Key Competences in English Language Learning

Posted on Mar 6, 2025 in Other civil servant exams

The purpose of this essay is to develop key competences. In order to do this, I will first relate this issue in the framework. Secondly, I will talk about the importance of the key competences in English lessons. After that, I will propose different activities and finally, I will compile the main conclusions and the bibliography used to develop this practical case.

In the ECD/65/2015 Order, Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfillment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. Furthermore, The Organic Law 2/2006 of Education, 3rd May, the Organic Law 8/2013, 9th December for the Improvement in Educational Quality, the Royal Decree 126/2014, 28th February and in Castilla y León the Order EDU/519/2014, 17th of June, define that competences are the capacities to apply in an integrated manner the contents to do the activities properly and solve complex problems efficiently. But for the European Parliament, they are a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context.

As English teachers, we should know how to develop these key competences in our students. How can we do that? Next, we are going to explain it.

1. Linguistic Communication

This competence will be present in everyday activities done in class, due to its importance, in the teaching- learning process using the Foreign Language as the classroom vehicle of communication. Linguistic communication is about four skills:

  • Listening: We can use a lot of materials like songs, rhythms, videos, our voice, etc. It is very important that students can listen to different voices and accents.
  • Speaking: We can foment speaking specially in role-plays or games like “Bingo”, “Chinese Whisper”, in everyday routines with greetings, etc. We can record students and then they can listen to themselves.
  • Reading: Reading of different types of simple texts, words, worksheets, etc.
  • Writing: Writing in real context, for example, list of things to do in class, writing a letter, or creating a concept map.

2. Basic Competences in Science, Technology and Maths

Through activities like “Supermarket, role-play”, the children apply maths to a real-life situation. Within the context of buying fruits and vegetables, students deal with weights and money. Also, being able to tell the time is an important mathematical and life skill. We can practice the time speaking in class in everyday routines, or with worksheets.

3. Digital Competence

We can work on digital competence using PCs in class. Students can write in Microsoft Word, or they can use PowerPoint for presentations. Internet offers them a lot of possibilities of study. Teachers can create a table where students write their names and everybody can use the PC.

4. Learning to Learn

Survey-type activities like self-evaluation remind the pupils of the importance of reflecting on their own progress. Encourage them to think about what they have learnt in the topic and what they would like to improve on in the next topic. Encourage them to take pride in things they have done well. We can use the same questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the lesson and students can compare what they learnt. Also, we can use the following items:

  • Did you like the lesson?
  • Have you learnt new things or vocabulary?
  • Would you like to learn more of that?
  • What did you dislike of the topic?

5. Social and Civic Competence

Role-play activities are the best way to develop this competence. We can do pair work and play, for example, “Supermarket”, “Speak about sports”, “Presentations”… We can give them some phrases to use, for example: “Good morning, what can I help you?”, “I would like…”, “How much is it?”… The most important thing is the topic can be as near as possible to students’ interests. We can give them some cards with sentences that they can use in the classroom such as: “Can I have… please?”, “I don’t understand, Can you repeat please?”, “Sorry”, “Thank you”, “Can I go to the toilet, please?”.

6. Sense of Initiative and Entrepreneurship

Inquisitiveness in children shows that they are eager to learn. Explain to the children that they should never be afraid or embarrassed to ask questions. Encourage them also to think about how they can find out the answers to some of their questions by themselves. Museums and libraries are wonderful places for finding information. Equally, children can find clues by looking at the world around them, for example, road names, ruins and old buildings can all tell us about the history of a place. An activity can be to hang a mural on the wall; students have to write words or phrases that they listen or read in the street, in their homes, on TV, etc. They must write the word in English and Spanish.

7. Cultural Expressions and Awareness

Making a culture book is a creative way to reinforce and expand on what the children have learnt in the lesson. The children will enjoy making and collecting the culture books, which can be used again as a revision aid, or simply read for pleasure. We can divide the class into two groups. One group will work on English culture, another one will work on American culture. Then, they can do a presentation to their classmates.

To sum up, these key competences must be developed in our class during the course. All competences are important for the pupil’s development in order to become a good citizen, critical and they are awareness of the importance of the environment around us.

Bibliography

The bibliography used to develop this practical case includes:

  • ANDERSON, & KRATHWOHL (2001). Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing. New York: Longman.
  • BREWSTER, J. ELLIS, G. and GIRARD, D. (2002). The Primary English Teacher’s Guide, New Edition. Pearson Education Limited, Essex, U.K.
  • COUNCIL OF EUROPE. (2003). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  • EMMER, E.T. & GERWELS, M.C. (2002). Cooperative Learning in elementary classrooms: Teaching practices and lesson characteristics. The Elementary School Journal.
  • GARDNER, H. (2001): Reformulated Intelligence. Multiple Intelligences in XXI Century. Buenos Aires: Paidós.
  • HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman, 2008 (4th ed.)
  • NUNAN, D. (2010): Language Teaching Methodology. University Press.
  • RICHARDS, J. (2010). Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. Great Britain, UK: Longman.

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