Level 1: A1 CEFR

AUDIENCE: This course is intended for beginner-level students with little or no English language ability. 

GOALS: The course focuses on developing basic linguistic competencies to understand and use English for communication in areas of immediate need (e.g. ask for information, check in a hotel) and on familiar, daily life topics (e.g. daily routine, likes-dislikes). 

TYPES OF WORK: Through guided individual and group work, students participate in exploratory, question-and-answer interactions, planned and some unplanned role plays, simple, self- focused narratives, and listening activities that promote overall comprehension. Controlled pronunciation practice and speaking tasks (e.g. descriptions) provide the opportunity to focus on the perception and production of basic vowel sounds, numbers, and aspects of word stress. In addition, students engage in pre-reading, pre-writing, and simple reading and writing activities (e.g. email, blog) to develop comprehension and writing fluency. They also work to enhance the learning and practice of basic, formulaic, everyday vocabulary, as well as grammar, with an emphasis on simple sentence structure, core verb tenses, as well as high-frequency verb forms. 

OUTCOMES: By the end of the course, students are able to recognize and employ a limited language repertoire, as they engage with some clarity, fluency, and confidence in common, basic interactions in situations of immediate relevance and need. 

ASSESSMENT: Students’ performance in this course is assessed through graded homework assignments, quizzes, unit tests, midterm and final level exams.