Tunisia Preparatory Education Syllabus (Grades 7-9) - English

This syllabus outlines the English language curriculum for preparatory education (grades 7-9) in Tunisia, focusing on communicative competence through spoken and written interaction. The curriculum aims to build a foundation for future English language learning, fostering a dynamic mindset and promoting intercultural awareness.

Overarching Principles

• Motivation: Learning is driven by internal and external factors, requiring diverse teaching methods and positive reinforcement.
• Activities: Real-life, authentic activities are prioritized, promoting active involvement and meaningful communication.
• Assessment: Purposeful assessment guides the curriculum, utilizing both conventional and alternative methods.
• Differentiation: Individualized learning strategies and tools cater to diverse learning styles and needs.
• Values: Universal positive human values are integrated into the learning experience.
• Learner-Centered Approach: The learner actively constructs knowledge, with the teacher acting as a facilitator.
• Communicative Approach: English is taught as a system and a means of communication, emphasizing interaction and real-life situations.
• Life Skills: Psychosocial abilities are developed to equip learners for everyday challenges.
• Digital Literacy: Technology is integrated to enhance learning and promote responsible digital citizenship.

Language Skills

The curriculum focuses on developing the four main language skills:

• Listening: Students learn to understand familiar expressions, follow instructions, and identify main ideas.
• Speaking: Students practice pronunciation, basic greetings, asking and answering questions, and participating in simple dialogues.
• Reading: Students develop skills in identifying main ideas, understanding frequently used expressions, and extracting information from simple texts.
• Writing: Students learn to write simple sentences, letters, messages, and short paragraphs.

Components of Language Teaching

• Topics: Themes are selected based on the cognitive development of the child and increase in complexity throughout the program. Examples include introducing oneself, describing family and school, daily routines, hobbies, celebrations, and global awareness.
• Grammar: Grammatical structures are introduced progressively, starting with basic sentence structures, pronouns, articles, and verb tenses, and advancing to more complex forms like comparatives, superlatives, and prepositions.
• Communicative Functions: Students learn to perform various language functions, such as greeting, introducing, thanking, asking for information, making suggestions, expressing preferences, and giving advice.

Assessment

Assessment includes both formative and summative methods, with an emphasis on self and peer evaluation. Simplified rubrics and checklists are used to provide feedback and promote learner autonomy. Assessment focuses on the ability to recognize and produce grammatical structures, vocabulary, and communicative functions, as well as the development of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.