English Plus Key competences
The European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong 4 Learning to learn
Learning were introduced into education legislation at the
This competence implies that students are aware of their
end of 2006, with the aim of identifying and promoting
own ability to learn a foreign language and of the resources
the specific areas which individuals need to develop in
that should be used for this purpose, as well as the skills and
order to maximise their long-term educational and career
motivation that must be applied in order to continue the
development.
learning of a foreign language throughout their lives. In the
The Key competences enable students to develop foreign language class, the use of self-evaluation features
transferable skills, and have been defined as the ability to and the development of study skills are the most obvious
apply knowledge, skills and attitudes to solve problems in ways in which this competence can be developed.
a range of contexts. In other words, they encourage the
5 Social and civic competences
activation of resources and knowledge that the learner
As well as being a tool for communication, languages form
already has.
part of the common culture of different communities and
A brief explanation of the main characteristics of the seven
countries. They are also a means of sharing culture which
Key competences within the framework of learning a
enhances the respect of, interest in and contact with
foreign language is set out below.
speakers of other languages, as well as the appreciation
1 Communicative competence and acceptance of cultural and behavioural differences. The
nature of many activities that form a core part of foreign
Learning a foreign language contributes to progress in this
language teaching requires students to interact with other
competence by improving students communication skills
students in the class in a cooperative manner.
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). Their written and
oral communication skills are enriched by understanding the
6 Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
way language is structured. Students must show that they
The learning of a foreign language contributes to the
can use language conventions appropriate to the situation,
achievement of this competence because it encourages
and can understand that discourse must be adapted to
teamwork in the classroom, the management of personal
suit different contexts. They can relate this to the study of
resources, and social skills, such as cooperation and
other languages. All activities in the language class have a
negotiation. Students should be encouraged to adopt
communicative outcome of some kind.
procedures which allow them to use their own initiative and
2 Mathematical competence and basic competences in decision-making skills during the planning, organization and
science and technology management of their work. Tasks which require students
to work in pairs or small groups, or carry out short projects,
This area carries less weight than some of the other
require cooperation, flexibility and time management.
competences in the process of learning a foreign language.
Nevertheless, it can feature in the language class in a
7 Cultural awareness and expression
number of different ways, for example when students come
The study of a foreign language requires an understanding
into contact with the use of numbers, their basic operations
of the culture of the countries in which it is spoken. In
and their application to everyday life. Tasks which require
addition to promoting an understanding of the contribution
students to interpret numerical data contribute to this
of others to the cultural and artistic heritage of a country,
competence.
learning a foreign language gives students the means to
3 Digital competence express their own creativity in an appropriate way. Tasks
which require students to express their opinions, give an
Knowledge of a foreign language enables students to access
emotional response or create a piece of original spoken or
a broader range of information and also to communicate
written work, for example a narrative or dialogue, contribute
with a wider range of people. For example, they are able
to this competence.
to communicate with young people in other countries
through email in an authentic and natural way. Language
Key competences and English Plus
courses give students the tools they need to communicate
appropriately in different contexts, including email and
The mapping grids on the following pages show how the
online communication.
Key competences that have been identified as suitable
for development in the English classroom are developed
When learning a foreign language, it is important to be
in English Plus. In addition, you will find optional activities
exposed to a range of resources and genres of speech
throughout this Teacher s Book which have been labelled
and writing. The regular use of digital learning resources,
with the appropriate competence. For quick reference, the
including websites and interactive whiteboard materials,
unit summary in the teaching notes at the start of each unit
directly adds to the development of this competence.
highlights activities that develop different competences.
Key competences
Mapping grid
1 Communicative competence
All the units develop students competence in linguistic communication. The Key phrases in particular highlight functional
speaking and writing activities. There is a section with extra speaking and listening activities at the back of the Student s Book
which develops the competence further (pp. 88 95).
2 Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
This competence is developed through the Curriculum extra In the Extra listening and speaking lesson (Unit 5, p. 92),
lessons: students learn how to say prices and use them in everyday
conversations.
Unit 2  students learn how to interpret symbols and
numbers on a map.
Unit 7  students read about the history of the internet.
Unit 8  students analyze weather charts.
3 Digital competence
Students develop this competence throughout the course Unit 7 develops students knowledge of ICT through the
using the digital components. The self-study MultiROM topic of games and technology:
includes grammar, vocabulary, reading, speaking and
" Reading  students read about the creators of some
listening activities, and games.
popular video games and consoles.
The writing section of the course also includes opportunities
" Language focus  students complete a text about the
for students to develop their ICT skills.
world s number one video games player.
