Foreign Language Didactic Units: Planning and Methodology for Primary Education
TOPIC 21: Foreign Language Area Planning: Didactic Units
Criteria for the Sequence and Timing of Contents and Objectives. Selection of Methodology to Use in Learning and Assessment Activities.
1. Introduction
When teaching a foreign language, the first aspect we have to consider is the objective we want to reach at the end of the Primary Education Stage. According to the LOMLOE 3/2020 December 29th, the Royal Decree 157/2022 March 1st and the Decree 61/2022 July 13th (in Madrid); the main goal of foreign language teaching is to help our students to understand and express simple messages, putting the emphasis in oral comprehension and expression. In other words, our aim is to promote the development among students of an adequate Communicative Competence in the foreign language and its sub-competences.
Therefore, both Royal Decree 157 and Decree 61, as well as the concretions given by the school project are the basis for elaborating programme designs for each cycle (and level) as it is stated in the Order 130/2023 January 23rd. Where objectives, key and specific competences, contents, evaluation criteria, and didactic methodology must be adapted to the students’ characteristics.
Taking into account these general aspects, along this topic I will deal with the planning of the foreign language area. First, I will pay special attention to the Didactic Units and the elements that form them. Second, I will explain the sequence and timing of objectives, contents and evaluation criteria. The last part of this essay will be related to the selection of the methodology to develop activities. And finally, I will compile the main ideas in a brief conclusion, and a bibliography used to develop this topic.
2. Foreign Language Area Planning
When we want to program for teaching, we must bear in mind many aspects such as the characteristics of the students, their interests, etc. However, to know this information, an initial evaluation can be done at the beginning of the course and therefore, through Didactic Units.
2.1. Definition and Characteristics of a Didactic Unit
A Didactic Unit is a planning and teaching action designed around a set of activities or learning situations developed in a specific period of time in order to get a set of specific objectives.
In order to do so, it is important to remember that the Primary Education Stage is organized in six courses, and they are grouped into three cycles. Didactic Programs are designed for each cycle (that includes two levels) in which didactic units are developed according to the students’ characteristics, level and course.
2.2. Elements of a Didactic Unit
Thus, a didactic programming is formed by the following elements: general cycle objectives, key competences, learning contents, transversal contents, methodology, learning situations, materials and resources, space and time arrangement, evaluations and attention to students´individual differences.
Let us explain all of them:
a. General Cycle Objectives. Primary Education stage establishes fourteen general objectives, which are included in Royal Decree 157/2022, March 1st (art. 7) and Decree 61/2022 (art. 5). In this stage, all subjects must contribute to its acquisition, though Foreign Language teaching is directly related to objective f:
To acquire, in at least one foreign language, basic skills to enable them to express and understand simple messages and functions in everyday situations.
b. Key Competences are the abilities to implement in teaching and educational stage, in order to encompass learnings from different subjects in one overall framework, and in turn, they are acquired when working on the specific competences of each area.
These key competences are defined in LOMLOE and they are numerated in Royal Decree 157/2022 and in Decree 61/2022. They are eight:
- Linguistic competence.
- Plurilingual competence.
- Mathematical competence and competence in Science, Technology and Engineering.
- Digital competence.
- Personal, social and learning-to-learn competence.
- Citizenship competence.
- Entrepreneurship competence.
- Cultural consciousness and artistic expression.
Furthermore, specific competences are an important element that are intended to connect on the one hand, the key competences and on the other hand, contents and the evaluation criteria.
d. Learning Contents are defined in terms of knowledges, skills and attitudes proposed in the RD 157/2022 for each of the three educative cycles.
Moreover, we find three blocks of contents for the Foreign Language: Communication, Plurilingualism and Interculturality. But, according to D 61/2022, there is another block of contents called Syntactic Discursive Contents, which deals with grammar aspects.
In contrast, Bilingual Schools teachers will consider the orientations given by Order 5958/2010 December 7th in which contents distribution guidelines are specified.
e. Transversal Contents are a group of objectives and contents that must form part of any activity as soon as they are considered as basic aspects of our students’ general education.
f. Methodology is related to the principles we have to take into account to plan our units. Within it, the general principles and classroom management techniques should be included.
g. Activities should be divided into 3 stages: presentation, practice and production. But also, they should be organized following the Natural Language Order Acquisition (listening, speaking, reading and writing), should foster students’ participation, must be varied and must consider diversity.
h. Materials and Resources we are going to use, should be reflected in our didactic unit (texts, real materials, ICT…).
i. Space and Time Arrangement will be decided taking into account students’ interests, abilities and motivation.
j. Evaluation main aim is to provide us with as much information as possible about our students’ learning progresses as well as to check the effectiveness of our own teaching practice.
According to Decree 61/2022, and more specifically Order 130/2023 January the 23rd that establishes the evaluation and organization process for Madrid Autonomous Community, students´ learning evaluation during the Primary Education Stage will be global, continuous and formative and it will take into account the degree of development of the specific competences of each area and the progressive acquisition of key competences in accordance with the Exit Profile established in Annex I of Decree 61/2022, July 13th.
