Syllabus Information

1.1. Introduction

The main objective of this course is that the students should improve their oral and written communication skills in English, consolidating an intermediate level of competence, especially their oral skills, by improving pronunciation and interaction with other speakers, while reflecting on classroom practices, processes and strategies that contribute to improving the learning of a foreign language and to developing a specific knowledge of the English language in the professional field of Education.

1.2. Recommendations to take this course

It is recommended to participate in activities of oral interaction, listening comprehension, written production and reading comprehension that are proposed both inside and outside the classroom and which correspond to an intermediate level of competence, as well as in the processes of reflection on one’s own learning and metacognition strategies.

1.3. Context and importance of this course in the degree

Graduates in Early Childhood Education should be proficient in a foreign language, written and especially spoken. Given the supremacy of English in the academic and professional spheres, the students’ ability to communicate and to learn in this language is a key factor in their future working lives.

2.1. Learning goals

1. Comprehend ideas and details of spoken speech and interact appropriately in English on topics related to their specialty.
2. Understand globally and in detail, and deduce some of the information as well as opinions, attitudes and communicative purposes when reading different types of texts written in English on topics related to Early Childhood Education.

3. Express, with ease and clarity, aspects related to the contents of the course with an intelligible pronunciation and making use of correct and appropriate language according to the communicative situation.
4. Express themselves orally and interact with other English-speaking interlocutors on topics of relevance to the Early Childhood teacher.
5. Produce different types of written texts such as messages, short stories or anecdotes in English, with acceptable degrees of textual correctness and coherence.
6. Identify, describe and evaluate classroom practices (procedures, techniques and methodological resources and didactic sequences)

2.2. Importance of learning goals

The future teachers of children will be an important model of spoken English for many schoolchildren, and their speech the first means of communication with them. Society demands highly competent teachers in a second language, able to use it in the classroom as a vehicle of communication and also to teach different subjects and contribute to the improvement of the quality of education.

3.1. Aims of the course

Since the main objective of this subject is that the students improve their communicative competence, especially oral, in the foreign language.

3.2. Competences

Students will be more competent to ...
Express themselves orally and in writing in a foreign language.

Effectively address situations of language learning in multicultural and multilingual contexts.

Reflect on classroom practices to innovate and improve teaching.

Acquire habits and skills for autonomous and cooperative learning and promote it among future students.

Be involved in their learning and in their work.

Work in teams, being able to exercise different roles within the group.

Use and apply information and communication technologies (ICT) to learn, communicate and share knowledge in different contexts.

Organize their own continuous learning and motivate the improvement of quality.

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

Written test
Reading comprehension activities (15%)
Listening comprehension activities (15%)
Activities of written expression (15%)

Activities of use of the foreign language or use of English (15%)
Analysis and evaluation of classroom practices and skills development and strategies (10%)

Oral test
Expression and oral interaction activities (30%). Please note: being an individualized test, is performed at different dates and times from those of the written test, for organizational reasons.

1. Written test:
 a. Reading comprehension activities (15%)
b.  Listening comprehension activities (15%)
c. Writing activities (15%)
d. Activities of use of the foreign language or use of English (15%)
 e. Activities of analysis and evaluation of classroom practices and development of skills and strategies (10%)

In reflection activities on classroom practices, the student should be able to identify, describe and evaluate procedures, techniques and methodological resources used in the classroom, as well as processes and strategies that lead to the development of communicative competence in English as Foreign language, using metalanguage in an appropriate manner.
In oral and written comprehension activities, the student should be able to comprehend messages on specific topics in the field of Education and teaching of foreign languages, in a comprehensive manner and taking into account the details, in varied communicative situations.
In the activities of written production and oral interaction, the student should be able to produce messages on subjects of the specialty, with linguistic correction, and a certain degree of creativity and complexity, taking into account the specific communicative context.
In Use of English, the student must demonstrate a competence equivalent to a consolidated intermediate level, in specific vocabulary in the field of Education as well as lexical-grammatical and discursive structures, together with pronunciation.

Qualification criteria and requirements to pass the subject:

 For the instrumental nature of the subject the levels of demand are as follows:
To pass the subject it will be necessary for the student to obtain, in the sum total of the different activities, a score equal to or greater than 60% of the maximum score, as well as a score equal to or greater than 50% of the maximum score in each one of the groups of activities (corresponding to the different skills and the use of English).
In the case of obtaining a score lower than 50% in one of the activity groups (i.e., in some of the skills or use of English) or a total score lower than 60%, it will mean that the student has not reached the minimum level of requirement and, therefore, will not have passed the subject.
When you pass one of the two tests (written or oral) with at least 60% of the maximum grade in first call, it is not necessary to do it again in second call.

To calculate the student's final grade, the following formula will be applied: If we call N to the grade of 10 obtained in the sum of the two tests and CF to the final grade of the subject, the latter is obtained from the first using the following formula: - If N is less than 6, CF = N * 5/6 - If N is greater than or equal to 6, CF = (N-6) * 5/4 + 5

In second call the tests and the percentages are the same as in the first one, but the student will have to take only the test that was not passed in first call, conserving the obtained qualification in the other test.

In fifth and sixth call the tests and the percentages are the same as in the rest of the calls. The tests will be evaluated by the corresponding examining board.

5.1. Methodological overview

The learning process that has been designed for this subject is based on the following:

- The principles of the Communicative Approach that proposes attention to the development of the student's communicative competence from a multiple perspective: discursive, grammatical, pragmatic, strategic and intercultural and with a learner-centered orientation that makes learners aware of their own learning process.
- The task-based approach, such that students must perform tasks using the language for a given communicative purpose and working collaboratively and cooperatively in groups in which students acquire specific roles and responsibilities
- The use of authentic materials that are relevant and meaningful to Education students.
- The use of technology inside and outside the classroom as a motivating element for students and to promote autonomy in learning a foreign language
- Autonomous learning guided in the development of linguistic competence outside the classroom (flipped learning)
- The development of thinking skills to promote a deep and meaningful learning of the language and of the specific themes developed.

5.2. Learning tasks

1. Oral and written practice of the language through the integration of the skills and the use of the language with a clear communicative purpose for the resolution of significant and relevant tasks for Education students.
2. Extensive reading outside the classroom and intensive reading in the classroom to develop effective reading strategies
3. Viewing of video sequences and audio listening for comprehension and analysis.
4. Activities focused on the recognition, identification or discrimination of segmental and suprasegmental features of the English language, as well as controlled and guided oral production activities to improve pronunciation, ensuring the intelligibility of the students’ oral discourse.
5. Activities that integrate reading and writing for the recognition and correct use of mechanisms of textual cohesion and discursive structure.
6. Use of role-playing games and simulation activities.
7. Debates and presentations for oral practice.
8. Writing using models and guides. Writing as a collaborative activity. Writing as a cognitive process.
9. Production of creative writing (stories, rhymes, poems).
10. Self-evaluation and peer review activities through checklists.

5.3. Syllabus

1. Early Childhood: the child’s mind and development.

2. Infants’ health and safety: nutrition, exercise and movement, hygiene.

3. Games and stories: playful activities, rhymes, tales, picture books.