Languages Grade 1 to 12

The Languages Department in the Elementary, Middle School and High School Department offer Filipino, Spanish and Mandarin (grades 1-6 and IB Mandarin ab initio for Grade 11 and 12). Grade 9-12 students who intend to study at local colleges and universities in the Philippines are advised to take Filipino. The Language
program is also a component requirement for the IB Program in Grade 11 and Grade 12.

The program aims to provide knowledge necessary to develop in the students excellent communication skills, reading proficiency and appreciation of the literary works through listening, speaking, reading and writing
activities for creative expression and functional use of language.

Ab Initio:
(beginners) Foreign languages for beginners. The Ab Initio program is designed to be studied by students who have no previous experience of learning the target language. The main aim of the program is to prepare the learner to use the language appropriately in a range of situations and contexts and for a variety of purpose. Assessment of the student is done at the start of the school year to determine the level of competence in the target language through the oral and written work, informal dialogues, interviews and other performance-
oriented activities.


Language B:
Foreign Language for students with previous experience in learning the language. The program meet the needs of students who have already studied the target language for 2-5 years immediately prior to the beginning of the
IB course. The main focus of the program is on language acquisition and development.

Language A2:
Language/literature course for highly competent speakers of the target language. It is designed to meet the needs of students with a high level of competence in the target language. The program is based on the study of
both literature and language.

Language A1:
Literature course for native or near native speakers. It is designed to meet the needs of students where the Language A1 is their first language. The study of literature is the main focus on the language program, which
includes a world literature component.

Curriculum Themes

Three distinct themes have been used to ensure that what takes place in the classroom is not only consistent but also meets the CIS Mission Statement and the School-Wide Learning Results. Themes are vehicle through which the scope, standards and benchmarks of students’ learning are described. The theme that best reflect the nature of the nature of the CIS Language Curriculum, its purposes, rationale and goals, are as follows:
        • Social-Communication
        • Academic-Understanding Language
        • Understanding Culture

Theme: Social-communication

Through this theme students develop the capability to communicate effectively in the target language, using various combinations of the four main language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. Aspects that are drawn together with this theme include the purpose, context and processing of language use, texts, and general
knowledge.

Theme: Academic – Understanding Language

Through this theme students engage with range o texts of increasing cognitive and linguistic complexity. There is an explicit and deliberate focus on the form that the target language takes. The focus in this theme is on
developing students’ understanding of:
        • Language through analysis of its structure, in the context of purposeful use
        • How language works as a system, thereby increasingly students’ communicative ability
Aspects of this theme also include knowledge of linguistic concepts and comparison between languages.

Theme: Understanding Culture

This theme seeks to increase awareness of the place of the cultural value systems in observing and analyzing the language, behavior and viewpoint of others. An understanding of cultural value system is also necessary in generating students’ own language, and interacting with others from diverse cultures. The focus is on developing
understanding of:
        • The connection between culture, language and thought
        • How culture concepts and perspectives are manifested in language
        • Culture principles and practices that influence communication
Other aspects in this theme include knowledge of culture concepts and comparison between cultures.

These three themes are interdependent and form an integrated approach to learning and using a language. In this approach, the emphasis is on developing the capacity to communicate effectively in the target language. The result is that communication and language development takes place in linguistically and cultural appropriate ways. In addition, as students develop the capability to move between, and compare languages and cultures, they
develop an understanding of language and culture in general and universal to all people.

 

 

Departments:

English -  Math -  Science -  Social Studies -  Physical Education -  Foreign Language -  Music -  Art  -  IT/Computer   EMC