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Foreword

The very first edition of Inglés Programación Didáctica the author published with MAD was in February 2005. In those days, the legislation on which the syllabus in the book was based was the so-called LOCE. This Education Act would never be implemented as it was repealed by LOE in May 2006. The necessary changes were made to the book to adapt it to the new legislation, and a new edition was published. However, the contents in the syllabus itself were very much the same as those included in the first version.

A new version of the book to adapt it to the LOMCE was then published in 2016, with a new revision in 2018. In the foreword to that edition, we said: “We do not know how long it will be in force. Yet, the contents of the syllabus are and will be very much the same. The explanation is simple. First of all, this book is, to a great extent, based on the Common European Framework of Reference. Secondly, the legislation may change in terms of how the Education System is organised, but the contents of what we teach are, essentially, the same. We teach to help students develop the four skills, regardless of whether the Education Authorities divide them into two or four blocks of content. We teach grammar or lexis, hopefully, so that students can use what they have learnt in real communicative situations. We also aim to help our students become critical thinkers. Or, if we do not, we should”. It is now time for a new version to update it to LOMLOE. Again, we don’t know how long this current law will last. Again, the key aspects remain the same.

Obviously, both the way we communicate and interact with others and the way our society operates at the end of the first quarter of the 21^st century are not the same as they were at the beginning of the quarter, and so should be reflected in the way we plan and the way we teach. Yet, the need for students to develop their critical thinking skills, the key competences for lifelong learning, and their communicative competence in English and in other languages remains. And yes, some terminology has changed but, as we shall see, we are talking about the same things, and the emphasis is still on what students can do and how teachers can help them develop Learner Agency.

Twenty-two years have gone by since Susan Black –then in charge of the actual classes for Secondary School Teachers of English at SLS Hallam– and the author of this manual began consulting the CEFR and selecting articles and materials for what would serve as the bibliography and some of the contents for the very first edition. Her help and friendship have always been invaluable.

Neither this book nor any of the others before it would have been written had it not been for Vernon Nash, from and with whom the author learnt so much. And since learning is a lifelong process, the author has kept reading and learning more about how languages are acquired and learnt, how our brain operates when we learn, how the adolescent brain develops… The final outcome for this edition is the result of those readings –together with the current legislation and some of the contents covered in PoppieS Foundation 3-Syllabus and Unit/Learning Situation Design.

This final outcome would not have been the same without the suggestions made by some English teachers the author had the fortune to have as students at different times. For this edition, Marilena Pavel, Margarita Andreychuk and Priscila Chicano raised some of the questions and points the author has tried to address in this manual. I hope to have managed to answer them with clarity. Roy Nash has helped with the English version of current legislation and with insightful comments and edits. The original contents of the book have, therefore, been revised, updated, and changed when and as much as deemed necessary.

The general aim of this manual is to give candidates, and Secondary English teachers in general, ideas on how to organise their syllabus design and the planning of their didactic units and Learning Situations, based on current legislation and on “The Common European Framework for Languages” and its 2020 Companion.

We hope that this Guide helps you get ideas on how to draft your own syllabus design and learning situations and better understand the connections among the different parts of the curriculum under current legislation.

Parts in the book

The book has finally been divided into five sections:

Part I: The Subject of your Syllabus

Regardless of the legislation, when we plan our syllabus, our main concern is our students. This part includes:

• Implications of teenagers’ physical, cognitive and psychological development
• Motivations, expectations and needs: The WHY of learning (with an introduction to UDL)
• Implications for the teacher.

Part II: The Foundations

Aiming to explain the legislation, this part covers the following contents:

• Preliminary Considerations: Curriculum and Syllabus.
• Regulatory framework-The Official Curriculum.
• The School Documents
• Other Key Documents
• Syllabus design: The teacher’s role
• Objectives in the Official Curriculum and in your Syllabus
• Competences in the Curriculum and in your Syllabus Design
• Methodology
• Assessment in Language Learning and Teaching

Part III: Considerations and Guidelines to Design Your Course Syllabus

The aim of this part is to help you consider what we need to plan the activities, tasks and learning situations in the syllabus and the classes. The following points make up this part:

• Practical Considerations to Develop Competences and Master the Contents
• Practical Guidelines to design your Syllabus (including assessment criteria for your document and sample templates for the learning situations/units in the document.
• Practical Considerations to design a Unit and a Learning Situation for the Oral Presentation (with recommended steps to follow when designing them so that you implement UDL Principles and design rubrics in line with the ELOs and Attainment Targets.

Part IV: A Sample Syllabus for 1st CSE

Illustrating what was said in Part III, it also includes a sample for a learning situation and a unit

Part V: Current Legislation

Divided into two parts, the first deals with the legislation for English for both CSE and Bachillerato, particularly in terms of Educational principles, Objectives, Operational descriptors, Specific Competences and their assessment criteria, Basic Knowledge, learning situations and catering for SEND students.  The second analyses the similarities and differences between the different Autonomous Regions and State legislation. 

If you feel something should have been included and is not, let us know. If it is reasonable, we’ll try to make it part of the next edition.

Where can you find the book?

• Editorial Mad-7 Editores
• List of bookshops where it is available.

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