UNIT 20: THE FOREIGN LANGUAGES AREA IN THE CURRICULUM.

CRITERIA TO BE
INCLUDED IN THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND THE SCHOOL
CURRICULAR PROJECT.

INTRODUCTION:
The Spanish education system is currently governed by two basic rules: the Organic Law
2/2006, of 3rd May, on Education (LOE) and the recently published Organic Law 8/2013 of
9th December, to improve the educational quality (LOMCE) amending LOE and six articles
and an additional provision of the Organic Law 8/1985, of 3 July, regulating the Right to
Education (LODE). The next school year is especially complex in Elementary Education to
live two educational systems that have two different structures, and for the little time that is
available for curriculum development and educational planning, given the urgency of the
implementation. Therefore, you should consider it as a transition course to go settling down
the new structure and the organization of schools.
In Title I of both LOE and LOMCE the organisation and stages of education are
established. Infant education is conceived as a separate stage divided into two cycles
which both respond to an educational purpose, requiring schools to have specific
pedagogic objectives from the first cycle. In the second cycle there will be initial contact with
reading and writing skills, reasoning and mathematical skills, a foreign language, the use of
information and communication technologies and knowledge of different artistic forms.
Public Authorities are urged to gradually supply sufficient places in the first cycle and there
is provision for the establishment of agreements with private centres which guarantee the
cost-free status of the second cycle.
This unit deals with the role of foreign languages in the Spanish educational system. First,
we will focus on the reasons there are for including foreign languages in the curriculum to
later on analyse the aspects that must be included when designing the School Educational
Project and the School Curricular Project.
There are differences between syllabus and curriculum that sometimes are not taken into
account: Curriculum, Nunan (1980), is concerned with the planning, the implementation, the
evaluation, the management and the administration of education, while syllabus is
concerned with the selection and grading of content.

1 THE FOREIGN LANGUAGES AREA IN THE CURRICULUM.

In modern society there is a great deal of international communication trips abroad,
cultural exchanges, free circulation of professionals, business deals, international TV
channels, the Internet, etc. In this context the ability to speak foreign languages has,
therefore, become an urgent need. The educational system must provide students with
opportunities to learn at least one foreign language in Primary Education. The educational
function of foreign languages in Primary Education is thus to enable students to
communicate with certain efficiency with people from other cultures and bring students into
contact with other social and cultural contexts and representations of reality. In the second
cycle of Primary Education, pupils already know their mother tongue and many words and
expressions from the foreign language transmitted through the mass media. They have also
certain knowledge of the country or countries where that language is spoken. These
aspects must be borne in mind by teachers when designing the projects and planning their
class-work.
As we have pointed out above, the basic aim of the foreign language area is to help
students develop an adequate degree of communicative competence in the foreign
language. If, then, the basic aim of foreign language teaching is to help the child develop
this communicative competence, the students performance and participation must play a
key role in the curricular design of the foreign language. Now we are going to deal with the
curriculum of Foreign Languages:
A. STAGE OBJECTIVES.
a) To know and appreciate the values and rules and convivence, learn how to behave
in realation with them, prepare themselves to be citizens and respect the human
rights, as well as the pluralism of democratic society.
b) To develop habits to work individually or in groups, effort and resposability at study
as well as attitudes of being sure about themselves, critical sense, personal
iniciative, cutiosity, interest, creativity for learning and enterpeneur spirit.
c) To acquire ability to the prevention and paceful resolution of conflicts, which lets
them express themselves with autonomy on familiar and domestic domain, as well
as on the social groups in which they interact.
d) To know, understand and respect the different cultures and the differences among
people, the equally of rights and opportunities for men and women, and the no
discrimination of disabled people.

