Developing respect for diversity of culture and opinion in English language programme

8 Developing communication skills in English language programme

The Programme aims to enable Kazakhstani citizens to communicate effectively with different audiences. Developing the skills which are needed to achieve this should be accompanied by the fostering and promoting an environment in which communication in a range of forms is encouraged and valued and where learners feel confident in expressing themselves.

Throughout the curriculum, learners will be encouraged to communicate with their fellow learners, teachers and wider audiences, using a range of media in oral and written form. Examples of listening activities in the English programme:

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  listening to a description and labelling a picture
  
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  following classroom instructions
  
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  drawing objects in a picture in the appropriate position by listening to a description of where they are
  

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  making statements giving personal information about a member of family or favourite character in course book
  
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  describing a picture in order to spot the difference between two similar pictures when working in pairs
  
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  expressing likes and dislikes in order to take part in a class survey
  

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  remembering sound and letter patterns
  
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  predicting activities using a picture accompanying a short text and then checking the texts in order to confirm predictions
  
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  using a simple dictionary
  

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  forming higher and lower case letters
  
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  labelling a diagram/picture with familiar words
  
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  ordering jumbled up words in a sentence
  

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  using basic nouns, modals, adjectives, connectors, adverbs, pronouns, determiners, prepositions and conjunctions
  

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  using present simple forms to describe a character’s daily routines
  
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  using verbs followed by –ing to talk about likes and dislikes
  

Criteria-based assessment – the assessment process based on a comparison of learners’ academic achievements with clearly defined collectively elaborated and familiar to all stakeholders (leaners, administration of educational organization, teaching staff , parents and other legal representatives) criteria, fulfilling the objectives and content of primary education.

Criteria-based assessment is based on the principle that teaching, learning and assessment are inter-related; its results are used to plan and organize the learning process effectively.

Criteria-based assessment system for primary school includes formative assessment (FA) and internal summative assessment (ISA).

Formative assessment – the assessment process which determines the current level of knowledge and skills acquirement in the daily work in the classroom and / or at home and carrying out operational connection between learner and teacher in the learning process, allowing leaners to understand how well they perform tasks when learning new material and achieve learning goals and objectives.

Internal summative assessment – the assessment process that determines the level of knowledge acquisition and skill development at the final stage of learning a large unit or a block of learning material by grades.

Internal summative assessment is carried out by school teachers at the school level. The results of the ISA will serve as a basis for determining final grades for the reporting periods.

Taking into account the age characteristics of students only classroom assessment is carried out in Grade 1. Termly grades are reported at the end of terms 3 and 4. Annual grade in Grade 1 is rewarded and calculated based only on the classroom assessment results for the year.

Internal summative assessment is implemented in Grade 2. Termly grades are reported at the end of terms 1-4 based on the classroom assessment results. At the end of the school year one internal summative assessment is carried out. Annual grade is achieved through a combination of CA and ISA marks across all four terms and is calculated in the definite percentage.

In Grades 3-4 results of learner’s progress will be reported in the following forms:

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  Termly Grade will be reported at the end of each term, four times a year. It will combine the Classroom Assessment and the Internal Summative Assessment for the term in the definite percentage.
  
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  Annual grade will combine the Classroom Assessment and the Internal Summative Assessment for the four terms in the definite percentage.