A guide to

Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language

A guide to the Cambridge Lower Secondary Programme

Introduction

Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language empowers learners to communicate confidently and effectively. It helps them develop the critical skills needed to respond to a range of information, media and texts. It also promotes active learning, develops thinking skills and encourages intellectual engagement.

This curriculum is designed for learners who speak a language other than English at home. It develops a solid foundation for further study of English as a Second Language, and for study through the medium of English. It can be used in any cultural context.

In Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language, learners:

develop a curiosity about other languages and cultures and how these shape our perceptions of the world
see themselves as successful language learners
are able to communicate effectively through the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening
become confident in and enjoy reading a range of texts
develop a solid foundation in the skills required for continued study of English as a Second Language and for study through the medium of English.

Teaching Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language

We provide a wide range of practical resources, detailed guidance, innovative training and professional development so that you can give your learners the best possible experience of Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language.

We believe that for teaching and learning to be effective, there should be alignment between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. We have designed Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language around this principle:

Curriculum – taken from Lower Secondary English as a Second Language Curriculum Framework

8Rd.01 Understand, with little or no support, specific information and detail in short and extended texts.

Pedagogy – 8Rd.01 activity taken from the Stage 8 Scheme of Work

Encourage learners to complete the sentences using the verb ‘to speak’. Highlight the use of the present simple active (for example, speak) and passive forms (for example, is spoken).

Learners work in groups. Each group gets a different text with interesting facts about world languages. Each group reads their text and circles interesting facts. Tell learners they are going to prepare a quiz for the other groups. Encourage learners in each group to compare the facts they circled and decide which five facts they want to include in their quiz.

Give each group a large sheet of paper. Learners prepare a quiz for the other groups. Learners make incomplete sentences and questions. They should also prepare four multiple choice options for each sentence/question. Encourage learners to use the present simple active and passive forms in their quizzes (for example, How many words in English originally come from French? All astronauts are required to speak …). Monitor and help if necessary.

Each group delivers their quiz to the other groups. Groups get a point for each correct answer. The group with the most points wins.

Assessment – question assessing 8Rd.01 taken from a Stage 8 Progression Test

Questions 36 – 43:

Read the article about actress Harriet Walter and then answer the questions.

For questions 36 – 43 circle A, B, C or D.

girls working together in pairs from a tablet

Curriculum Framework

The Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language Curriculum Framework is available to download on the English as a Second Language (0876) page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site. It provides a comprehensive set of learning objectives that give a structure for teaching and learning and can be used to assess learners’ attainment and skills development.

The learning objectives are based on the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This is used widely both within and beyond Europe to map learners’ progression in English. The CEFR provides an international standard that is widely recognised for describing language ability. Alignment to the CEFR makes it easy for schools and parents to understand the level of the English as a Second Language programme.

Learner progression in each strand within the Curriculum Framework is mapped to the levels in the CEFR. The CEFR describes language ability on a six-point scale, from A1 for beginners, up to C2 for those who have mastered a language. The alignment of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary English as a Second Language to the CEFR is illustrated below.

We have divided the learning objectives into ﬁve main areas called ‘strands’ which run through every stage:

These five strands work together to support the development of knowledge, skills and understanding. The Use of English strand provides learners with the linguistic features they need to engage with the language receptively (Reading and Listening) and productively (Writing and Speaking).

Each strand is further subdivided into ‘sub-strands’. The names for the sub-strands for the Reading and Listening strands are similar. This is to help you to identify links between reading and listening skills, and to reflect these in your teaching. The sub-strands for the Writing and Speaking strands have two similar sub-strands and one distinct sub-strand.

Strand	Sub-strand
Listening	Listening for global meaning Listening for detail Listening for opinion
Speaking	Communication Express opinion Organisation
Writing	Communicative achievement Organisation Content
Reading	Reading for global meaning Reading for detail Reading for opinion
Use of English	Grammatical forms Vocabulary Sentence structure

We have designed the learning objectives so learners progress from Stage 7 to Stage 9 and onwards into Cambridge Upper Secondary. You can download a Progression Grid, that outlines the progression for all learning objectives across all stages, from the English as a Second Language (0876) page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.

**Find information in the Progression Grid**

**Find information in the Progression Grid**

In the Progression Grid, identify the stage that you will be teaching, and the prior knowledge that learners are expected to have. It is important to ensure that this prior knowledge is secure before moving on to new skills and knowledge.

