Skip to content

Children’s School Lives Study: Report 7

Children’s School Lives Study: Report 7

Find out more

Strands and learning outcomes

The strands, elements and their associated learning outcomes are set out below. While the strand units are numbered, this is for ease of identification and does not imply a hierarchy of approach. The strands themselves are not numbered because it is recognised that in order to acquire language proficiency, one needs to develop communicative competence, plurilingual and pluricultural competence in an integrated way.

This strand encompasses linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences. As indicated earlier, learning outcomes in this strand are organised by the four modes of communication (reception, interaction, production and mediation). In this strand, learners will actively engage in tasks and activities in order to develop their ability to communicate effectively in a wide range of scenarios/contexts/situations.

Students learn about Students should be able to
Reception
  1. Follow classroom interactions including pair and group work, very simple presentations on familiar topics and basic instructions.
    CLC2. Explore a range of short, simple authentic oral, written and multi-modal texts in a variety of genres and formats for example advertisements, announcements, narratives written in the most commonly-used fonts.
    CLC3. Identify and gather specific information from a range of short, simple oral, written and multi-modal texts expressed in everyday language for a particular purpose, especially if there is visual support.
    CLC4. Understand a lexical range comprised of individual words and simple expressions.
    CLC5. Identify simple information consisting of everyday language in a range of oral, written and multi-modal texts, especially if there is visual support.
    CLC6. Understand short and simple descriptions of places, events, personal experiences, feelings and perspectives, expressed in very simple everyday language.

Interaction
  1. Deal with simple transactions likely to arise while obtaining goods and services.
    CLC 8. Give short, very simple accounts of social and personal events, experiences and activities, and respond in face-to-face and online interactions.
    CLC 9. Use short, very simple expressions and phrases to initiate and close simple face-to-face conversations, asking for clarifications as appropriate. 
    CLC 10. Ask and answer simple questions, exchange ideas, express emotions and information on familiar topics in everyday situations.

Production
  1. Convey their message clearly enough to be understood with generally clear pronunciation (e.g. tones), intonation, stress and rhythm.
    CLC 12. Use characters to write short, coherent texts that are clear enough to be understood. 
    CLC 13. Use basic linguistic patterns, structures and strategies to communicate in familiar contexts.
    CLC 14. Describe, in simple language, past, present or future events, activities or experiences.
    CLC 15. Express feelings in a simple way, in writing and orally, on subjects relating to everyday life. 
    CLC 16. Develop a range of creative texts on subjects of personal interest in oral, written and multi-modal formats , for example songs, poems, drama, stories using very simple language.

Mediation
  1. Convey, in writing or orally, using very simple language the main points involved in clear, simple texts on subjects that are familiar and of personal interest. 
    CLC18. Collaborate in simple practical tasks, asking what others think and understanding responses, in very simple language, asking for repetition or reformulation as necessary.
    CLC 19. Convey simple, predictable information in familiar contexts given in short, simple signs and notices, posters and programmes. 
    CLC 20. Use simple words to ask someone to explain or clarify something.
    CLC 21. Recognise when speakers disagree or when someone has a problem and use simple words and phrases to indicate empathy and interest.
    CLC 22. Respond, in writing and orally, to short, simple creative oral, written and multi-modal texts about everyday topics, using very simple language to explain how it made them feel.

In this strand learners will develop their plurilingual and pluricultural competence. 
Plurilingualism places value on the linguistic and cultural diversity of learners. Learners’ knowledge of different languages and cultures are not siloed; all knowledge and experiences of languages and cultures interact and contribute to building communicative competence. 

Plurilingualism highlights the need for learners to draw on all of their linguistic and cultural resources and experiences in order to more fully participate in social and educational contexts*.  This helps them to achieve mutual understanding, to gain access to knowledge and thus further develop their linguistic and cultural repertoire. The aim is not simply to achieve ‘mastery’ in one, two or three languages, each in isolation but rather to ‘develop a linguistic repertory, in which all linguistic abilities have a place’**.  Plurilingual comprehension involves, for example, using one’s receptive knowledge in one language to deduce the meaning of texts in another language. 

Pluriculturalism describes the use of pluricultural competences in a communicative situation when competences other than language competences come into play***.  The various cultures to which a learner has access to do not coexist side by side; they are not mentally compartmentalised. They are compared, contrasted and actively interact to enable the learner to communicate more effectively, for example, taking into consideration differences in behaviours (including gestures, tones and attitudes), discussing over-generalisations and stereotypes****.

 

* CEFR Companion Volume, Council of Europe, 2018, p. 157.
**  CEFR, Council of Europe 2011, Section 1.3, p. 5.
 *** Ibid, 53.
 **** Ibid, 158.

Students learn about Students should be able to
Plurilingual competence
  1. Make sense of unfamiliar characters by considering the constituent parts, such as radicals, word roots and lexical elements.
    PPC 2. Recognise a range of linguistic patterns and structures (such as verbal system, syntax) and understand their meaning in context. 
    PPC 3. Apply communication and compensation strategies when communication is impaired (such as by using synonyms, gestures, translanguaging etc.) and thereby avoid misunderstandings.
    PPC 4. Further develop learning strategies to recall, understand and use the target language for the purpose of basic oral and written communication.
    PPC  5. Creatively exploit their plurilingual repertoire in different languages in order to communicate with others in unexpected situations or to make sense of short, very simple texts.
    PPC6. Recognise similarities and differences in the way concepts are expressed and understood across different languages.
    PPC 7. Compare and contrast the target languages they already know or have studied, taking account of features such as tonality or logographic writing system, to support their comprehension of oral, written and multi-modal texts.
    PPC 8. Reflect on the language-learning process, using feedback to improve.

Pluricultural competence: Awareness and understanding of the target language communities and cultures
  1. Explore and appreciate popular culture through a range of media
    PPC 10. Research and discuss a range of aspects of the target language society/societies, such as some geographical features, significant historical events, facts, famous people and places.
    PPC 11. Research aspects of the diverse cultural heritage in areas such as cuisine, folklore, music, traditions, the arts, and religions.
    PPC 12. Interpret aspects of cultures and communities in everyday living, social conventions, interpersonal relations, evolving values and beliefs through engagement with a range of short, very simple oral, written and multi-modal texts.
    PPC 13. Develop and demonstrate awareness of customs, beliefs and attitudes of people in the target language cultures and communities. 
    PPC 14. Explain features of the target language cultures and communities to people with different cultural backgrounds, using very simple language in a range of relevant formats and media.
    PPC 15. Demonstrate an awareness of and use appropriate verbal and non-verbal social conventions when interacting with others.
    PPC 16. Consider similarities and differences between the target language culture(s) and other culture(s), respectfully recognising the feelings and different world views of others.
    PPC 17. Support communication and interaction across cultures by showing interest, empathy, agreement and understanding.
    PPC 18. Explore their own cultural identity and consider common stereotypes of their own and other cultures.

Successfully added to the clipboard.