Below is a table describing an ESL Year 1 curriculum for Junior High School.
The curriculum generally follows the format students study in Japan, as according to the text "Tokyo Shoseki (2006). New Horizon English Course 1. Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd., Tokyo."
These are conversation elements plucked from the text. If you are an ESL teacher (or ALT) in a school in Japan, you
would most likely recognise that, in the time frame you are allowed, it is basically impossible to teach and practice
all of the content of the text as conversation exercises. It is a text primarily focused on helping students pass writing,
comprehension and listening examinations. It is not particularly well designed for teaching
communication skills (in my view), and why should it be! There is no official communication skills exam. You don't need English
language communication skills to enter a university in Japan, you just need to be able to read the book.
It is up to the skill and the will of the educator to weave conversation elements into the curriculum. Pick and choose as you many, and
as you probably already do.
Throughout the course of this school year (2009-2010), I hope to improve on, and gradually add resource materials
to be used in classes. If there is a link, there is some kind of resource attached to it.
| A Junior High School ESL Curriculum - Year 1 Speaking/ Communication Component |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Lesson Number | Topic | Example |
| Unit 1 | 1.1 | Greetings | A: Hi, I'm Bob. B: Hi, I'm Jimmy. Good to meet you. |
| 1.2 | Introducing Friends | A: This is my friend, Kat. B: Ohhh. Hi Kat. Good to meet you. |
|
| 1.3 | Enquires - Are you Bob? | A: Are you from Australia? B: Yes, I am. A: Are you Bob? B: No, I'm not. |
|
| Unit 2 | 2.1 | Object Identification Object Possession |
This is an ant. That is a boot. This is my cup. That is Bob's cat. |
| 2.2 | Singular Object Enquiries | A: Is this a shoe? B: Yes, it is. / No, it is not. It is a boot. A: Is that a car? B: Yes, it is. / No, it is not. It is a van. |
|
| 2.3 | Hobbies | I play the guitar. I like music. A: Do you play the guitar? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. |
|
| Unit 3 | 3.1 | I do, but I don't. | I play the trumpet, but I don't play the piano. I have a bike, but I don't have a car. |
| 3.2 | Identifying Objects | A: What is this? B: It is a cow. / I don't know. |
|
| 3.3 | Likes and Dislikes: School Subjects. | A: What is your favourite subject, Jimmy? B: I like History. |
|
| Unit 4 | 4.1 | Eating Habits: Breakfast. | A: What do you have for breakfast? B: I have rice. A: Do you have cereal for breakfast? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. |
| 4.2 | Possessives | Excuse me. Is this your cow? | |
| 4.3 | Shopping: Singular vs Plural. | Two Hamburgers, please. | |
| Unit 5 | 5.1 | Counting Possessives | A: How many cows do you have? B: I have 20 cows. |
| 5.2 | Suggestions | A: What do you want to do? B: Let's play a trick. |
|
| 5.3 | Interests, Likes and Possessions - 1 | A: What do you like/play/have... What does Bob like/play/have... B: I like/play/have... Bob likes/plays/has ... |
|
| Unit 6 | 6.1 | Interests, Likes and Possessions - 2 | A: Do you play soccer? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. A: Does Bob/he play soccer? B: Yes, he does. / No, he doesn't. |
| 6.2 | Directions | Excuse me. Which bus goes to the library? | |
| 6.3 | Questions About People | A: Who is your father? B: My father's name is Bob. A: Who is Jimmy? B: Jimmy is my friend. |
|
| Unit 7 | 7.1 | The World Around Us: Time | A: What time is it in London? B: It's five twenty three in the afternoon. |
| 7.2 | The World Around Us: Weather | A: How is the weather? B: It is hot and sunny. |
|
| 7.3 | Location of Objects 1 | A: Where is the cat? B: It's in the dryer. |
|
| Unit 8 | 8.1 | Location of Objects 2 | A: Is the banana on the table? B: Yes, it is. / No, it isn't. |
| 8.2 | Possessions | A: Whose guitar is this? B: It's mine. / It's Spoon Head's. |
|
| 8.3 | Survival Language 3: Identifying People From Pictures | A: Who is this? B: That's Emily. A: This is Jimmy. Do you know him? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. |
|
| Unit 9 | 9.1 | Survival Language 4: Identifying people in a crowd | A: Who is that? B: That's Jezza. |
| 9.2 | Describing activities 1 | Jezza plays baseball everyday. Jezza is playing baseball now. |
|
| 9.3 | Describing activities 2 Describing activites 3 |
A: Is he (Spoon Head) swimming? B: Yes, he is. / No, he isn't. A: What is he (Spoon Head) doing? B: He is cooking. |
|
| Unit 10 | 10.1 | Prohibition | Don't sleep in class! Don't stand on my flowers! |
| 10.2 | Daily routines 1 | I get up at seven thirty. | |
| 10.3 | Arranging to Meet | Are you free on Sunday? | |
| 10.4 | Abilities 1 | A: Can you ski? B: Yes, I can. / No, I can't. |
|
| Unit 11 | 11.1 | Abilities 2 | Jimmy can ski. I cannot ski. |
| 11.2 | Enquires 1 | A: Can we swim here? B: Yes, we can. / No, we can't. |
|
| 11.3 | Enquires 2 | A: When can we play baseball? B: We can play baseball after school. |
|
| 11.4 | Asking for Permission 1 | A: Can I close the door? B: Sure. / Sorry, please leave it open. |
|
| Unit 12 | 12.1 | Asking for assistance 1 | A: Could you help me with the garbage? B: OK. / Sorry, I have to go. |
| 12.2 | Simple Past Tense - Regular Verbs | I watched TV yesterday. | |
| 12.3 | Simple Past Tense - Irregular Verbs | I got up at six yesterday. | |
| 12.4 | Simple Past Tense - Questions | A: Did you get up early this morning? B: Yes, I did. No, I didn't. |
|
What happened to all the chocolate?