Sri Lanka Grade 7 English Syllabus

This syllabus aims to enable learners to communicate confidently, fluently, and effectively in English. It emphasizes an interactive, communicative approach to language learning, focusing on practical application in real-world contexts.

Key Competencies

The syllabus outlines eight key competencies:

1. Identifying the sounds of English: This includes recognizing different sounds, differentiating between vowels and consonants, and pronouncing words correctly, with a focus on challenging sounds like /p/, /f/, /s/, and /ʃ/, and short and long vowels. 2. Using mechanics of writing: Students learn to use apostrophes and inverted commas correctly. This competency emphasizes the importance of accurate punctuation for effective written communication. 3. Engaging in active listening: Students practice listening to and following instructions, responding to announcements and requests, and extracting specific information from various text types, including dialogues and stories. 4. Building vocabulary: This involves using words accurately and appropriately, inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words using context clues, and expanding vocabulary through synonyms, antonyms, affixes, plurals, collective nouns, and compound nouns. 5. Extracting information from texts: Students learn to use visual clues, extract specific information from various simple texts, transfer information into other forms, and understand the general idea of a text. They also engage with simple poems and folk stories. 6. Using English grammar: This competency covers constructing simple sentences using various tenses (past continuous, future continuous, present perfect) and grammatical structures (e.g., "there was/were/will be"). It also includes using pronouns, modals (must, should, can, would), determiners, contracted forms, adjectives (comparative forms), prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs appropriately. 7. Using English creatively in writing: Students practice writing descriptions of people, animals, places, and things, describing pictures, writing for personal purposes (e.g., notes), writing instructions, composing simple pieces on various topics, and creating short poems and stories. 8. Communicating clearly, fluently, and concisely: This involves describing objects, animals, and people using simple sentence patterns, speaking on familiar topics, using modals appropriately, describing the position of things using prepositions, describing pictures orally, and using language in a variety of contexts, including describing continuing actions using continuous tenses and expressing personal experiences using perfect tenses.

Teaching Methodology

The syllabus recommends an eclectic approach, drawing on various teaching methods and techniques to cater to the specific needs of the students. It emphasizes the importance of:

• Using the target language (English) as the primary language of instruction.
• Integrating all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
• Incorporating pair work and group work to encourage cooperative learning.
• Using a variety of classroom techniques, such as role-play, dialogues, language games, and communicative activities.

Assessment and Evaluation

Both ongoing (formative) and summative assessments are used to evaluate student progress. Ongoing assessment includes teacher assessments, self-assessments, peer assessments, and portfolio development. Summative assessment is conducted at the end of the year. The syllabus emphasizes the use of criterion-referenced assessments to provide qualitative feedback. For oral skills assessment, a descriptive scale is recommended, such as the nine-point band scale.