e) To know and use on an appropiate way the Spanish language and, if required, the
Asturian language and develop reading habits.
f) To acquire the basic communicative competence in a foreign language which allows
them create and understand easy messages and if required in everyday situations.
g) To develop the basic mathematical competence and start the problems resolutions
which involve the making of basic calculating operating, geometrical knowledge and
stimations.
h) To know the fundamental aspects of Natural Science, Social Science, Geography,
History and Culture, including, if recuired, the Asturian Culture.
i) To start using, for learning, the ICTS developing a critic spirit facing the messages
received and sent.
j) To use different representations and artistic expressions and start constructing visual
and audio-visual proposals.
k) To value the hygine and health, accepting own body and others body, respect the
differences and use the physical education and the sport as ways to favour the
personal and social development.
l) To know and value the animals (closest to humans) and follow the ways of behaviour
which favour taking care of them.
m) To develop affective capacity in every aspect of personality and in relation with
others, as well as a contrary attitude to violence, to any type prejudices and sexist
stereotype.
n) To foster vial education and respect traffic regulations to prevent traffic accidents.
B. CAPACITIES.
1. To listen to and understand verbal messages in various kinds of interactions, using the
information provided for the execution of diverse specific tasks related to students
experience.
2. To express themselves orally and interacting in simple and routine within a given content
and development, using procedures and verbal and non-verbal language and adopting a
respectful and co-operative attitude.
3. To read and understand various texts, related to their experience and hobbies, to extract
general and specific information in accordance with a specific purpose.
4. To produce short simple texts with various purposes on topics covered in class with the
aid of patterns.

5. To identify the phonetic aspects of rhythm, intonation and pronunciation, as well as

linguistic structures and lexical aspects of the target language, using them as basic
elements of communication.
6. To use knowledge and prior experience of other languages for a faster, more efficient and
independent acquisition of the target language.
7. To learn to use with increasing autonomy all the means at their disposal, including new
technology, to obtain information and to communicate in the foreign language.
8. To develop individual and group work habits, effort and study, as well as the receptive
and confidence attitudes in own learning capacity and in the foreign language use, critical
thinking, personal initiative, curiosity, interest and creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.
9. To value the foreign language, and languages in general, as a means of communication
and understanding among people of diverse origins and cultures and as a tool for learning
different contents.
C. COMPETENCES.

Linguistic

communication

competence

by

LOE,

is

called

Linguistic

Communication by LOMCE.

Mathematical Competence and Knowledge and Interaction with the physical

environment Competence by LOE, is called Mathematical Competence and Basic
Competences in Science and Technology by LOMCE.

Digital and ICT Competence by LOE, is called Digital Competence by LOMCE.

Social Competence and citizenship by LOE, is called Social and Civic

Competences by LOMCE.

Cultural and Artistic Competence by LOE, is called Cultural awareness and

expressions by LOMCE.

Learning how to learn by LOE is called Learning to Learn by LOMCE.

Social competence and citizenship by LOE is called Social and Civic

Competences by LOMCE.

Autonomy and personal initiative by LOE is called Sense of Initiative and

entrepreneurial spirit by LOMCE.

D. CONTENTS.
Block 1, Understanding oral texts and Block 2 Production of oral texts: Expression
and interaction, acquire, at this stage, particular relevance. The limited presence of foreign
language in the social context, makes the language model provided by the school is the first
source of knowledge and learning of language. Oral texts used in the classroom are both
vehicle and an object of learning, so the curriculum has attended both the knowledge of
linguistic elements and the ability to use them to perform communicative tasks. Moreover,
the linguistic model provided should come from a number of speakers to collect as much as
possible, changes and nuances that an environmental linguistic model offers speakers both
in phonetic and rhythmic aspect and the choice of expressions specific communication in
familiar situations. Block 3, Understanding written texts and Block 4, production of
written texts: Expression and interaction, consistent with the above, develop written
discourse competence. In foreign language written texts are also models of textual
composition and practice and acquisition of linguistic elements. The obvious differences in
the graphical representation of the languages that are known and the foreign language,
suggest using prior learning and oral forms. The progressive use of written language will
depend on the degree of knowledge of the code, which is directly related to the degree of
security that the code provides in the graphic representation of the sounds of language. To
overcome this lack of security, the curriculum includes strategies and resources such as the
use of dictionaries and other means of consultation, conventional and digital, for the
understanding and composition, with progressive degree of correctness and complexity, all
kinds of texts.

2. CRITERIA TO BE INCLUDED IN THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND THE

SCHOOL CURRICULAR PROJECT.
It is important to include in this topic what the LOE and the LOMCE say in their article 121
entitled Educational Project:
1. School education projects will include the values, objectives, and action priorities. In
addition, they will incorporate the specifications of the curriculum established by the
Education Administrations, which the Teachers Council will set and approve, as well as the
cross-curricular treatment of education in values and other teaching.

