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English Term 1 Coverage

Level 8.1

Term 1

2022-2023

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Contents:

Coverage

Preparation – grammar

Preparation – functional language

Level 8.1

Term 1 Academic Year 2022-2023

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The Coverage, Grammar and Functional Language PowerPoint

Within this document, you will find information about the coverage for this term. The lexis family that assessments will contain is mentioned as well as the particular grammatical and functional language points that will be tested in the exams at the end of this term. In the preparation sections, you will find examples and explanations for the grammatical and functional language points that will be assessed this term.

The grammar preparation section has an example sentence that illustrates the grammatical point. It follows this with an explanation of the meaning of the example sentence. Next, the specific grammatical structure used within the example sentence is detailed followed by an explanation of the circumstances under which the particular structure is used. More example sentences using the structure are given at the end of the slide.

In the functional language preparation section, there are examples of the particular language point followed by an explanation of how the particular are used. In the associated grammar section, language points that comprise the structure or can be used to in conjunction with the language point to express the stipulated function are detailed.

Although detailed, the slides within this PowerPoint are designed to be used as a starting point for teachers to construct lessons around the language points that are explored here. The slides are intended to be used individually as a resource within a lesson and to be incorporated as part of instruction incrementally throughout the term to ensure that students have been exposed to all the language points in the coverage ahead of their end of term exam. Therefore, the PowerPoint should not be presented at a single event or in its entirety. Some functional language points may overlap with grammatical points in the coverage, and in that case, it is possible to combine slides. However, this resource should be considered to be a collection of individual slides that teachers can use to enhance students’ learning.

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Term 1 Coverage

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Term 1 Coverage

Topic(s): Technology 

Lexis 

Grammar 

Functional Language 

community, 

free time 

Conjunctions: subordinating 

 

Verb forms: gerunds 

 

Adverbs: adverbial linkers 

 

Passives: past perfect passive 

 

Past time: past perfect simple  

 

Clauses and phrases: defining and non-defining relative clauses 

 

 

Expressing opinion 

 

Describing advantages and disadvantages 

 

Expressing agreement and disagreement 

 

Describing causes and consequences 

 

Making predictions and hypothesising 

 

Describing past experiences and events 

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Term 1: Preparation - Grammar

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You will recover provided that you stay in bed and rest.

I would go skydiving as long as I trust the instructor.

Meaning

The patient will only get better if he rests. (1st conditional)

The person will only go skydiving if they trust the instructor. (2nd conditional)

Grammatical structure

clause1 (action or event) + 'on condition that/as long as/ providing that/provided that' + clause 2 (condition)

Usage

We use conjunctions to join the two clauses of a conditional sentence. When placed at the beginning of the clause, these conjunctions describe the condition that needs to be met for something to happen.

Other examples

The dog won’t bite, as long as you don’t touch it.

He might become famous, providing that lots of people buy his music.

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The houses need painting.

Maryam enjoys being taken out to restaurants.

Meaning

The houses look old, and someone should paint them.

Maryam likes it when other people take her out to eat.

Grammatical structure

NP + needs + VPgerund (passive)

NP + VP +VPgerund (passive)

Usage

We use ‘need’ with gerunds to express necessity.

We use gerunds in the passive voice to describe actions that are done to the subject noun but without mentioning the agent of those actions.

Other examples

The streets in our town need cleaning.

The dog needs feeding.

Children like being read to.

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Ali had missed his meeting by the time the train arrived.

Meaning

Ali had a meeting to attend but he missed it because the train got to the station too late.

Grammatical structure

past perfect simple:

subject + had + V3 (past participle) + rest of sentence

Usage

We use past perfect tense to talk about an event that happened in the past before a second event that also happened in the past. The past perfect shows the earlier action and the past simple shows the later action.

Other examples

I washed the floor when the painter had gone.

I didn’t say anything until he had finished talking.

She had forgotten her phone so she couldn’t ring you.

now

future

X

X

Action 1

Action 2

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Astronauts had travelled into space several times before they finally reached the moon.

Meaning

People were going into space for some time. Then they went to the moon.

