The English Language Syllabus for Grade 9
Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex
2022-2023 Academic year
The English subject syllabus of Grade 9 is based on the author (state alternative) educational program “Creator’s Mobile School” implemented in the schools of Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex. The syllabus is based on the requirements of the state standards of public education”, and the alternative education program of the educational complex. The basis of the syllabus is project-based learning, as well as the educational calendar of the educational complex and the topics arising from the subject requirements of the English language.
Allocated hours per week: 3
The aim
The teaching of English in the 9th grade is aimed at the learner’s oral and written communication, intercultural understanding, communicating with non-Armenian speaking people, getting to know the civilization and culture of other countries and peoples, assimilating their best values and expressing them in Armenian, as well as making the Armenian culture accessible to other peoples.
Objectives:
• Promoting self-learning and self-development capabilities
• Analysis of the learning process, selection of self-education methods and evaluation of their effectiveness
• Confidence in one’s own abilities and life, ability to self-evaluate, striving for self-knowledge
• IT skills development and media literacy. Correct and harmless selection of sites and skill in using them. Distance education skills.
• Analytical, critical and creative thinking, open and unbiased approach to the new, cognitive and creative approach to solving vital problems.
• Ability to make free and independent decisions, implement them and be responsible for the consequences.
The development of communicative awareness according to the CEFR levels of English proficiency in 4 aspects of verbal activity: listening comprehension, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing. (A2-B1)
General pedagogical approaches
• Foreign language teaching is carried out according to the principles of project-based student-centered learning.
• Creation of teacher-learner, learner-learner situational dialogues, search for meaning. (the meaning is not given in a ready-made state. The student reaches it by searching, weighing).
• Students make their own conclusions, the teacher gives primary ideas.
• The student’s opinion is taken into account.
• In order to organize the development of language thinking, the teacher works with a cooperative and group research method.
• The themes of the projects correspond to the themes of the subject syllabuses of foreign languages, taking into account also the points of the educational calendar of the educational complex, with which it will be possible to supplement and enrich the subject syllabus of the English language.
Educational environment
Physical environment
- transparent, self-service, inclusive
- classes with 1-1 tablet/laptop/netbook learning
All offices, reading rooms, laboratories, workshops of the educational complex work with wireless Internet WIFI coverage.
The schoolyard, field conditions, natural and historical monuments, museums, exhibitions, training camps, and creative gatherings are also the physical environment for teaching English.
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mskh.am Website, Media Library, Sebastatsi TV
Educator and learner blogs, pedagogic/teen/kids e-magazines
Social Net Works: Facebook, YouTube
At home, too, the learner should have a computer connected to the Internet, a digital camera or a smartphone, and other resources that can help to complete the assignment more effectively.
Texts-books and teaching websites
”English in mind” book 3, student’s book, Destination B1
First Certificate Passkey, Nick Kenny 1996.
՛՛English Grammar in Use՛՛, Raymond Murphy, Cambridge, third edition
՛՛New Headway” Pre-Intermediate Student’s Book, Liz and John Soars
http://www.britishcouncil.am/en
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/
http://www.usingenglish.com/comprehension/
Digital versions of books are available on the library’s website http://gradaran.mskh.am/sites/default/files/Passkey.pdf
Media learning environment allows implementing the communicative approach of teaching English using ICT learning tools
English teaching-learning is blog-based, which enables:
• Transition from a closed system of public education to an open system. Publications of students’ English assignments and project research works are made available to classmates, teachers of other subjects, parents, community, and generally open to anyone with an Internet connection.
• The materials published in the learner’s blog provide an opportunity to see the growth of the learner’s knowledge and abilities during the different years of study.
• A teacher’s blog becomes the most effective way to share experiences with other teachers.
• A school website and learning project blogs enable both the teacher and the learner to transform from content consumers to content creators.
• The blog becomes an effective distance learning tool.
• Thanks to the use of educational blogs, project-based learning, and personal computers, effective teaching of English is carried out for students studying in the same class, but with different prior knowledge and language abilities.
Developing English communication skills through monthly Flash Mobs.
In the High School of the educational complex, foreign specialists regularly hold English training sessions
Educational trip coverages are also done in English
Connection with other fields
• Implementation of multitasking
The teaching of English is carried out in such a way that it is both a learning goal and a means of acquiring information from different fields of knowledge.
• Interdisciplinary integration
English is used in the implementation of educational projects in various academic subjects by obtaining information from foreign language sources and translating them.
By the end of Grade 9, students acquire the following language competency:
Listening Comprehension
The listening texts can be: short descriptions, short informative texts, announcements, songs, dialogues, interviews, simplified (adapted) excerpts from works of fiction, fairy tales, movies
• To be able to understand the main content of the listening material on a familiar topic
• To be able to understand basic facts and events
• To be able to understand the most important information of the listening material that relates to everyday life issues
• To understand the main meaning of a cartoon, a video with a familiar theme and to give a short summary about it, expressing one’s own opinion as well.
• Understand the main content of television or radio reports, short audio recordings about everyday events.
Activities developing listening comprehension skills with ICT means.
• Learners listen to recordings from the new British Council website on their home computers http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/
• Learners start to do the listening exercises on www.english-test.net at home on their own computers as self-education.
• Learners are asked to listen to a recording or a live speech or watch a video and answer the questions
Other activities
• Choosing the one corresponding to the text from the set of given pictures
• Distinguishing between true and false in given statements (True/False).