2. This project, which must take into account the characteristics of the social and cultural
environment of the school, will include ways of meeting student diversity and tutorial
procedures, as well as the school community plan. It must respect the principle of nondiscrimination and educational inclusion as fundamental values, as well as the principles
and objectives of this Law and the Organic Law 8/1985 of July 3rd, Regulator of the Right to
Education.
3. It is the responsibility of the Education Administrations to establish the general framework
which allows public and publicly-funded private schools to draw up their education projects.
These should be made public in order to make them known to the whole education
community. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Education Administrations to contribute
to the development of the curriculum, encouraging the creation of open models of teacher
programmes and teaching materials which meet the different needs of students and
teachers.
4. It is the responsibility of the Education Administrations to promote coordination between
the education projects of primary schools and secondary schools so that the incorporation
of students into secondary education may be gradual and positive.
5. Schools will foster educational commitments between families or legal guardians and
schools which will state the activities which parents, teachers and students commit
themselves to carrying out in order to enhance the academic performance of the students.
6. The education project of publicly-funded private schools, which in all cases must be
made public, will be made available by the respective owning body and will include the
specific nature of the school referred to in Article 115 of this Law.
The foreign languages area cannot possibly be considered as independent from the
educational process carried out in Primary Education. It is an area fully integrated in this
process, as it contributes to the whole educational development of children through the
fulfilment of a number of objectives and the promotion of certain capacities and attitudes
which are vital for the childs adequate socialisation and personal evolution.
To guarantee the coherence of the educational process in a given school in the different
areas and cycles, the whole school community must agree on a series of common
decisions concerning its basic intentions. These decisions belong to three different
processes to be carried out in each school:

The School Educational Project.

The School Curricular Project.

The School General Programming.

We will first consider the School Educational Project:

The School Educational Project is a document that specifies the decisions taken by the
whole educational community about its basic educational options and the general
organisation of the school. In the School Educational Project, and through the analysis of
the economic and socio-cultural context, decisions must be made concerning the following
aspects:
a Who are we?
This means making explicit the signs of identity that make up the specific style of the
school, that is, a few aspects considered as priority by the whole school community.
b What do we want?
-

School aims through which those signs of identity are to be made explicit.

Revision of the general objectives of the curriculum for the different stages of Primary
Education according to the educational style agreed for the school.

c How shall we be organised?

-

Collaborative work among the staff involved in the achievement of aims proposed. This
must take reference to the parents role in the educational process, as well as the
connection between school and environment.

Specific school organisation to make these aims possible (this is specified in what is
termed Reglamento de Rgimen Interno). This implies a reflection on the specific
structure and procedures to be applied in the school, as well as the people responsible
for different tasks.

We will second consider the School Curricular Project:

The School Curricular Project is the explicit expression of the educational assumptions of a
given school so that teachers can reflect on how they try to put them to practice. The
elaboration of this project is justified on the following grounds:
-

To increase coherence in the educational practice through common decisions by the

teaching staff at each stage.

To increase the teachers competence through the analysis of their work, making explicit
the different criteria behind the decisions taken in the Curricular Project.

To adjust the school educational response to the specific features of the context so that
all learners have equal opportunities.

Now we are going to pay attention to some essential issues:

1 What to teach?
The stage general objectives are the capacities to be developed by the learners by the end
of Primary Education as a consequence of the educational process. These general
objectives had been the focus of attention in the SEP, but now they should be further
specified in order to adjust the educational intentions of the stage to the context with more
precision. The fact that the general objectives are the object of analysis of both projects
ensures the coherence of the system.
2 When to teach?
The Curriculum establishes the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria for the whole
stage of Primary Education, it does not specify them for each cycle. This is so to guarantee
the necessary adjustment to each specific context. The cycle is the time unit that helps
organise the teaching process in compulsory education. On the one hand, its length allows
learners of different learning rhythms cope with the objectives proposed by the end of the
cycle; on the other hand, the fact that the same teacher is kept throughout the cycle
contributes to the adjustment of the teaching process. The decisions made in the SCP must
focus on the sequence of the objectives and contents in three different moments through
Primary Education, that is, when we change cycle. This is because the sequence within
each cycle is guaranteed by the teacher, who works with the same group until the end of
the cycle.
3 How to teach?
It is essential for the coherence of the teaching process that the whole teaching team
reflects and agrees on a common set of methodological principles to be followed. Once this
has been done, these principles should be translated into concrete options to be taken by
all teachers.
The key idea in the current educational system is that education is a constructive process in
which both teacher and learner must take an active attitude to enable relevant learning.
Other general aspects which may be considered are the didactic strategies most adequate
for each type of content- concepts, procedures and attitudes-, how the attitudes which are
common to all areas must be introduced, methodological options such as work corners,
project work, etc. It is also important to bear in mind the methodological strategies to be
used in the case of learners with special educational needs and the functions of the tutors
and specialist teachers. Generally speaking, the materials must be simple, ecological, nondiscriminatory and safe. They must offer the possibility of being used in groups, not only

