5th YEAR SYLLABUS 1 GENERAL OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the Fifth Course is the continuing development of the creative capacity of the student in the use of the language, to a level which allows for a greater flexibility and clarification in the comprehension and understanding of the language. This implies widening and deepening the study of the grammatical characteristics of the language and also of the norms of communicative interaction in the target language. It also implies an intensification in the contact with the most common accents, styles and varieties of the language. The goal is for the student to reach a greater communicative capacity within the different communities of speakers of the language and in different social contexts. It will involve consolidation, practice and perfection of the four communicative skills that have been taught in the previous four courses.

2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Development of communicative competence: at the end of the fifth year of studies in the target language, the student will be able to carry out the following tasks and activities: 2.1 Spoken language Understand native speakers of the language, with different accents and registers, even if there is some distortion from environmental noise, from other nearby conversations or due to the means of communication [telephone, radio, television, etc]. Understand with no problem public interventions, talks and lectures and informative programs or debates on radio or television, as well as dialogues in cinema, theatre, etc. This would also include informal dialogues and conversations, phone messages, interviews, talks, speeches and presentations, news broadcasts, documentaries, and fragments of films. Be able to select the information needed, from a more ample spoken context, with sufficient precision to be able to use this information. Participate with accomplished effectiveness in any conversation of a general nature, as well as in the area of his/her professional activity, and be able to put forth points of view and opinions fluidly and with sufficient clarification. Use the target language in his/her social, professional and affective relationships, in a natural manner and adequate to most situations. Adequately interpret attitudes and intentions, even implicit, of his/her interlocutors, and react in a sufficiently complete form in accord with his/her needs and interests. Understand the most widely used geographical varieties and accents of the target language as well as the most common registers and styles. Students should be able to understand a variety of authentic materials. Examples of listening materials are: Informal dialogues & conversations Phone messages Interviews Talks, speeches & presentations News broadcasts Documentaries

Fragments of films They should also develop their oral skills in order to participate in:

Discussions & debates in pairs, groups or as a whole class. They can be

real discussions on students topics of interest or current affairs as well as simulations aiming at solving problems, taking decisions, orchestrating campaigns, etc.

Informal & formal conversations making adequate use of communicative interaction skills [such as illustrating and supporting your opinions, showing your interest in others points of view, respecting turns of speech, balancing & coming to conclusions, etc.].
Speeches on themes of personal interest and controversial topics.

2.2 Written language A. RECEPTIVE SKILLS (READING) Adequately understand the information contained in public advertisements, notices, forms, instructions, etc. Understand articles and other written material directed to the average reader in nonspecialised press, i.e. magazines and newspapers, advertisements and other everyday documents [brochures, flyers, manuals, surveys...], etc. Understand literary extracts, modern literary works: narrative, poetry and plays. Use the most usual forms of written transmission, e.g. letters, faxes, summaries, reports, etc. Narrate his/her own experiences or the experiences of others and be able to describe ideas, processes and occurrences, at least from a personal point of view. Develop a topic of debate, establishing his/her points of view with sufficient clarity, precision and extension, organising the material in an adequate way. Students should be able to understand a variety of authentic materials. Examples of reading materials are the following: Magazine articles & reports Newspaper articles Literary extracts: narrative, poetry and plays Advertisements Everyday documents: brochures, flyers, manuals, surveys, etc

Students will be asked to read several books (and/or other material) throughout the course and will be assessed on their understanding of what they have read. B. PRODUCTIVE SKILLS (WRITING) Students should be able to produce: Letters. All kinds of letters for specific purposes. Special attention should be paid to our students needs: applying for a job or a scholarship, enrolling in courses abroad, claims, etc.

Story-writing : Personal experiences as well as real or imaginary events. At this level students should be able to integrate narrative and descriptive fragments together with short dialogues.
Narration: moving on the action, climax and ending.

Description: background actions and information. Description of human scenes, characters, places and objects.

Short dialogues: direct & indirect styles

Essays [argumentative texts] on controversial topics, current affairs,. [Presenting, and organising information in a logical way. Contrasting facts & opinions from different sources. Supporting ideas, extracting & representing information, quoting, and finally reaching conclusions].
Reports: Current affairs and social & cultural trends [Accounts of events, including facts but also personal interpretation]. Major local/ national/ regional/ world news and events.

Critical Reviews: Arts & Literature; sports; social & cultural agenda. Reviews on books, films, concerts, shows, exhibitions, conferences, debates, etc.
Everyday documents : Surveys, Brochures, Manuals, etc

3 TOPICS AND THEMATIC AREAS

Specific topics for all four skills include the ones below. It is important that students relate them to current affairs as presented by the media and as portrayed through the works of art.

