National Curriculum in England for English Language

The following is the national curriculum for the English Language in England. The full report can be downloaded here. I have posted it on this blog as a reference to help us develop our own curriculum at Sriwittayapaknam School. Although the sections on Spoken Language, Reading, and Writing are not so easy to mirror for students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), this section on Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation will be of use.

Year 1: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • Regular plural noun suffixes –s or –es [for example, dog, dogs; wish, wishes], including the effects of these suffixes on the meaning of the noun
  • Suffixes that can be added to verbs where no change is needed in the spelling of root words (e.g. helping, helped, helper)
  • How the prefix un– changes the meaning of verbs and adjectives [negation, for example, unkind, or undoing: untie the boat]
SENTENCE
  • How words can combine to make sentences
  • Joining words and joining clauses using and
TEXT
  • Sequencing sentences to form short narratives
PUNCTUATION
  • Separation of words with spaces
  • Introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences
  • Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun I
TERMINOLOGY letter, capital letter
word, singular, plural
sentence
punctuation, full stop, question mark, exclamation mark
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Year 2: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • Formation of nouns using suffixes such as –ness, –er and by compounding [for example, whiteboard, superman]
  • Formation of adjectives using suffixes such as –ful, –less
  • Use of the suffixes –er, –est in adjectives and the use of –ly in
  • Standard English to turn adjectives into adverbs
SENTENCE
  • Subordination (using when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (using or, and, but)
  • Expanded noun phrases for description and specification [for example, the blue butterfly, plain flour, the man in the moon]
  • How the grammatical patterns in a sentence indicate its function as a statement, question, exclamation or command
TEXT
  • Correct choice and consistent use of present tense and past tense throughout writing
  • Use of the progressive form of verbs in the present and past tense to mark actions in progress [for example, she is drumming, he was shouting]
PUNCTUATION
  • Use of capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences
  • Commas to separate items in a list
  • Apostrophes to mark where letters are missing in spelling and to mark Singular possession in nouns [for example, the girl’s name]
TERMINOLOGY noun, noun phrase
statement, question, exclamation, command
compound, suffix
adjective, adverb, verb
tense (past, present)
apostrophe, comma
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Year 3: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes [for example super–,
    anti–, auto–]
  • Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins
    with a consonant or a vowel [for example, a rock, an open box]
  • Word families based on common words, showing how words are
    related in form and meaning [for example, solve, solution, solver,
    dissolve, insoluble]
SENTENCE
  • Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions [for example,
    when, before, after, while, so, because], adverbs [for example, then,
    next, soon, therefore], or prepositions [for example, before, after,
    during, in, because of]
TEXT
  • Introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material
  • Headings and sub-headings to aid presentation
  • Use of the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past [for
    example, He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play]
PUNCTUATION
  • Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech
TERMINOLOGY preposition, conjunction
word family, prefix
clause, subordinate clause
direct speech
consonant, consonant letter vowel, vowel letter
inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’)
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Year 4: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • The grammatical difference between plural and possessive –s
  • Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken
    forms [for example, we were instead of we was, or I did instead of I
    done]
SENTENCE
  • Noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns
    and preposition phrases (e.g. the teacher expanded to: the strict maths teacher with curly hair)
  • Fronted adverbials [for example, Later that day, I heard the bad news.]
TEXT
  • Use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme
  • Appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to
    aid cohesion and avoid repetition
PUNCTUATION
  • Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct
    speech [for example, a comma after the reporting clause; end
    punctuation within inverted commas: The conductor shouted, “Sit
    down!”]
  • Apostrophes to mark plural possession [for example, the girl’s name,
    the girls’ names]
  • Use of commas after fronted adverbials
TERMINOLOGY determiner
pronoun, possessive pronoun
adverbial
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Year 5: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes [for example,
    –ate; –ise; –ify]
  • Verb prefixes [for example, dis–, de–, mis–, over– and re–]
SENTENCE
  • Relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that,
    or an omitted relative pronoun
  • Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs [for example, perhaps,
    surely] or modal verbs [for example, might, should, will, must]
TEXT
  • Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph [for example, then, after
    that, this, firstly]
  • Linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time [for example,
    later], place [for example, nearby] and number [for example, secondly] or tense choices [for example, he had seen her before]
PUNCTUATION
  • Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
  • Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
TERMINOLOGY modal verb, relative pronoun
relative clause
parenthesis, bracket, dash
cohesion, ambiguity
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Year 6: Detail of content to be introduced

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WORD
  • The difference between vocabulary typical of informal speech and
    vocabulary appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, find
    out – discover; ask for – request; go in – enter]
  • How words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms [for
    example, big, large, little].
SENTENCE
  • Use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a
    sentence [for example, I broke the window in the greenhouse versus The window in the greenhouse was broken (by me)].
  • The difference between structures typical of informal speech and
    structures appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, the
    use of question tags: He’s your friend, isn’t he?, or the use of
    subjunctive forms such as If I were or Were they to come in some very
    formal writing and speech]
TEXT
  • Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive
    devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for
    example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast,
    or as a consequence], and ellipsis
  • Layout devices [for example, headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets,
    or tables, to structure text]
PUNCTUATION
  • Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive
    devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for
    example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast,
    or as a consequence], and ellipsis
  • Layout devices [for example, headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets,
    or tables, to structure text]
TERMINOLOGY subject, object
active, passive
synonym, antonym
ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points
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