Verbal Communication Objectives
- Spoken Interaction
- Can justify and sustain views clearly by providing relevant explanations and arguments
- Can justify a viewpoint on a topical issue by discussing pros and cons of various options
- Can express and evaluate ideas, make and respond to hypotheses in informal discussions
- Spoken Production
- Can give clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of familiar subjects.
- Can narrate a story in detail, giving relevant information about feelings and responses.
- Listening
- Can follow complex lines of argument on familiar topics if signposted by explicit markers
Vocabulary Objectives
- Natural World and Environment
- Can use some detailed language related to describing an animal (fur; hooves; paws; whiskers; beak; tail; wings; feathers; fins; coat; snout; claws, etc.)
- Can use some detailed language related to animal behavior (hatch; mating call/season; hibernate; breed; migrate; prey on; graze; hunt; nest, etc.)
- Can use general language related to less common landscape features (dunes; estuary; canal; bay; harbor; coastline; riverside; wetland; desert; marshes, etc.)
- Can use general language related to natural disasters (drought; avalanche; famine; flood; landslide; tornado; tsunami; eruption; earthquake, etc.)
- Can use some detailed language related to environmental issues (pollution; endangered species; extinct; climate change; greenhouse gases; overpopulation, etc.)
- Can use general language related to minerals and materials and their extraction (mine; quarry; wood; timber; cut; deforestation; coal, etc.)
- Thoughts, Feelings, Perceptions, and Opinions
- Can use informal language related to weighing the pros and cons of an argument (on the one/other hand; the advantages of; but if we do that, then; the upside/downside is, etc.)
- Can use some detailed language related to the personal significance of an event (It meant a lot to me as; It really hit me/got to me because; get upset by/about, etc.)
- Can use general language related to a writer's viewpoint (it would suggest that; to my mind; in my opinion; of the opinion that; undoubtedly, etc.)
- Can use informal language related to degree of agreement or disagreement 9 that’s OK, but; that’s a great idea; right let’s do that; not sure about that, etc.)
- Can use general language related to someone remembering something (Do you remember …?; Remember that time we …?; Did you remember when we …?, etc.)
- Can use informal language related to doubt or disbelief (Are you sure about that?; I don’t see/believe it myself, etc.)
- Can use general language related to fear or anxiety (worried about/that; concerned/anxious about; scared of; not happy about, etc.)
- Can use general language related to relief (that’s a relief; load off my mind; all worked out; if the worst had happened, etc.)
- Can use general language related to ignorance of something (no idea that; unaware of; hadn’t heard about; no one told me that; didn’t hear about, etc.)
- Can use general language related to regret (if only I’d; I regret; with hindsight; I wish I’d; I should have; It’s a pity/shame that, etc.)
- Can use formal language related to supporting or opposing a viewpoint politely (That’s a valid point; agree up to a point; concerns about; that would also mean, etc.)
- Can use informal language related to forming an argument (Well, for one thing; in the first place; To begin with; First of all; and then; And don’t forget, etc.)
- Can use appropriate language related to correcting misunderstandings (What I meant to say was; What I was trying to say was; not what I meant; didn’t mean to say, etc.)
Grammar Objectives
- Adjectives and adverbs
- Can use a double comparative to emphasize the rate of change. (Petrol is becoming more and more expensive; He drove faster and faster, etc.)
- -ing forms and infinitives
- Can use -ing forms in adverbial clauses to introduce a main clause. (Driving home last night, I saw an accident; Waiting for the bus, I bumped into an old friend, etc.)
- Past Tenses
- Can express irritation at a reoccurring past action using the past continuous. (He was always talking in class; We were always fighting as kids, etc.)
- Word Order and Sentence Patterns
- Can highlight an action using a wh- clause + was + action (cleft sentence). (What we did was study all night; What happened was an alarm went off, etc.)
- Discourse and Linking
- Can use a range of devices to show the relationship between cause and effect. (so; as; caused by; due to; so much/many/few that, etc.)
- Reported speech and indirect questions
- Can use a range of reporting verbs followed by that or object + infinitive (He suggested that we come back later; She warned us not to talk; She promised not to tell, etc.)
Written Communication Objectives
- Writing
- Can clearly signal problem and solution relationships in structured text.
- Can clearly signal cause and effect relationships in structured text.