Program of Study Analysis
This is my comparison of the Alberta programs of study for ESL, French as a Second Language and Spanish Language and Culture.
ESL
General Outcomes Throughout 5 levels expected
to demonstrate 4 outcomes.
o Gather, interpret and
communicate
information
o Establish and maintain
relationships
o Make decisions, solve
problems, and plan and
carry out projects
o Explore, respond to and
extend ideas and
experiences.
Role of Grammar Not until general outcome 4
do you see a heavy focus on
grammar. Develop
understanding of texts,
personal responses, text
structure, and figurative
language…
Non-Linguistic Foci Overall, majority of the ESL
POS focuses on linguistic side
of language.
General outcome 2, discusses
relationships such as inquiring
information from others. This
still involves linguistic.
French
General outcomes are the exact same
from grade 4-12.
Divided into the following 4:
o Communication
o Language
o Culture
o Language learning strategies
Grammar does not specifically seem
to be as big of a focus compared to
each Spanish section. There is a
written production part that identifies
what level they should be at.
The French POS has a section called
culture where the students contrast
their own culture with those of other
francophone cultures.
Study the differences in names,
accents, social situations, the way of
life…
Spanish
General outcomes are the same from
grade 7-9.
Divided into the following 4:
o Applications
o Language competence
o Global citizenship
o Strategies
Language competence is the area
focused on grammar. This is split into
attend to form, applying knowledge
of context, discourse, structured and
sequenced, and interpret and produce
texts. There is a specific section page
16, which focuses on the grammatical
elements.
The global citizenship general
outcome in the POS focuses on other
elements such as Spanish culture. In
this students learn historical and
contemporary elements, diversity and
opportunities.
Content Prescribed The specific outcomes give
detailed information on what
is required to be taught, then
through the levels you can see
it progress. These outcomes
are extremely relevant to the
general outcome, and easy to
build a lesson off of.
The content prescribed in this POS is
very informational. It gives a clear
understanding what is required to be
taught in this grade. EX) in oral
production of grade 8 it specifically
asks and answer questions. Then as a
teacher you know you will have to
cover the types of questions and how
to respond.
The specific outcomes give you
pretty detailed information on what
needs to be taught or discussed. My
favorite part is the grammar page
where lexicon, orthography and
phonology is specifically stated.