Addressing Competences as an administrator

From an administrative point of view, I think that the first step in working with competences is making sure that the competences of the English program are arranged in a natural sequence from the first level to the last and that the scope of the competences is sufficiently broad to prepare students with the language they will need for their lives.

Once the competences are aligned, the administrator has to make sure that the teachers understand the competences, and have everything necessary to teach them: that is, that they are trained with appropriate teaching-learning practices, have the materials that will foment learning, are supported by an administrative infrastructure that allows them to do their jobs, and are sufficiently motivated (extrinsically, if the intrinsic motivation is weak) to make their work a priority.

At USB’s Foreign Language Center, we are working on aligning the competences of our courses with those of the CEF. With some adaptation and some imagination, it has not been hard to do. To use the competences the MEN has published in a grade level they were not written for, for example a high school or college beginner’s class requires more adaptation.

Here is a competence from USB’s level 1, a reference level from the CEF and similar standards from the MEN.

Reading
USB, Level I, Inglés Básico
• Understand the general idea of simple and brief informative texts, especially if they have illustrations that help to explain the text
CEF, Reading for information and argument, A1
• Can get an idea of the content of simpler informational material and short simple descriptions, especially if there is visual support.
MEN estándares, Principiante, A1, grados 1-3
• Reconozco palabras y frases cortas en inglés en libros, objetos, juguetes, propagandas y lugares de mi escuela.
• Relaciono ilustraciones con oraciones simples.