Page 26 - KSPK ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. Overview

The syllabus for 4+ and 5+ has been devised around topics which fall into three categories:

1. Topics considered appropriate for children of this age, e.g. about me, my family, my face, my body, my toys.

2. Topics considered useful and necessary for this age group, e.g. colours, weather, numbers.

3. Topics which allow for integration into the Malaysia Preschool Humanities curriculum which develops in the children an appreciation of self
and their surroundings, e.g. my friends, my school, my neighbourhood, my local environment.

The topics in 4+ are associated directly with the children, e.g. me, my classroom, my family, my body, my toys, whereas in 5+ the topics lead the
children further afield, e.g. my school, my neighbourhood, my country.

2. Lexical items

The lexical items listed in the syllabus support the preschool teacher to focus on a particular topic. However, the word lists do not show all the words
the children will encounter in the preschool years. It showswords which children should be able to understand and produce confidently and communicate
with successfully. It is not expected that children can recognise all these words in their written form; neither will they be able to write them all. The
vocabulary listed represents a minimum standard for understanding and use. Children can and should encounter other words which are meaningful to
their particular contexts.

3. Productive and receptive language

The structures included in the syllabus are appropriate to the different topics, and also provide for repetition and recycling of simple structures that can
be used with a variety of topics, e.g. What is it? It’s a …

In 4+ there is a focus on the children understanding the question and responding to it. In 5+ the children will begin to ask simple questions of their own.
Children pick up language in chunks, which can be single words or two or three words brought together. It is therefore very natural for children to
respond using a single word response and only upon consistent exposure to contextualised language will they begin to use longer responses. It is the
role of the teacher to expand upon single word responses, providing a model for children to hear and eventually acquire. For example:

Teacher: How do you feel Sarah?
Sarah: Happy
Teacher: I feel happy! That’s good! Sarah feels happy.

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