1. The document discusses foreign language education in primary schools in Spain. It emphasizes the importance of learning foreign languages for social, educational, and economic reasons. 2. It outlines the objectives, contents, basic competences, methodology, and evaluation process for teaching foreign languages. The goals are to develop language skills like listening, speaking, reading and writing. 3. Methodology should be active, participatory, and focus on communication. Teachers are encouraged to create a supportive environment to engage students and reduce anxiety about making mistakes.

1. TOPIC 20. THE AREA OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES IN THE CURRICULUM.
CRITERIA TO BE PRESENT IN THE
SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT.

2. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, with the expansion of the European Union, the ability to
communicate in a Foreign language is very important for social,
educational, and economic reasons. Learning another language is a
way of approaching to other cultures, and, it is a way to gain access
to the wider labour market.
The command of a new language involves the development of four
main language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, but
also sociocultural aspects of the different language speaking
countries.
Nowadays, English is considered as a lingua franca in the world, it
uses be used as second language among people who aren’t from
English speaking countries.
For these reasons the area of foreign language has special
consideration within schools; it is included in each of the three
cycles of the Primary Education and it is given the status of an
instrumental area (MEC, 2006).
The curriculum is sufficiently flexible and decentralised to allow schools
and teachers adapting it to their specific teaching context and their
particular students, paying attention to differences and diversity.

3. THE AREA OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES IN THE CURRICULUM.
The educational system proposes different levels of curriculum
design:
1. Royal Decree 1513/ 2006 in Spain and the Order of
August 10th in Andalucía contain the guidelines for
Primary Schools and are a required point of reference in
writing a School Educational Project.
2. In order to guarantee high quality education, each school
must contextualise the law according to their particular
reality and philosophy of teaching.
3. Then this is carried out by the teacher at class/ group
level since it’s clear that every students have different
characteristics and needs.
4. There is also a final (4th) level of curriculum design,
Individual Curricular Adaptations (ICA), for those students
who present some specific need of educational support.

4. The Foreign Language Area
Royal Decree 1513/ 2006 specifies that
Primary Education comprises three cycles which
are organized into areas with a global and
integrating character. This means that the
teaching in one area will integrate experiences
and learning from other areas. The area of
foreign language is included in each of the three
cycles and it is given the status of an
instrumental area which means that has special
consideration. Specific development of the
curriculum of the area is made in Annex II of
Royal Decree 1513/ 2006, in the chapter entitled
the Foreign Language.

5. Objectives refer to the aims that guide the learning process.
1. To listen and understand verbal messages.
2. To express and interact orally in simple, day to day situations through
verbal or non verbal procedures.
3. To write texts about topic previously dealt with.
4. To read different types of texts, related to their experiences and
interests, and be able to extract general and specific information.
5. To learn to use all the methods they have to obtain and communicate in
a foreign language, such as new technologies.
6. To value the foreign languages as a means of communication and
understanding among people from different cultures.
7. To have a receptive and confident attitude towards the learning process
and the use of foreign languages.
8. To use the previous knowledge of other languages to learn the new one
in a more effective and autonomous way.
9. To be able to properly use the phonetics, rhythm, stress and intonation,
and the linguistic and lexical aspects of the foreign language in
communication.

6. Contents are means required in order to develop abilities or objectives.
• Block 1. Listening, speaking and conversing: the
teaching will focus on learning the linguistic elements and
on developing the capacity to use them. To achieve this,
the children must be provided with a rich, varied and
suitable input.
• Block 2. Reading and writing: differences in the graphical
representations between the known language and the
foreign language.
• Block 3. Language awareness: this block includes the
reflections over the learning process, to establish which
elements are similar to the language they know and which
strategies will help them learn.
• Block 4. Sociocultural knowledge and intercultural
awareness: language constitutes a vehicle for
communication and cultural transmission. Learning a
foreign language involves knowing other cultures and
fosters the respect and acceptance of behavioural and
cultural differences, promoting tolerance and integration.

7. Cross-curricular contents.
Education in values
• Peace: Cooperative activities and group work. Dialogues
as the main way to solve problems. Respect towards the
rules of the classroom and diversity of cultures and
opinions.
• Health: Healthy habits such as hygiene, feed, physical
activity, daily activities…
• Coeducation: Mixed group work with the same materials
and activities both for girls and boys.
• Environmental: Respect towards the nature, animals and
plants. Education for responsible consumption, recycle.
• Vial: Look left- right, traffic signals, means of transport, etc.

8. Basic Competences refer to student’s ability to perform specific tasks.
a) Linguistic competence in communication. People who know foreign languages
have more possibilities to communicate. English learners develop new expressive
nuances and communicative strategies.
b) Competence in maths, the hour, converting pounds or dollars in euros, miles in
kilometres and vice versa.
c) Competence in the knowledge about and interacting with the environment: A
language is the main vehicle for human thinking, the most powerful tool for
interpreting and representing the reality and the learning instrument par excellence.
d) Digital and information processing competence: The incorporation of the
information and communication technologies to the school (ICT Schools 2.0) makes
communication possible in real time with any part of the world. Children will also have
easy and immediate access to a continuous and never ending flow of information.
E.g. Projects or reports, web pages, blogs, forums, data bases, etc.
e) Social and civic competence: Languages are also vehicles of communication and
cultural transmission; knowledge of a different culture from their own contributes to
the respect and acceptance of the differences, promoting tolerance and integration.
f) Cultural and artistic competence: Language itself has a cultural component. It
involves knowledge of monuments and other art expressions (music, books, movies),
customs, traditions, geography, conventions, festivities, celebrities, etc.
g) Learning to learn competence to continue learning in an autonomous way. To use
dictionaries, searching games and other Internet tools.
h) Competence in personal autonomy and initiative (tightly related with learning to
learn competence): The inclusion of a content block devoted to the reflection on
language which makes the children conscious of their own way of learning and aware
of the most efficient strategies for them to use.