Unit 1  write an email. Students write an informal email
" Vocabulary and listening  students complete an avatar
introducing themselves to a penfriend and including
guide with description words.
personal information about themselves.
" The Curriculum extra section (Unit 7, p. 102) gives
Unit 5  write an email about your school. Students write an
students more information about the internet.
informal email to a penfriend giving information about their
Unit 8  write a blog about an expedition. Students think of
school.
the details of their expedition and post three entries on a
blog.
4 Learning to learn
This competence is developed through the Study strategy Unit 6  Multiple-choice listening. Students learn how to
feature included in each unit. try to eliminate the incorrect answers in a multiple-choice
listening task before they listen to the text.
Unit 1  Using a mind map. Students learn how to create a
mind map to group new vocabulary. Unit 7  Using the Workbook Irregular verbs list. Students
learn how to refer to the Irregular verbs list on page 104 of
Unit 2  Finding spelling rules. Students deduce the rules for
the Workbook. They then use the list to test a partner on the
spelling the plural form of nouns.
verbs.
Unit 3  Predicting. Students learn how predicting the
Unit 8  Nouns from adjectives. Students learn how we
answers to a listening task will help them understand the
change weather nouns to adjectives.
text.
Teachers can also use the introductory column of each unit
Unit 4  Improving pronunciation. Students learn how to link
to develop this competence by pointing out the unit aims
words together to improve their pronunciation.
before they start the unit.
Unit 5  Extending vocabulary. Students think of two extra
This competence is also developed in the Workbook, where
words to include in the lexical sets given.
students evaluate their own progress in the Progress review
at the end of every unit.
Mapping grid
5 Social and civic competences
This competence is developed throughout the course. Unit 4  students play a game to guess the animal a partner
has chosen.
Units 1 8  students practise making mini-dialogues before
changing parts of the presentation dialogue and practising it Unit 5  students listen to a text about school lunches in
with the new words. different countries.
Units 1, 3, 5 and 6  students interview a partner with a Culture lessons: Young people around the world, The United
questionnaire or list of questions to guide them. Kingdom, The English-speaking world, Home schooling,
Roman Britain, Britain s favourite games (pp. 104 111).
Unit 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8  students invent their own questions
to interview a partner. The four cumulative reviews include a question where
students create and practise dialogues in pairs or groups.
Unit 3  students answer questions about countries,
nationalities and languages in the Go global! quiz.
Units 3 and 4  students are introduced to the global issues
of child labour (p. 32) and endangered species (p. 40).
6 Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
This competence is developed throughout the course. As Unit 6  students are encouraged to eliminate the false
the students acquire more language, they are encouraged to answers from multiple-choice questions with a partner
take initiative and cooperate with each other. before listening to the text.
Units 1 8  students work in pairs to substitute the blue Unit 7  students are taught how to compare answers with
words in the dialogues to create new dialogues. a partner using Key phrases. They then practise this skill
playing a game.
Units 1 8  students communicate in pairs or small groups
to complete the oral tasks. Unit 7  students ask and answer questions about yesterday
evening and they have to decide whether their partner is
Units 1 and 5  students work in pairs to answer
telling the truth or not.
questionnaires.
Cumulative reviews: students practise their dialogues in
Units 3 and 8  students test each other on the target
pairs.
language.
Projects: Poster about you, City Profile, My dream school,
Unit 4  students are encouraged to speculate with a partner
Trump card game (Units 1, 3, 5, 7).
on what they see and hear.
7 Cultural awareness and expression
This competence is developed throughout the course. The The writing section of each unit leads up to students
speaking section of each unit leads up to students creating creating an original piece of written work.
their own dialogue.
Unit 1  Write an email.
Unit 1  Greeting and introducing people.
Unit 2  A description of a town.
Unit 2  Asking for travel information.
Unit 3  Country and language report.
Unit 3  Talking about likes and dislikes.
Unit 4  A description of a wildlife photo.
Unit 4  Phoning a friend.
Unit 5  An email about school.
Unit 5  Making, accepting and refusing invitations.
Unit 6  An article about a town.
Unit 6  Talking about last weekend.
Unit 7  A profile of a famous sportsperson.
Unit 7  Talking about past events.
Unit 8  A blog about an expedition.
Unit 8  Making and responding to suggestions.
The competence is also developed in other areas of the course.
About you: after the reading section of each unit, students are encouraged to give their own opinions about
the topic of the text.
Curriculum extra lessons: Colour (p. 96), Non-verbal language (p. 98), Myths and legends (p. 101).
Culture lessons: The United Kingdom, The English-speaking world, Home schooling, Roman Britain,
Britain s favourite games (pp. 104 111).
Mapping grid