How To Teach Modal Verbs

1. INTRODUCTION AND JUSTIFICATION

English is the most frequent language that allows communication among people whose native languages are not English. It is used as a “lingua franca” due to globalisation, as a result of the development of technology that allows fast global communication and the increase of travelling to foreign countries. Learning a foreign language, in this case English, gives more opportunities to the students to succeed in academic and work contexts.

This Unit of Work has been designed for a bilingual group of 30 students of the 4th level of the Compulsory Secondary Education. These students are generally 15 and 16 years old. Within this group, there aren’t any students with special educational needs; however, as each

The reason is that the textbook that these students use in highschool, Spotlight for Andalucía 4, does not have a specific unit in which modal verbs are taught. There is a single unit, Unit 7, which presents the modal verb “should”. Therefore, I have decided to design a section in which some of these verbs are taught as a complementary unit for this level of the Secondary Compulsory Education. In order to create cohesion throughout the whole unit, modal verbs are introduced within texts and dialogues from the very beginning. Even though it is already mentioned in the third session, students must explicitly pay attention to them. Despite the fact that the activities in this section are focused on the practice and understanding of modal verbs, they are also related to ideas about culture taught in the

1631/2006, December 29th 2006, which establishes the objectives and contents for the stage of Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain.

•Andalusian Law of Education (LEA) 17/2007, December 10th 2007, which regulates education in Andalusia.

•R.D 231/207, which regulates Education in Andalusia.

3.2 The Common European Framework

The Common European Framework (CEFR) establishes a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It was developed to describe what knowledge and skills language learners have to learn in order to communicate in a foreign or second language. By offering a common basis for the explicit objectives, content and methods, the Framework promotes international co-operation in different learning contexts; at the same time that it facilitates European mobility.

In order to describe the foreign language learner’s proficiency, the CEFR has also developed the Descriptive Scheme and the Common Reference Levels. These are the six stipulated levels:

Proficient User C2 Mastery, Comprehensive Operational Proficiency C1 Effective Operational Proficiency, advanced