People: the self & the others

Lifestyle and routines Preferences and dislikes Beliefs and attitudes Past experiences and futures expectations Relationships: family, love and friendship

Social issues
Social trends. Changing relationships and lifestyles. Changing family patterns: the role of parents and children, marriage and separation, lone parents, unmarried couples. The Youth. Lifestyles, codes and the generation gap. The changing roles of men and women. A fair share at home/ work. The elderly. Ageism. The right to die: euthanasia. Sex and sexual preferences. Homophobia. Freedom of choice. The abortion controversy. Individual freedom and human rights. Respecting diversity: race, sex, religion and beliefs. Multiracial societies. Racism & segregation. Minorities & social integration. .A world in need: population growth and immigration, NGOs. Social injustices: poverty and the homeless. Social unrest: guns and violence in the inner cities. Law, violence, crime & punishment. Death penalty Consumerism. Compulsive shopping. Fashions.

Ethical issues:
Crime and justice Euthanasia: the right to die Abortion: the right to decide Beliefs, religions and tolerance.

Education
Public and private schools. Compulsory education. The role of teachers and students. Permanent and adult education. The learning of foreign languages.

Work and Unemployment

Jobs we love and hate. Work and leisure time. The improvement of work conditions. The role of employers and workers. Unions. The right to have a job. Unemployment, minorities and immigration. The role of men and women in the labour market. The crisis of the welfare state. Taxes. The ethics of capitalism and success. Child labour and exploitation of children.

Cultural issues, Art & Entertainment

Leisure time. Ways to spend or waste your time. Mainstream and alternatives. Gathering together. Social interaction. Roots, customs, tradition and culture. Folklore and craftwork. Festivals and special celebrations. The world of sports. Health and business. Competition and drug-enhanced training. Other outdoor activities. Visual and performing arts. Films. On stage: live music, dance and plays. Exhibitions. Books and records. Writers and musicians. Tradition versus innovation. Popular versus elite art.

Travelling & Places

Geographical areas in the world. Learning from other cultures. Different lifestyles, traditions and beliefs. Cultural shock The English-speaking world. English as a lingua franca. Types of holidays and means of transport.

Health
Lifestyle and health. Stress and anxiety in modern life. Health education. Food and health. Mediterranean diet and other regional diets. Hunger and health in underdeveloped countries. Keeping fit. Body cult and fashions. Epidemics. The spread of AIDS & other infectious illnesses in the world. Drugs. Use and addiction. Disabilities and discrimination.

Nature & Environmental issues

Wildlife and the need for energy. Protecting the environment. Pollution and the effect on the Earth: the ozone layer, global warming and the greenhouse effect. The impact of our life styles on the environment. Town and country. Recycling. Natural disasters.

Mass media
The need for communication and information. Alertness to manipulation. Advertising and consumerism. Papers and magazines. TV and radio. New technologies and the access to communication and information. Internet.

Into the future: The world of Sciences and Technology

From the industrial revolution to the technological revolution. Major breakthroughs and discoveries. The digital era. The potential of internet. The space race. Life on other planets.

Current affairs
The changing map of the world: union and fragmentation of countries. Nationalism. War and peace. A world in conflict. The New World Order. Liberal economies. Free trade and global economy. The Impact on countries and people. Western world & developing countries. The integration of regional economies. Current political issues.

4 LINGUISTIC CONTENT
Here the objectives constitute a consolidation of the concepts and linguistic areas which were initially introduced in <Ciclo Elemental>, and were amplified and reinforced in the fourth year course. 4.1 GRAMMAR The students should be able to use more efficiently the morphosyntactic structures that have to date been acquired and also acquire more complex ones. They should also improve substantially the use of discourse linkers, both in written and oral English.
Special attention will be paid to the following areas:

THE NOUN PHRASE

Countable, Uncountable and Collective Nouns. Problems with plurals. Articles and Determiners Adjectives and Participles. Their position in the noun phrase. The possesive s and the use of nouns as adjectives Pronouns: anaphoric [above, such, former, latter,etc.] and cataphoric [the following, etc.] reference. Use of prepositions: after adjectives and in the prepositional phrase.

THE VERB PHRASE

Tense consolidation: the expression of present, past and future time. Modal auxiliaries. Unreal tenses and subjunctives: - I Wish & If Only - As if/ As though - Id rather/ Id sooner - Its [high] time Complementation of the verb. Transitive and intransitive verbs. Use of prepositions and other particles after verbs. Phrasal verbs [expansion] Adverbs and adverbials: their position in the verb phrase.