individually and offer information about the age of the learners they have been devised for.
4 What, how and when evaluate?
Evaluation is a key element of the teaching/ learning process. It implies careful attention to
the whole process in order to adjust the educational activity if necessary. It must comprise a
revision of the learning and teaching processes with reference to the objectives set in the
curriculum. It will evaluate the SCP, the teaching programme and the way the curriculum is
developed to adjust to the learners and school educational needs.
The official curriculum gives answers to the question What to evaluate? through the
evaluation criteria. It is the school that must answer when? and How? as well.

What to evaluate?

This is the most important decision concerning evaluation in the SCP. Its answer is the
evaluation criteria proposed by the school. These should cover two main aspects: the
adjustment of the general evaluation criteria proposed in the curriculum to the specific
school context, and the elaboration of the evaluation criteria for each cycle.

How to evaluate?

Once we know what we will evaluate, we must analyse the procedures used to obtain the
information necessary. These should fulfil certain conditions:
-

Be varied enough to allow the evaluation of different capacities and contents.

Offer specific information about what is being evaluated

Use different codes to adjust to different learners styles

Be applicable to ordinary classroom situations

Offer the possibility of evaluating the ability to transfer the competence acquired to other
contexts

When to evaluate?

There are three typical moments for evaluation: initial, formative and summative. The SCP
must register the decisions made on these points. The initial evaluation usually occurs at
the beginning of each cycle, but it may also be used at the beginning of each didactic unit.
The SCP must reflect the moments of the teaching/ learning process when the formative
evaluation will take place. Finally, it will consider the most adequate moments to carry out
the formative evaluation to check the progress made by the students. This may be at the
end of each didactic unit, but especially at the end of each cycle and stage.
5 Attention to diversity
Finally, the last criterion the SCP must include is the decisions the teaching team has made

concerning the attention to diversity in the school. This comprises the Counselling
Programme (Programa de Orientacin) to be carried out in the school- which must cover its
content and organisation, function of tutors and connections with other specific
programmes- as well as the organisation of the human and material resources available to
cope with the specific needs of learners with special educational needs.
CONCLUSION:
The LOMCE in its preamble explains that the current system does not allow progress
towards improving the quality of education, and highlight the results obtained by the
students in international assessment tests such as PISA (Programme for International
Student Assessment), high rates of early drop education and training, and the small number
of students who achieved excellence. The objectivity of international comparative studies,
which reflect at least stagnation system, lead to the conclusion that a reform of the
education system that run from the ideological debates that have impeded progress in
recent years is necessary. A sensible, practical reform, fostering the full potential of each
student is required.
The Curriculum establishes the general objectives and contents for each stage, which
guarantees the coherence among stages. The SCP reflects the decisions concerning the
internal aspects of each stage in a specific context. On the other hand, the educational
intentions established in the SEP will be specified for each stage through didactic proposals
in the SCP. Once the SCP has been designed, the teachers will design the classroom
programming, in which the decisions made for the cycles will be adjusted to each specific
group of learners. In this unit we have analysed the importance of the Area of Foreign
Languages in the official curriculum. We have seen how the proposal made by the
Government in this curriculum must be adjusted to the specific context the school is
immersed in and which are the main aspects to be taken into account when designing both
the School Educational Project and the School Curricular Project.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Education Law 2/2006, of 3rd May.

Organic Law 8/2013 to improve educational quality, of 9th December.

126/2014 Royal Decree of 28th February, the core curriculum of Primary Education
is established.