Below is a table describing an ESL Year 3 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 3. 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 3 Speaking/ Communication Component |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit | Lesson Number | Topic | Example |
| Unit 1 | Review Game | Questions About Sports | A: Do you play baseball? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. |
| 1.1 | Presentation: Show and Tell | This is a picture of my cat. | |
| Unit 2 | 2.1 | Asking About Experience and Abilities | A: How long have you played baseball? B: (I have played baseball) for 10 years. A: How long has Bob lived in Japan? B: (He has lived in Japan) for 10 years. |
| Unit 3 | 3.1 | Asking About Experience -1 | A: Have you ever been to Brazil? B: Yes, I have. / No, I haven't. |
| 3.2 | Enquires | A: Have you washed the dishes yet? B: Yes, I have. / No, I haven't. |
|
| Unit 4 | 4.1 | Polite Offers and Invitations | Would you like to play tennis? |
| Unit 5 | 5.1 | Talking About Manga, Music or Video Games | A: Are you interested in baseball stories? B: Yes, I am. / No, I'm not. No, not really. |
| 5.2 | Kind Offers | A: Would you like five yellow balloons? B: Yes, please. / No, thank you.. |
|
| Unit 6 | 6.1 | Asking About Knowledge or Abilities | A: Do you know how to play the piano? B: Yes, I do. / No, I don't. |
| 6.2 | It's Easy For Budja. It's Fun For Me. | It's fun for him to Budja Dance. Is it difficult for you to read Budja stories? |
|
| Unit 7 | 7.1 | Travel: Asking For Directions at a Train Station | Could you tell me how to get to Tokyo station? |
| Unit 8 | 8.2 | Presentation: Giving Opinions and Reasons. | eg. Mobile phones - for or against. |
| Unit 9 | 9.1 | Presentation: Reporting On | eg. Famous people |
| 9.2 | Telephone Conversation: Leaving a Message | Can I leave a message? | |
| Unit 10 | 10.1 | Skit | Making a skit based on a series of images. |
| Unit 11 | 11.1 | Review Conversation About Experiences. | Have you ever been to china? |
| Unit 12 | 12.1 | Talking About Famous People | Do you know who Bob Geldof is? |
| 12.2 | Review | As needed. | |
Who cut the cheese?