English

Framework

The overarching aim of the EL Syllabus 2010 is to develop effective language use. Students’ language use will be affected by the purpose, audience, context and culture (PACC) and their proficiency in language use is assessed by their attainment of the learning outcomes.

Students’ language use is reflected in the following areas of language learning:

Listening and Viewing
Reading and Viewing
Speaking and Representing
Writing and Representing
Grammar
Vocabulary

To develop these areas of language learning in students, teachers are guided by the six Principles of EL Teaching and Learning (CLLIPS) and will take into account the Teaching Processes (ACoLADE).

Principles of EL Teaching and Learning (CLLIPS)

Contextualisation	Learning task and activities will be designed for students to learn the language in authentic and meaningful contexts of use.
Learner-centredness	Learners are at the centre of the teaching-learning process.
Learner-focused interaction	Teachers will provide a rich environment for communication that will explicitly foster listening and speaking skills and focus on the achievement of the Learning Outcomes.
Integration	The areas of language learning – the receptive skills, the productive skills, and grammar and vocabulary will be taught in an integrated way.
Process Orientation	The development of language skills and knowledge about language involves the teaching of processes, which the teacher will model and scaffold.
Spiral Progression	Skills, grammatical items, structures and various types of texts will be taught, revised and revisited at increasing levels of difficulty and sophistication.

When planning EL lessons, teachers will employ ACoLADE during the delivery of the pre, main and post phases of their EL lessons.

Raising Awareness	Motivate learning and help students pay attention to what is to be learned. Help them make connections with what they already know.
Structuring Consolidation	Revisit and reinforce what has been learned.
Facilitating Assessment for Learning	Diagnose students’ needs, abilities and interests. Identify learning gaps, monitor their learning and provide timely and useful feedback for improving and self-assessment.
Enabling Application	Teach language in authentic contexts of use and model its use. Let students learn through working collaboratively with the teacher and other students.
Guiding Discovery	Facilitate discovery by prompting, posing questions and supporting the process by which students can learn about a skill, strategy, process or rule without prior or explicit instruction.
Instructing Explicitly	Explain and clarify a skill, strategy or process directly and systematically, in addition to teaching it in contexts of meaningful use.

Source: MOE, CPDD

Ai Tong School aims to develop our students to become Bilingual Communicators, striving to be a school of Dynamic Learners in a Culture of Care. The programmes and activities in the English Language Department support the MOE CPDD EL vision, and set out to equip our students with the skills to serve them well in the 21st century.

The table below provides a summary of ATS EL Department’s key programmes and activities

I Love EL Week

In order to build a vibrant EL culture, sustain interest in the language and support the holistic development of students, a variety of language activities have been planned to engage the students. These differentiated activities that cater to the various levels take place at mass platforms like assembly and recess, and also in the individual classrooms. Having the different areas of language learning in mind, activities allow students to demonstrate their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Language Arts Programme (LAP)

Using award-winning titles to teach English Language is one of the key features of the LAP launched in Ai Tong School in July 2010. The programme aims to raise the level of reading competency, enrich students’ learning experience in English Language, ignite students’ passion for reading, and develop their critical thinking skills. Storybooks present an ideal context for literacy practice as well as linguistic acquisition. It also provides the backdrop for a conducive and creative environment for language learning.

LAP Performance Day

The LAP Performance Day concludes the Language Arts Programme with a finale performance staged by all P3 and P4 students based on the literature texts of Charlotte’s Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both teachers and students work hand-in-hand to put together a performance that peers from the level watch together. With this platform, students practise voice projection, demonstrate effective characterisation and last but not least, display showmanship and observe appropriate etiquette as the audience.

Eng-trigued Tuesdays

Every Tuesday, students get the chance to engage in language activities that align to themes featured in the library. Such activities range from vocabulary games to videos that allow for language exploration.

I Love Reading

To cultivate the reading habit in every student and promote a continuous love for reading, roving teacher-spies go round the school to catch students in the act of reading. P1 and P2 students are exposed to reading activities in the Be Enthusiastic About Reading (B.E.A.R) card while P3 and P4 students are encouraged to complete their Young Readers Card which comprises of a variety of language activities that anchor on a good book. P4 to P6 students are also introduced to appropriate reading materials that ensures exposure to different genres as well as current affairs.

Speak it Right!

This programme reinforces the accurate use of day-to-day interactional language using Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) resources. Students are also introduced to thematic content language which would build the individual’s competencies in speaking and writing.

What’s Up!

What’s Up provides a regular platform for students to present to a larger audience, e.g. during assembly. These opportunities allow students to hone their public speaking skills and boost their confidence. This presentation of news articles keeps students abreast of happenings in the community and develops the concerned citizen in them.

I Can Write!

Riding on the belief that every student can be a writer, I Can Write! encourages students to participate in internal writing competitions, exercise their creativity and write freely based on an interesting theme.

The Department also adopts a variety of strategies and approaches for teaching and learning, as summarised in the table below.