English subject curriculum (ENG1-02)

Main subject areas

The subject has been structured into main areas with competence aims. These main subject areas supplement each other and must be considered together.

This subject is a common core subject for all the upper secondary education programmes. Learning in this subject shall therefore be made as relevant as possible for pupils by adapting each subject to his/her education programme as much as possible.

English has competence aims after the second, fourth, seventh and tenth years in primary and lower secondary school and after the first year in the programmes for general studies (Vg1) or after the second year of vocational education programmes (Vg2).

Overview of the main areas:

Language learning

The main area language learning focuses on knowledge about the language, language usage and insight into one's own language learning. Being able to assess one's own language use, define one's own needs and select strategies and ways of working are requirements for attaining this. The main focus is on seeing what is involved in learning a new language and seeing relationships between English, one's native language and other languages.

Communication

The main area of communication focuses on using the English language to communicate. Communication is achieved through listening, reading, writing, prepared oral production and spontaneous oral interaction, including the use of appropriate communication strategies. It also includes participation in various social arenas, where it is important to train to master an increasing number of genres and forms of expression. Good communication requires knowledge and skills in using vocabulary and idiomatic structures, pronunciation, intonation, spelling, grammar and syntax of sentences and texts.

New media and the development of a linguistic repertoire across subjects and topics are an important part of this main area. Knowing how to be polite and taking social conventions into consideration in any number of linguistic situations are also important skills to master. This goes hand in hand with adapting the language to the recipient and the situation, including distinguishing between formal and informal, written and spoken registers.

Culture, society and literature

The main area culture, society and literature focuses on cultural understanding in a broad sense. It is based on the English-speaking world and covers key topics connected to social issues, literature and other cultural expressions. This main area also focuses on developing knowledge about English as a world language with many areas of use. Working with various types of texts and other cultural expressions is important for developing linguistic skills and understanding how others live, and their cultures and views on life. Reading literature may also help to instil the joy of reading in pupils and provide the basis for personal growth, maturity and creativity.