Sierra Leone Senior Secondary School Curriculum - Languages & Literatures Stream

This curriculum focuses on developing strong language and literary skills, encompassing reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and listening. It aims to equip students with the necessary skills for academic success and effective communication.

Core Subjects

English Language

This subject builds upon the language skills taught at the Basic Education level. It focuses on strengthening competencies in reading with comprehension, writing, speaking, and listening. The subject is designed to help students gain knowledge and understanding of those aspects of English that are relevant for success in their academic tasks and communicating effectively in other situations.

• Grammar and Language Use: This area covers noun types and functions, pronouns, verb types and usage (including regular and irregular forms, voice of verbs, modals, subject-verb agreement rules, and verb tenses), adjectives and adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, punctuation, capitalization rules, sentence forms/structure, and phrases and clauses.
• Vocabulary: Focuses on understanding the meaning of words in context, including etymology, syllables, root words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, confusing words and homonyms, idioms, figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, irony), and vocabulary associated with specialized fields like government, politics, sports, entertainment, finance, religion, photography, construction, science, technology, education, fishing, media, communication, transportation, and electricity.
• Writing Practice and Summary: Includes writing sentences and paragraphs, non-fiction writing (various text types, form, structure, presentational features, and their effects), letter writing (formal and informal), speech writing, and summary writing.
• Reading Comprehension: Covers skills for effective reading (skimming, scanning), reading fiction and non-fiction, structuring reading responses, and using textual evidence to support interpretations.
• Speaking and Listening: Includes characteristics of English sounds, review of English letter sounds (vowels, consonants, consonant clusters, diphthongs), stress and intonation patterns, syllable structure, and listening comprehension.

Sierra Leonean Literature

This subject explores the history, development, and influences of Sierra Leonean literature. It covers various genres, including prose, poetry, and drama, and examines the works of prominent Sierra Leonean writers.

• Introduction to Literature: Covers concepts and definitions of literature, history of literature, personalities in literature, figures of speech, trends in literature, genres in literature, relevance of literature, and the future of literature.
• History of Sierra Leonean Literature: Explores the definition of Sierra Leonean literature, its phases, writers, works, trends, and genres.
• Influences in Sierra Leonean Literature: Examines the influence of African, British, European, American, Asian, Arab, and Caribbean cultures on Sierra Leonean literature.
• Trends in Sierra Leonean Literature: Analyzes trends such as alienation, colonialism, exploitation, protest, dystopias, religions, love, family, politics, futurism, culture clash, generational gaps, gender, technology, and diaspora.
• Sierra Leonean Literature and the Global Stage: Explores the representation of race relations, slavery, gender issues, global conflicts, pandemics, epidemics, global cultures, religions, technologies, diaspora, cultures, and emerging issues in Sierra Leonean literature.

Applied Subjects & Everyday Subjects

The provided documents do not specify which subjects fall under the Applied and Everyday Subjects categories within the Languages and Literature stream. Further information is needed to detail these areas.