Grammatical structure

past perfect with adverbial clauses of time

had + past participle + adverbial clause of time (adverb of time + past simple)

Usage

An adverbial clause of time is a subordinate clause used to show when something happens. It uses conjunctions like whenbefore, after, as, by the time, while, until, as soon as, till, since, no sooner than, as long as to add information to the main clause. We use it with past perfect to talk about time up to a certain event in the past. The earlier action is past perfect and the later action is and adverb of time with past simple.

Other examples

The train had just left when I arrived at the station.

The students had read quietly while the teacher finished marking their essays.

By the time the smartphone was invented, people had already started texting.

now

future

X

X

Action 1

Action 2

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The computer had been sent for repair last week, so we used paper instead.

Meaning

The computer wasn’t in the classroom because it was sent to be fixed last week. They couldn’t use it, so they had to write on paper.

Grammatical structure

past perfect passive:

object + had been + V3 (past participle) + rest of sentence.

Usage

We use past perfect passive to talk about an action or state that started in the past and continued up until another point in the past. The other clause may be a time phrase. If there are two actions, the earlier action is past perfect and the later action is past simple. As this is a passive construction, the object is in the place of the subject as the agent is being obscured.

Other examples

The school had been built three years ago.

A smartphone had been found and given to the police.

An important businessman had been living in the house for many years.

now

future

X

X

Action 1

Action 2

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My friend John, who went to the same school as me, had been to Japan three times.

Meaning

The speaker is describing his friend John. John has been to Japan and also went to the same school as the speaker.

Grammatical structure

Clauses and phrases: non-defining relative clauses

Usage

Non-defining relative clauses add extra information that is not essential to understanding who or what we are talking about. They need commas at the beginning and end of the clause. They can start with relative pronouns (who, which, whom, whose), relative adverbs (when, where – both mean ‘in which’) and quantifiers (followed by of which/whom).

Other examples

The classrooms, both of which had smartboards, were for grade 12.

I told my sister, who already knew what happened.

Safr park, where we used to go as children, has been renovated.

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The teacher whose students have significantly improved their English has just won an award.

Meaning

The speaker is referring to a specific English teacher who has won an award. The students of the teacher have become better at English.

Grammatical structure

Clauses and phrases: defining relative clauses

Usage

Defining relative clauses give information that is essential to understanding who or what we are talking about. They do not have commas. They can start with relative pronouns (who, which, whom, whose, that) and relative adverbs (when, where, why).

Other examples

It was difficult to see the reason why he did that.

The museum that houses several priceless artifacts is open today.

That’s the restaurant we ate in last weekend.

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Term 1: Preparation – Functional Language

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In my opinion, there are too many cars on the road with just one person in them.

From my point of view, public transport is very important in large cities.

I think that technology has made life easier for everyone.

I strongly believe that technology has improved peoples’ lives.

Functional language point

Expressing opinion

Associated grammar

Prepositional phrases, verb + that clauses

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The advantage of living in the city is that there are always a lot of things to do to have fun.

The most significant advantage of using technology is that work can be done

A possible disadvantage of living in the city is that it might be very noisy.

The best thing about working from home is that you don’t have to travel to the workplace.

Functional language point

Describing advantages and disadvantages

Associated grammar

Nouns, adjectives, prepositions (of), superlatives

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That’s a good point.�I completely disagree!�I hate to say it, but I think you’re right.

I see what you mean, but I disagree with your idea.

Functional language point

Expressing agreement and disagreement

Associated grammar

Verbs, adverbs of degree, conjunctions (but), idiom (see what I mean)

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The main cause of pollution in large cities is the amount of traffic on the roads.�This is caused by more demand for electricity to power gadgets and devices.�Many people were trapped as a consequence of the lift breaking down.

Functional language point

Describing causes and consequences

Associated grammar

Noun and verb forms, preposition (of, by), subordinating conjunction

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Robots will probably replace people in many jobs in the near future.�I think folding phones will definitely be more popular next year.�What do you think will happen if the UAE win the next football world cup?

Functional language point

Making predictions and hypothesising

Associated grammar

Adverbs of degree, conditionals

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What happened to you when you left university?

After studying for three years, I left university with a good degree in chemistry. At that time there were not many jobs in chemical engineering. I had heard that the UAE was starting a space programme. As soon as I graduated, I applied and got a job designing a new spacesuit for the 2019 mission. I was very lucky. It was a fantastic job!

Functional language point

Describing past experiences and events

Associated grammar

Present perfect, past perfect, adjectives

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