THE SENTENCE
Simple & Complex sentences. Sentence connection

Subject-Verb agreement Most common constructions after verbs. - Infinitive and Gerund after verbs. Change of meaning - Verbs followed by That-clauses , report clauses, etc Relative clauses [consolidation] Non-finite clauses [-ing & -ed clauses]. Conditional sentences [consolidation]. Passive sentences [consolidation]

Reported speech & Reporting verbs [consolidation] Connectors. Time connectors and sequencers, logical connectors [cause & effect], adding points, contrast & comparison, summarising, exemplifying, etc]. Emphatic structures: - Cleft sentences: Its...that/where/when... - Fronting & Inversions: changing the word order to change the focus. - Adding words for emphasis: Own, very, indeed, [not] at all, [not] really, -ever, do... Inversions: - After negative adverbials: - Inverted conditional sentences - After so/such...that
After so, neither, nor for agreements, disagreements and echo statements. After here/ there. For dramatic purposes: eg. Out ran the cat/ Bang went the door

4.2 PHONETICS
Sounds and phonetic symbols: Revision of phonetic symbols. Using pronunciation dictionaries Revision of all the sounds focusing mainly on those the students have special difficulty in pronouncing or dont pronounce properly. Spelling into sound. The prediction of English pronunciation. Main phonological differences in the national standards. Word pronunciation: Stress patterns in simple and compound words. Stressed and unstressed syllables. Weak vowels [schwa & short i] Endings and prefixes. Consonant clusters Words with Homophones, homographs and homonyms Words with an irregular pronunciation: Loan words and others.

English rhythm: Sentence stresses Use of weak and strong forms of grammatical words. Contraction and assimilation. Word linking English intonation: Revision of basic intonation patterns [questions, exclamations,tags] Meaning through intonation: contrast, correction, interest, surprise and other emotions.

4.3 VOCABULARY
Students at this level are requested to recognise and use accurately a wide range of vocabulary adequate to different registers and communicative situations. They should as well employ appropriate techniques to avoid frequent repetitions [synonyms, paraphrasing, pro-forms and reference words]. Students should use the list of topics in section 3 in order to build up their personal vocabulary. Formation of words: Prefixes and suffixes. Compounding Loan words from foreign languages Shortenings: ammo, fend, rep, etc. Blends: smoke + fog = smog, etc Collocation of words [words that go together] Topic vocabulary. Specific words and expressions to deal with the thematic areas listed in section 3 at an advanced level. Idioms and metaphorical language Phrasal verbs [extension and consolidation] Descriptive words [verbs, adjectives and adverbs] Communication: speech, thought and mouth noises Body movements: walking, hand actions, holding, etc The 5 senses: Sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste.

4.4 FUNCTIONS
1. Use appropriate forms of courtesy. 2. Express likes and preferences, personal points of view, desires, wishes and expectations. 3. Give your opinion and make your point. Express abstract concepts and information. Express hypotheses. 4. React to other peoples opinions: Agreements and disagreements, criticism. 5. Support your ideas and opinions: Rephrasing, specifications quotations, examples, anecdotes, facts, data and statistics. 6. Provide clarification and further details. 7. Introduce new or related topics. 8. Interrupt, change and return to the topic dealt with. 9. Get others involved in the conversation. 10. Balance your ideas and reach conclusions. Summarise. 11. Describe, narrate and report

5 EVALUATION
Official students who attend classes regularly will be subject to continuous assessment on work and tests/exams done throughout the course, books read, etc. This assessment will help towards the final grade. However, it is compulsory for all students to sit the final exam and obtain a pass in the three sessions described below. (Not necessarily sat in the same order.) Official students who do not attend classes regularly will be assessed on the final exam only and will sit the exam at the same time as the rest of the class. Their final grade will reflect the score obtained in this exam.

USE of ENGLISH............ DURATION 2HRS 30MINS

(Use of English, reading and listening exercises)

A.GRAMMAR, SYNTAX, STRUCTURE, VOCABULARY, READING

This part comprises five exercises:

1. 2.

Approx. 15 individual multiple choice questions, with 4 options. Structure and vocabulary. Closed Cloze (10 multiple choice vocabulary cloze items) The student is asked to fill in the gaps of a short written text with appropriate words, maintaining the coherence of the text and allowing it to be read fluidly. 4 possible options are provided from which the student should chose the best option. Rewrites. 10 sentences. The student is required to rewrite a given sentence in a different way but retaining a similar meaning. Clues are given at the beginning, end or within the restructured sentence. Word building exercise 1 short text, 10 gaps, root words given. Grammar Cloze (10 items). The student is asked to fill in the gaps of a written text with appropriate non lexical words, maintaining the coherence of the text and allowing it to be read fluidly. 15 possible words are provided for the ten spaces and the student will have to decide which might be most suitablE. Reading 2 texts with questions type T/F, multiple choice, finding vocabulary in the text from given clues (definitions, etc.) [approx. 20-30 questions].