• Listening to the group of sentences twice and deciding which sentence has been increased or decreased
• Listening to two texts that are similar in meaning and identifying the differences
Speaking abilities
• To be able to introduce oneself, family members and friends
• To be able to tell about school life, everyday life and extracurricular activities in simple sentences
• To be able to represent the hometown, the village, talking about the sights and historical monuments
• To be able to describe one’s own apartment with its different rooms
• To be able to tell about favorite pastimes and interests
• To be able to describe nature in different seasons of the year
• To be able to tell about the previous educational trip
• To be able to talk in simple sentences about favorite dishes, different foods and fruits
• To be able to introduce oneself and use different forms of greeting and farewell
• To be able to understand the speaker’s patient, repetitive speech on familiar topics
• To be able to make invitations, suggestions, as well as respond to them
• To be able to express own preferences and ask questions about the interlocutor’s preferences
• To be able to participate in everyday conversations that interest him
• To be able to ask and answer questions, exchange thoughts and information on familiar topics and predictable situations
Activities developing speaking skills with ICT means
• http://iteslj.org/questions/ is an inexhaustible resource for talking and discussing various questions about the topic being studied, which should be used by teachers and students;
- My friends and relatives: http://iteslj.org/questions/friends.html
- My favorite hobby and interests: http://iteslj.org/questions/hobby.html
- The Internet in My Life: http://iteslj.org/questions/internet.html
- Caring for nature: http://iteslj.org/questions/environment.html
- Olympic Games: http://iteslj.org/questions/olympic.html
- • http://iteslj.org/questions/ is an inexhaustible resource for talking and discussing various questions about the topic being studied, which should be used by teachers and students;
• My friends and relatives: http://iteslj.org/questions/friends.html
• My favorite hobby and interests: http://iteslj.org/questions/hobby.html
• The Internet in My Life: http://iteslj.org/questions/internet.html
• Caring for nature: http://iteslj.org/questions/environment.html
Cambridge speaking tests A2, B1 on YouTube
Reading abilities
Texts for reading can be excerpts from simplified elementary and pre-intermediate fiction, simple information, e-mails, advertisements, announcements, etc.
• After reading, to be able to determine the topic and type of the text;
• To be able to determine the main information, idea and author’s thought of the read text;
• To be able to retell the text in the correct sequence of events after reading;
• To be able to read and understand simplified fiction books at the elementary (A1) level without the help of a dictionary;
• To be able to read and understand fiction books written at the Pre-intermediate level (A2) with the help of a dictionary;
Activities developing reading skills with ICT means
• Learners are suggested that they should find the keywords, sentences and paragraphs for the content of the text while reading the electronic text and highlight them in different colors.
• It is suggested that the learners should rearrange the text by restoring the mixed order of sentences, and paragraphs.
• After reading, present the main content of the text, the sequence of events
• The learners search and find information related to a given topic on the Internet
• From http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/comprehension.html the teacher selects texts appropriate to the language abilities of his students.
Writing abilities
Texts for writing can be autobiographical information, personal sheets, descriptions of everyday life, personal letters, congratulations, and invitations.
• To be able to fill in autobiographical data;
• To be able to write simple texts, telling about the excursion, travel
about the influx;
• To be able to write a letter to invite, thank or congratulate someone;
• To be able to write a connected speech with the given words and phrases.
Activities developing writing skills with ICT means
• The learners are suggested that they should write texts on the research topic following the sample texts or format found on the Internet;
• Filling in a CV;
• The teacher pre-enters different dialogue starters on the topic being studied, and students are asked to complete the dialogues in class by working in pairs;
• Description of a picture found on the Internet related to the topic being studied
• Description of the school routine on the school website with the help of the teacher;
Educational topics for short-term projects
(Each teacher is free to choose a topic for a project.)
The First Term
Individual and friendship, temperament, fashion
Teenagers and their problems
My school, the educational complex, its achievements and omissions
Selection of professions
Communication
Internet and blog
Mass media, news, web stories
The blog as a learning tool
Educational trips
The Second Term
Sports and sports games, healthy lifestyle
Environment and its preservation
Armenia’s present, past and future
Culture, traditions, customs
English as an international language
International connections
School website
The Internet in my life
Projects according to the EduComplex calendar
In September-October, translation projects during “Sebastatsi Days”
December – Christmas projects (translations, situational performances)
January – English coverage of the winter training camp, English coverage of educational trips,
February – Projects dedicated to Hovhannes Tumanyan. Tumanyan’s legacy (readings of English translations )
March – Projects dedicated to the legacy of Yeghishe Charents (readings of English translations )
The language material
Vocabulary. To have a reproductive vocabulary of about 1000 word units within the proposed topics.
Word formation: Derivation – suffixes, prefixes. To be able to determine the belonging of words to different parts of speech through suffixes.
Grammar
Morphology:
Articles – definite, indefinite, absence of articles, usage with uncountable nouns denoting materials, with abstract nouns, articles in set expressions;
The Noun – number, case, gender; noun + noun structures;
The Pronoun – personal, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite, possessive, reciprocal, reflexive, relative;
The Numeral – quantitative, classical, fractional;
The Adjective – qualitative and relative adjectives, the degrees of comparison of adjectives, strengthening of comparative degree;
The Adverb – of place, time, manner and measure;
The peculiar cases of using adjectives and adverbs;
Prepositions – denoting time, place, direction,
The Verb – regular and irregular verbs, verb tenses (Present Indefinite, Past Indefinite, Future Indefinite, Present Continuous, Past Continuous, Present Perfect, Past Perfect), voice, modal verbs, transitive and non-transitive verbs, non-finite forms of the verb (infinitive, gerund, participle)
Syntax
Sentence – simple, compound, complex
Word order – inversion
Subject, predicate, direct and indirect objects, complex subject.
Conditional sentences,
Direct and indirect speech, sequence of tenses
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