9. METHODOLOGY
Methodology refers to the way we are going to teach for
reaching the objectives according to our students’ characteristics
and resources available. Decree 230/ 2007, Guidelines:
• To adapt our lessons to the scholar context and students’
characteristics.
• Create communicative contexts, as real as possible and
use contextual support for facilitating students’
comprehension.
• Integration of the four skills, but giving priority to the oral
ones (listening and speaking). Communicative approach.
• Students are active participants. To relate new knowledge
with previous knowledge.
• Respect the silent period. During this period TPR activities
are particularly useful. Comprehensible Input is very
important, neither too difficult or easy. ZDP Vygotsky.

10. METHODOLOGY
• Methodology should be active and participatory
based on tasks, games, pairs and group work,
dialogues, etc.
• Pairs work, group work, U- shape and circles are
ideal organizations in order to develop
communication.
• We can have an English corner where keep all
materials.
• Resources should be authentic when possible.
We can use ICT, songs, stories, videos, etc. The
teacher and students can design materials,
making students more involved in the process.

11. METHODOLOGY
Creating a good environment in the classroom to avoid
anxiety and encourage students’ motivation implies:
• Consider errors a useful and natural part of the teaching-
learning process. It should be correct in an indirect way.
• Using interesting and enjoyable learning activities such
as games. Games are very useful in dealing with the
diversity of the class since we can vary the type and
level of activity.
• To establish a code of conduct with the agreement of
both students and the teacher and display the rules on
the wall. We can display also pupils’ works.
• It’s very important to establish routines for a good
classroom management and because students feel
confident with them.

12. Evaluation process
• The evaluation of the students’ learning will be
global and continuous.
• The evaluation will take place in different
elements of the curriculum.
• The evaluation criteria of the areas will be the
reference by which the teachers evaluate the
degree of acquisition of the basic competences.
• Throughout the process, if the teacher realises
that the students are having problems, he or she
will have to remedy the situation with extra
activities.
• Teacher will evaluate their own teaching
procedures.

13. Evaluation criteria
Evaluation criteria are the places where objectives and
contents meet. They are guidelines which help teachers to check the
type and level of learning that students have acquired within a given
period. Evaluation criteria in the area of foreign language area are
based on the proposed objectives:
• Comprehension of spoken and written
messages.
• Production of messages in communicative
situations.
• Comprehension of reading.
• Self –learning.
• Sociocultural aspects.

14. Relationships between English and other areas
• Castilian language and literature: English learners develop
new expressive nuances and communicative strategies. With
the use of different literary genres such as stories, fables,
poems, short novels, fairy tales, etc. Drama-based activities.
• Physical education: TPR activities, mimic games, role
plays, body language, etc.
• Artistic Education: Music, art projects, role plays,
monuments, festivities, puppets, etc.
• Maths: The hour, distances, converting pounds or dollars to
€, miles to Km and vice versa.
• Sciences (Environmental knowledge): Knowledge of other
cultures, maps, history, searching games, etc. Many of our
contents are related to the nature, animals and plants.

15. THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT
The Educational Project, the Managerial Project and
the Rules of Organization and Functioning (ROF) form
the School Plan (Junta de Andalucía, 2010).
As we have seen before, the curriculum is flexible
and decentralised to allow schools and teachers
adapting it to their specific teaching context and their
particular students, paying attention to differences and
diversity. Teachers must identify their particular school
context in the School Educational Project in order to
analyse the starting point for their particular teaching and
learning situation.
The educational project expresses the philosophy of
education that each school wants taking into account the
values, objectives, and priorities for action, from a
cultural point of view, for the area where it is located
based on its reality and with reference to the law (Junta
de Andalucía, 2010).

16. The educational project
The educational project addresses among others:
• Own objectives for improving school performance.
• General lines of pedagogic performance.
• Education in values.
• The form of attention to student diversity.
• The Orientation Plan and Tutorial Action.
• The procedures to establish links and commitments with families.
• The Coexistence Plan to prevent disruptive behaviours.
• The Teacher Training Plan.
• The procedures and criteria for evaluation and promotion of
students.
• The criteria to organize and distribute school time.
• Internal evaluation procedures.
• The criteria for grouping of students and the allocation of tutoring.
• The general criteria for developing the curriculum of each of the
areas.
• The strategic plans developed in the school.

17. Teaching program
According to Decree 328/ 2010 (Junta de
Andalucía, 2010), Didactics Programs in
Primary Education are specific planning
instruments, development and evaluation
of each area of the curriculum established
by the legislation. It will address the
general criteria in the educational project
and take into account the needs and
characteristics of the students.
Programming within teachers’ functions is a
planning tool for classroom activity

18. Why do we need to program?
• To ensure coherence between the educational intentions of the
center and teaching practice. It’s an adapted and coherent guide for
teaching.
• It avoids improvisation, saving time and unnecessary effort.
• It promotes meditation on the teaching practice about possible
adaptations we can make in our objectives, contents, methodology
and activities.
• It makes us more aware of how to evaluate.
• To attend the diversity of interests, motivations, needs and
characteristics in general of the students.
CONCLUSION: Some teachers consider the program as a
bureaucratic task that wastes time. However, we should consider the
need to collect, in a minimally structure, the daily task of a school
and/ or classroom to be aware of what we are doing, and to
compare and contrast the work done during the academic year.