FOUNDATION SCHOOL

Can-do statements Level A1

Course Description

Level A1 is a beginner course intended to provide students with a foundation from which theycan advance from A1 Breakthrough to A2 Way-stage on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It is a seven-week module course with 22 hours of instruction each week.

Course Goal

The course aims at helping learners to achieve an overall English language proficiency of Beginner Basic User defined as A1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), developing “generative language use” to interact in a simple way and ask and answer simple questions

Course Objectives

The course is intended to accomplish its goal in one full academic module of seven weeks through developing students’ language skills to:

1. Read and understand basic expressions and short, simple texts. (READING)
2. Understand phrases and expressions related to areas of most immediate priority, provided speech is very slowly and clearly articulated. (LISTENING COMPREHENSION).
3. Engage in oral communications in very familiar situations, providing and obtaining essential information in simple mainly isolated phrases and sentences. (SPEAKING)
4. Write basic, simple sentences about people and places. (WRITING)
5. Demonstrate limited control of basic vocabulary and essential grammatical structures.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are descriptions of what students will know or be able to do with the language as a result of instruction. A student learning outcome is written in termsof observable and measurable language skills. The table below lists the SLOs according to their Macro Skills

Speaking

• Can establish basic social contact by using simple polite forms of greeting, introduction & farewell in very familiar situations. 
• Can ask and answer simple questions about name when spoken to in slow, clearly articulated speech.
• Can understand and respond to questions about words for objects and their spelling.
• Can say the numbers from one to thirty.
• Can ask and answer simple questions about himself/herself and other people, where they live, what they do/have & family.
• Can describe in a very basic way* objects, people, cities, food and drink, the weather, etc.
• Can make and respond to simple requests and offers in very familiar situations** using a limited range of very basic expressions.***
• Can say all the letters of the alphabet and spell aloud names and addresses.
• Can describe his/ her and others’ routines, likes and dislikes.
• Can express, check and confirm numbers, quantities and prices in very basic everyday conversations.
• Can express, check and confirm time of day (using numbers 1-12 and the words o’clock, fifteen, thirty, forty five) in very basic everyday conversations.
• Can say simple sentences to describe a room or place using there is/are, some/any and prepositions of place
• Can ask and answer questions about when and where he/she and other people were born and where they were at particular times in the past.(including dates)
• Can ask and answer questions about his/her and others’ ability to do things.

         o *Using simple adjective + noun or pronoun + adjective in a simple sentence

         o **in class, cafes, shops

         o ***Can I have…Can I + verb; noun (desired object) + please to order something

Listening

• Can record significant details (e.g. names, places, numbers, dates, prices, and time) from speech which is very slow and carefully articulated, with long pauses to assimilate meaning.
• Can follow a short listening text about familiar topics**** which contains familiar words and phrases*, delivered in slow, carefully articulated, repeated speech.
• Can follow simple instructions and directions to places on a map when speech is slow and contains a limited number* of familiar words and phrases.

Reading

• Can understand a very short simple text** about someone, picking out key personal information (e.g. name, job, family, likes and dislikes, and leisure time activities).
• Can get the main idea of the content of a paragraph and short simple descriptions, with visual support.
• Can read and understand short, simple informational material by identification and comprehension of familiar words and phrases*.

Writing

• Can write very short, simple sentences ** giving personal details about himself/ herself or people they know, using appropriate punctuation and capitalization.
• Can spell familiar words* with 80% accuracy (i.e. where mistakes occur, only one letter is incorrect/missing and intelligibility is not affected).
• Can write short simple sentences to describe a village, town or city.
• Can fill in a very basic form with personal information and dates.
• Can write short simple sentences about their own and others’ daily routines and what they like/dislike.
• Can produce drafts and a revised final draft of a series of simple sentences giving basic personal information.
• Can begin the process of planning writing by generating ideas on a very familiar topic through free writing.
• Can revise writing by understanding and implementing peer and instructor feedback and by checking own writing for capitalization, full stops and verb to be mistakes

Vocabulary and Grammar

• Can demonstrate limited control of the present form of verb to be.)
• Can demonstrate limited control of indefinite articles with familiar words*.
• Can demonstrate understanding and use of basic adverbs of frequency and prepositions of time.
• Can use Wh-question words appropriately to make questions using high frequency verbs such as live, want, eat, sit, have, speak, give, and watch with limited control.
• Can ask and answer questions about and refer to specific objects and people using this and that and subject, object and possessive pronouns
• Can recognize and say a limited number* of words for places in a town or city..