3. 4. 5.

6.

B.LISTENING COMPREHENSION [approx. 30 minutes]: Approximately, 25-30 items

related to two different texts [multiple choice questions, gap completion, true/false items, comprehension...]

WRITTEN EXPRESSION............ DURATION 1HR 30MINS

Students must plan and write 1 composition chosen from three options: narration/story-writing, argumentative/discursive essay and descriptive. (Questions will not refer to set reading books.)

Compositions will be approximately 300 words in length.

ORAL EXPRESSION

DURATION........ approx. 15 MINS/pair of students

Some teachers will prefer individual interviews; others may prefer group discussions or conversations.

SCORING
Although listening is included in the Use of English exam, the score obtained will be considered separate from the rest of this part of the exam. Each of the four parts of the exam (ie. Use of English and Reading/Listening/Writing/Oral) = 10 points. A minimum score of 5 is required on each part. Each of the four parts is eliminatory. Students may be asked to re-sit in September only the parts of the examination in which the minimum score is not reached in May. This applies to any of the four parts of the examination. However, if the student fails to reach the minimum score on more than TWO parts, s/he will be required to re-sit the whole examination in September. A minimum score of 5 is also required in September on all parts of the examination. All sections and parts of the exam are subject to modification. *Note: It is understood that everything included in the syllabuses of the previous courses 1,2,3,4 is also included in this syllabus..

6 BIBLIOGRAPHY
6.1 Textbooks used
Gold Advanced - Longman Expert Advanced - Longman The Advanced Grammar Book (and workbook) - Heinle and Heinle Advanced Listening and Comprehension - Heinle and Heinle New Headway Advanced - Oxford Cutting Edge, Advanced - Longman CAE Result - Oxford

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6.2 Use of English: Reference and practice Grammar

Advanced Language Practice, Michael Vince. Heinemann Practical English Usage New edition, and Exercises. Michael Swan. Oxford Azar Interactive Grammar, Prentice-Hall [Advanced Grammar on interactive CD-ROM] Longman Advanced Grammar, Longman Advanced Grammar in Use, Hewings. CUP Paths to Proficiency, Longman Understanding and Using English Grammar, 1989 Prentice Hall University Grammar of English, Quirk & Greenbaum, Longman A Proficiency course in English, F.V.Bywater. Hodder & Stoughton Mastering English Usage, 1994, Prentice-Hall Exploring Grammar in Context, CUP

Vocabulary
Advanced Vocabulary and Idioms, Longman English Vocabulary in Use, Upper Intermediate & Advanced. McCarthy, CUP The words you need. More words you need.

Dictionaries
Collins Spanish-English dictionary or Oxford Spanish English dictionary [unabridged editions] Collins Cobuild. English Language dictionary, Cambridge International dictionary of English, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English. Websters New World Dictionary or Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Cambridge Word Selector, Oxford Learners Wordfinder or Longman Language Activator MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners wirh CDRom (monolingual) Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary The Concise Oxford Dictionary Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, CUP; Oxford dictionary of Phrasal Verbs or The Cobuild Series. Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Collins. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms or Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, CUP Diccionario Bilinge de Modismos. Ingls-Espaol, Espaol-Ingls. F.Snchez Benedito. Alhambra Longman. Oxford Visual dictionary or The Oxford-Duden Pictorial dictionary Rogets International Theasurus. Synonyms, Antonyms & Related words

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6.3 Pronunciation:
Pronunciation Dictionary, JC Wells, Longman. English Pronouncing Dictionary, Daniel Jones, CUP Headway Upper Intermediate Pronunciation, OUP Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English, CUP Sounds English, Longman

6.4 Skills: Listening, Reading, Writing & Speaking:

Advanced Writing. OUP. Write to be Read, William R. Smalzer. CUP Academic Encounters, Bernard Seal. CUP Academic Writing by Bjrk Advanced Listening & Speaking CAE, OUP Heinemann integrated skills. Advanced. Effective Reading: Reading Skills for Advanced Students, 1986, CUP Reactions, Prentice-Hall The Heinemann TOEFL Preparation Course, 1996, Heinemann Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL test, J.& R. Gear, Cambridge Magazines: Newsweek, The Economist, Speak Up, etc.

6.5 Culture
Britain Explored, Longman Britain in Close-Up, Longman In Britain, Richmond Life in Modern America, Longman The American Way, An Introduction to American Culture, Prentice-Hall The United Kingdom Today, Longman

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