Framework Introduction: Why a new English Curriculum? 1. Learners need an updated curriculum that reflects the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to succeed in the information age as 21st century learners. 2. Pre-school, elementary, and secondary school´s curriculum required an update in order to have more pertinent target content. 3. Learners who receive English lessons in elementary and high schools are not reaching the expected English proficiency levels after eleven or twelve years of instruction. 4. Citizens need to possess a number of competences to communicate effectively in the global context and to face the challenges of an interconnected world. Purpura (2016)