However, what the Exit Profile makes reference to? It makes reference to the capabilities students must achieve at the end of the Primary Education stage, that are associated with the union of the key competences with the operational descriptors.
k. Attention to Students´ Individual Differences is regulated by the Order 23/2023 March 22nd which sets the basis to adopt the proper measures along the units to ensure a meaningful learning and a successful teaching process.
Now we have dealt with the way teachers should carry a didactic programming, we should explain the next step to be followed.
3. Planning the Sequence and Timing of Contents and Objectives
As far as “sequence” is concerned as the time arrangement of objectives and contents along a course in order to keep continuity. “Timing”, is related to the amount of time required to achieve the objectives and to teach the contents.
Next, I will deal first with the sequence and timing of objectives and therefore, with the sequence and timing of contents. Without forgetting to end with an evaluation.
3.a. Planning the Sequence of Objectives
Foreign Language teaching is directly related to cycle general objective F in RD 157/2022 (art.7) and D 61/2022 (art. 5):
To acquire, in at least one foreign language, basic skills to enable them to express and understand simple messages and functions in everyday situations.
Teachers design didactic objectives for each didactic unit as specifications of general cycle objectives, taking into account the contents worked and the specific competences involved. When sequencing the objectives we have to consider that in this stage, oral skills are more important than written ones since understanding precedes production. Therefore, in the first courses we should give priority to the capacity to understand simple oral messages. In the followings, the aim is to take students gradually to production and, finally, teachers will give more importance to the development of expressive capacities.
3.b. Planning the Sequence of Contents
Now moving on to the sequence of contents, it is important to highlight that contents (basic knowledges for the Spanish territory) which are defined in terms of attitudes, skills and knowledges, are proposed in the RD 157/2022 for each of the three educative cycles. In this sense, contents have been disposed to be worked along two academic years giving students flexibility for their acquisition. What´s more, as it is set in Order 130/2023 January 23rd art. 8 teachers should appropriately distribute of learning activities or situations to mobilize the contents of the cycle in the different units of didactic programming.
Therefore, when sequence the contents, the best manner to do it is by organizing different elements such as the type of text, the communication channel or the use of verbal and non-verbal strategies to understand or to express something.
3.c. Planning the Evaluation
Now, if we do not learn through our mistakes, it is not possible to improve our teaching. Therefore, an evaluation is necessary to be carried out and it must be global, formative and continuous, so every single part of the process will be assessed.
In addition to this, at the end of the first and second cycles, the tutor will write a report reflecting the degree of development of key competences; and at the end of the third cycle, a final report where operational descriptors will be analysed to determine the exit profile of each student.
Taking all these aspects into account, I will deal now with the last point in my essay which will be devoted to the design of activities and the selection of the most appropriate methodology to promote in our students the Communicative Competence.
4. Selection of the Methodology to Use in Learning and Assessment Activities
Therefore, it is required to state that the Communicative Competence is the ability to communicate effectively in a language while understanding cultural and social norms.
So in order to choose which methodology is the best to reach this goal, we have to be eclectic and select the best aspects of each method in order to adapt it to students’ characteristics and needs.
Furthermore, the type of activities should always be communicative and follow the Natural Order Language Acquisition proposed by Krashen. According to him, the acquisition of languages must go from receptive (listening and reading) to productive skills (speaking and writing) and from oral (listening and speaking) to written ones (reading and writing). Moreover, the activities should follow the Universal Learning Design (ULD) by offering multiple ways of expressing themselves or represent information, as well as, promote the acquisition of the lifelong learning key competences proposed by Royal Decree 157/2022.
To do so, we can make a role play in the classroom in which students must plan a trip to outside space to discover if there is life in another planet.
As students speak to each other in English they will be developing the linguistic and multilingual competence. Moreover, they will have to make decisions and solve problems during the mission so they will develop their citizenship competence and social and learning to learn competence.
And why not? If I carry out a Breakout where they must solve different tests to get a number code and go inside the shift, they will be also working on the mathematical competence.
Also, older students can create an online newspaper using the free and online application “Flipsnack”. They will hence develop their digital competence and their entrepreneurship competence.
All these learning situations can be carried out following the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by offering multiple ways of expressing themselves or represent information.
I am reaching the end of the topic, thus it is time for the conclusion.
5. Conclusion
As a conclusion, we can point out that the elaboration of a didactic programming is a necessary element within the teaching/learning practice since it allows us, on the one hand, to organize our teaching practice and, on the other hand, to adapt the teaching planning to students’ characteristics and needs. Furthermore, to succeed in the elaboration of any didactic programming it is required the participation and co-operation of the whole teaching staff since they are in charge of selecting the content programme to promote among our students an adequate Exit Profile at the end of the Primary Stage, where the Communicative Competence in the foreign language as well as the development of the four basic linguistic skill are achieved.
6. Bibliography
- Crystal, O. L. D. (2018). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (3rd Reviseded.). Cambridge University Press.
- Hymes, D. (1972). On Comunicative Competence (in Sociolinguistics). Penguin.
- Jakobson, R., & Halle, M. (2017). Fundamentals of Language. Andesite Press.