Goals of Elementary English Curriculum 1.

1 Characteristics Elementary English as a core subject raises students' ability to understand and express the basicsof the language as it is used in their daily lives. It is based on the four functions of language:listening, speaking, reading and writing. The main focus is on listening and speaking. Readingand writing are based on simple contents related to the former components. When applying English teaching methodology, Elementary school students' characteristics shouldbe considered. First of all, elementary school students are full of curiosity, and their thoughtsand behaviors are strongly affected by their senses and experiences. Teaching methods should bebased on students' senses and experiences accordingly. Second, repetitive teaching isrecommended since they learn quickly but forgeteasily. Finally, they have short attention spans.Various teaching methods and materials, therefore, such as multi-media should be used appropriately. Elementary English focuses on level-focused learning, reflecting students' different abilities.Level-focused learning includes the basic course, which is applied to all students, and theadvanced/supplementary course. The advanced course offers additional task-based learning forstudents who have reached the achievement standard of the basic course. The supplementarycourse offers additional task-based learning to help students who didn't reach the achievementstandard of the basic course. In level-focused learning, therefore, students learn on their ownthrough tasks and activities. At the elementary school level, it is important to maintain students' interest as well as to makethem familiar with and confident in English. This will be the foundation of improving theircommunicative skills to further their English education. Although one of the aims of teachingEnglish is to help them develop their communicative skills, establishing a good personality isalso important. English education should help students to develop sound moral values and anindependent civil mentality. Also, it should encourage the students to have anunderstandingattitude toward foreign cultures, international insight, a cooperative spirit and basic knowledge ascitizens of the world. 1.2 Goals Students will learn how to acquire the basic communication ability that is necessary tounderstand and use the basic English in their daily lives. In addition, they are able to take inforeign cultures in a right way, develop Korean culture and find a way to introduce Koreanculture to the world. Students will learn how to have confidence and interests in English, and acquire the basic skills to communicative. Students will learn how to have a conversation about their daily routines and general topics. Students will learn how to understand various information about foreign culture and acquire the ability to use it. Through the understanding of foreign cultures, students are able to recognize Korean culture in a new perspective and develop ethical values.

Contents of Elementary English Curriculum

2.1 System of Contents Language Skills Students will gradually learn how to build up their ability covering four functions of language : listening, speaking, reading and writing. Language Skill Receptive Skill Productive Skill Spoken Language Listening Speaking Written Language Reading Writing

Communicative Activities Communicative Activities are composed of spoken language and written language. Scope Contents

Spoken Language Activities

Written Language Activities

For spoken language activities, refer to [Appendix 1] 'Communicative functions and example sentences'. Choose and use 'Communicative functions and examples' to achieve each grade/step level. For written language activities, refer to [Appendix 1].

Teaching and Learning Methods

Get the students stimulated and motivated with songs and chants in a lesson. Conduct activity-oriented lessons with role-play and games. Try to promote individual and cooperative learning depending on students' level. Adapt various teaching methods appropriate to learning objectives and contents. Devise teaching methods and materials for supplementary and advanced learning. Offer various advanced/supplementary materials to make student-oriented lessons with individual, pair or group work. Supplementary learning encourages systematic individual/small group teaching, while advanced learning stresses self-directed learning. Recognize contents of supplementary learning to meet students' levels, so students can participate in communication activities positively and with confidence. Afford a lot of opportunities for students to have interest and a sense of achievement by using diverse audio-visual aids and multi-media. In the early stages of speaking/writing teaching, emphasize conveying the meaning. Then gradually shift the focus to fluency. In the early stages of teaching speech, avoid the instant correction of students' errors when it comes to mutual understanding. Introduce English speaking culture in proper situation to enable natural culture acquisition. Be careful in teaching the linguistic difference between English and Korean

4.1 Overview of Teaching Methods for Language Learning

Natural Approach The essence of language is meaning. Vocabulary, not grammar, is the heart of the language. Designed to give beginners and intermediate learners basic communicative skills. Based on a selection of communicative activities and topics derived from learners' needs. Activities allowing comprehensible input, about things in the here-and-now. Learners should try to involve themselves in activities involving meaningful communication. The teacher is the primary source of comprehensible input and must choose a rich mixture of classroom activities. Materials come from realia rather than textbooks. The importance of a positive, low-stress climate. Total Physical Response Comprehension before production is implemented through carrying out commands. Teach oral proficiency to produce learners who can communicate uninhibitedly and intelligibly with native speakers. Sentence-based syllabus with grammatical and lexical criteria being primary, but focus on meaning, not form. Imperative drills to elicit physical actions. No basic text; materials and media have an important role later. Initially, voice, actions and gestures are sufficient. The teacher is like the director of a stage play with students as actors.

Presentation, Practice, and Production (PPP) Most often referred to as PPP, which stands for Presentation, Practice, and Production. The teacher introduces a situation and the language is then presented. The students practice the language using accurate reproduction techniques such as choral repetition or individual repetition. The students, using the new language, make sentences of their own, and this is referred to as production. Role-play The main frameworks of role-play are the situations, roles and useful expressions. Students need to fully understand the situation, their own roles, and other friends' roles. The teacher should give a supplementary explanation about the demonstration. Students will be interested in the role of imaginary people and actively participate in that activity through which they can gain a more accurate understanding of language functions. What is most important is that all students who join in role-play and the students observing it should fully understand the entire situation. For effective role-play the teacher should have the professional understanding and application skills to make role-play interesting and meaningful for the class Song/Chant Songs and chants give students with little confidence in a foreign language a lot of interest and motivation at the beginning of the lesson. Song and chant with real English phrases allow students to practice intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation of the language naturally and pleasantly. It can be useful in reducing boredom and stress, and it is fun for students. Students can memorize English expressions they need to learn easily through songs or chants. Teachers should decide when to present songs or chants to students and how to lead the activities before English class in an organized way.

Evaluation
Screening and identification: to identify students eligible for special language and/or content area support programs Pl ac e me nt: to determine the language proficiency and content area competencies of students in order to recommend an appropriate educational program Reclassification or exit: to determine if a student has gained the language skills and content area competencies needed to benefit from instruction in grade-level classrooms (i.e., from allEnglish programs not specifically designed to address the needs of English Language Learningstudents) Monitoring student progress: to review students' language and content area learning in classrooms Program evaluation: to determine the effects of national or local instructional programs A c c o untabi l i ty: to guarantee that students attain expected educational goals or standards