Here are some examples of how knowledge, understanding and skills progress across the stages:

Curriculum Framework

We have divided the learning objectives into ﬁve main areas called ‘strands’ which run through every stage:

Strand	Sub-strand
Listening	Listening for global meaning Listening for detail Listening for opinion
Speaking	Communication Express opinion Organisation
Writing	Communicative achievement Organisation Content
Reading	Reading for global meaning Reading for detail Reading for opinion
Use of English	Grammatical forms Vocabulary Sentence structure

Here are some examples of how knowledge, understanding and skills progress across the stages:

Learning objective Examples
Strand	Stage 7	Stage 8	Stage 9
Reading	Deduce meaning from context, with little or no support, in short and extended texts.	Deduce meaning from context and understand some implied meaning, with support, in short and extended texts.	Deduce meaning from context and understand some implied meaning, with little or no support, in short and extended texts.
Writing	Punctuate extended texts with some accuracy when writing independently.	Punctuate extended texts with reasonable accuracy when writing independently.	Punctuate extended texts with reasonable accuracy when writing independently and frequently correct their own errors.
Use of English	Use an increasing range of connectives to explain reasons (e.g. therefore, as) and to give explanations (e.g. so that, such as).	Use a range of connectives to indicate purpose (e.g. so that [in order to]) and to contrast (e.g. although, while, however).	Use a range of connectives.
Listening	Understand, with support, the detail of an argument in short and extended talk.	Understand, with little or no support, the detail of an argument in short and extended talk.	Understand the detail of an argument in short and extended talk.
Speaking	Express, with support, opinions and reactions and begin to develop arguments, supported when necessary by reasons, examples and evidence.	Express, with little or no support, opinions and reactions and justify points of view.	Express opinions, justify their point of view and evaluate the opinions of others.

Pedagogy

The Curriculum Framework gives you a list of learning objectives for each stage. Our support materials then give you guidance on:

the order in which to teach the objectives
ways of grouping them
how to split the objectives into smaller steps, and how to differentiate to make the work easier or harder
suitable activities through which to teach
ideas for active learning.

Our support materials include:

Progression Grids
Schemes of Work
Teacher Guide
Endorsed resources
Training

Find and access these support materials, on the English as a Second Language (0876) page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site. You can find more general information about these support materials on the About Cambridge Lower Secondary page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.

The learning objectives in the Curriculum Framework support an integrated approach to planning and teaching English as a Second Language. Each lesson and unit need to provide opportunities for learners to practise all four skills and focus on one or more learning objectives from the Use of English strand. The Use of English strand provides the linguistic features learners need to engage with the language in the Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking strands.

In the Use of English Strand at Stage 7, for example, learners are introduced to connectives and structures to explain reasons and give explanations in. At Stage 8, this extends to the functions of indicating purpose and contrast. Learners use this knowledge of connectives to develop their written and spoken practice to link extended texts coherently.

Integrating Use of English and the four skills:

enhances learners’ all-round development of communicative competence
allows teachers to build a lesson around a theme or a topic relevant to the learners
motivates learners to learn by building more variety into the lesson
works at the level of realistic communication, where language tasks involve more than one skill
exposes learners to authentic language
challenges learners to interact naturally.

This integrated approach should be implemented throughout the curriculum, starting in Primary and continuing through the Lower Secondary stages.

**Find information from the Scheme of Work**

**Find information from the Scheme of Work**

Choose a Use of English learning objective from the stage you will be teaching. Look at the Scheme of Work for that stage and find an example activity for your chosen learning objective. Identify examples of how the activity supports learners to understand and use the particular feature of language when reading, writing, speaking or listening.

For more information on the approaches to teaching and learning in Cambridge Lower Secondary English as a Second Language, refer to Section 3.4 of the Teacher Guide.

children working together with the teacher

young girl studying at a desk in the classroom

Assessment

We offer a range of optional assessments to help you prove and improve learning:

Cambridge Lower Secondary Progression Tests can be used to check learners’ progress in Stages 7, 8 and 9. They are updated annually and marked in school.
Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint can be used to monitor individual and group performance at the end of the Lower Secondary programme. See how your learners are performing in comparison to the rest of their class and against an international benchmark. The tests are marked by Cambridge International.

Cambridge Lower Secondary Progression Tests (teacher marked)

Cambridge Lower Secondary Progression Tests help you to check your learners' progress. They provide detailed information about the performance of each learner for Stages 7, 8 and 9 of the curriculum. The tests help teachers to compare the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and groups and share feedback with learners and parents. They are marked by teachers in your school and come with access to a unique reporting and analysis tool.

You can find more general information about Cambridge Lower Secondary Progression Tests on the About Cambridge Lower Secondary page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.

You can download sample Progression tests on the English as a Second Language (0876) page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.

Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint (marked by Cambridge examiners)

Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint tests skills, knowledge and understanding at the end of Stage 9 and helps you to measure achievement at the end of Cambridge Lower Secondary. The tests are marked by Cambridge International to provide an international benchmark of learner performance. Feedback reports show how a learner has performed in relation to the curriculum, their learning group, the whole school, and against all learners who have taken tests in that series around the world.

You can find more general information about Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint on the About Cambridge Lower Secondary page of the Cambridge Lower Secondary support site.

There are two Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint exam series every year. To enter learners for the tests, your school exams officer needs to go to the Making entries area on Cambridge International Direct.

Speaking and Listening is not assessed by either test, but our support materials provide guidance on teaching and assessing these skills within the classroom.