LEB Syllabus Third Cycle

LEB Syllabus Third Cycle

1. Importance of English language

   • The importance of learning the English language has effectively become a social priority to the citizens of Costa Rica.
     • because of it
       • Appears the creation of a differentiated study plan, Experimental Bilingual Schools (LEB) for Third Cycle and Diversified Education, with emphasis on learning English.

2. New curriculum

   • projected to create citizens able to:
     • -express their own points of view. -practice peaceful conflict resolution. -reflect and use critical thinking processes. -defend and protect Human Rights and be against all forms of discrimination.

3. Legal Foundation

   • The English curriculum is founded on a legal framework that includes the 1949 National Constitution.
     • in terms to accomplish the purposes of Costa Rican education, which are:
       • -To educate citizens who love their country. -To contribute to the full development of the human personality. -To prepare citizens for a democracy. -To preserve and expand our cultural heritage

4. Philosophical foundation

   • education reform nurtured by
     • Rationalism: it promotes the development of complex, challenging, creative and critical thinking skills
     • Humanism: Searches for the full realization of the human being, as a person, endowed with dignity and values for the common will.
     • Constructivism: The learner constructs and reconstructs understanding and learnings

5. Pedagogical conceptualization

   • The English curriculum is permeated by:
     • The Socio-Constructivist Approach
       • perceives the learner as a responsible member of a world community and views teachers as social engineers.
     • Holism
       • Holism conceives reality as a set of systems, a mixture of chaos and order where uncertainty is greater than the known reality.
     • Critical Pedagogy
       • The critical pedagogy emphasizes the political dimension of teaching whereby learners become producers of knowledge, not just consumers.

6. English as an object of study

   • purpose of studying English
     • the development of the learner’s communicative competence as well as the knowledge, skills, abilities, values, and competences of a 21st century citizen.

7. Pedagogical approach

   • The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in the Costa Rican Context
     • used because
       • It provides a common basis for the development of language
       • It describes what language learners do at different levels of proficiency
       • It provides a common terminology that can be adapted for all languages and educational contexts.
     • it defines communication as
       • a social act, where learners are social agents, developing a range of general and specific communicative language competences
   • communicative language competences involve
     • Linguistic component: Deals with the knowledge of phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax
     • Sociolinguistic component: Refers to the Sociocultural/ sociointercultural conditions of language
     • Pragmatic component: Covers, among others, speaker´s and receptor´s attitudes and beliefs